For at least eight months now, General Hospital fans have been whispering about the arrival of Sonny Corinthos' here-to-unseen long-lost son, Dante. You may remember a Soap Central report first posted in January that announced that the role would be cast imminently. So here it is April, and there's still no word on Dante.

What happened?

According to sources, General Hospital's casting department was not able to sign the actor that they wanted for the role. At least not yet. To compensate for not casting Dante, the show moved forward with plans to recast and age Michael Corinthos. As reported last month, newcomer Drew Garrett will take over the role.

So who was General Hospital trying to sign? The leading candidate remains two-time Emmy winner Tom Pelphrey (ex-Jonathan Randall, Guiding Light), whose name was first bandied about as a possible Dante way back in August. When the actor recently relocated to the West Coast, it was widely believed that he was thisclose to signing with General Hospital. Pelphrey, meanwhile, said that his move was designed more to allow him to pursue opportunities outside of daytime television.

With Pelphrey reportedly unavailable, rumors surfaced that the show wanted another Emmy winner -- David Lago (ex-Raul Guittierez, The Young and the Restless). Recently, however, Lago told Soap Opera Digest, "No one at General Hospital contacted me. I would have been happy to discuss it, but I never heard from them."

Published reports, however, still claim that Lago tested for the role of Dante several months ago.

The latest word on the street is that General Hospital continues to wait for Pelphrey to become available because the actor remains the show's first choice for Sonny and Olivia's son. What is unclear, though, is how long the show is willing to wait.