<\/p>\n
Melissa Gilbert<\/a><\/strong> is celebrating someone near and dear to her heart \u2014 her Hallmark co-star Jack Wagner<\/a><\/strong>, who just celebrated a major milestone. On Friday, October 3, the Little House on the Prairie<\/a><\/em> alum took to Instagram to share a heartfelt birthday message for Wagner, who turned 66.<\/p>\n The two television icons have found a new kind of chemistry on screen in When Calls the Heart<\/em>,<\/a> and Gilbert made it clear how much she values their partnership.<\/p>\n “A very happy birthday to this fine fella!,\u201d Gilbert, 61, wrote in her caption. \u201cHe\u2019s the Bill to my Georgie. My partner in crime\u2026.solving. I\u2019m so lucky to get to work with him. So happiest of happies to you dearest Jack. Here\u2019s to many, many more!\u201d<\/p>\n Wagner, a soap opera legend known for roles on General Hospital<\/a><\/em> and The Bold and the Beautiful<\/a><\/em>, joined When Calls the Heart<\/em> in Season 2 as Judge Bill Avery, a former Mountie who brings justice to the town of Hope Valley.<\/p>\n Gilbert made her debut in Season 12 as Georgie McGill<\/a>, a forensic accounting investigator from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Her character is introduced as part of a two-episode guest arc, bringing an unexpected connection to the town and to Bill.<\/p>\n However, Georgie\u2019s arrival is more than just a guest appearance. Her storyline is connected to the mystery of the Garrison gang and a trail of rare coins, reopening an unresolved case that links to Bill\u2019s past.<\/p>\n As the investigation unfolds, it turns into something much more personal. In a moment that surprised longtime viewers, Bill and Georgie share a romantic kiss at the end of the episode.<\/p>\n In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/em>, Wagner opened up about how this storyline breathed fresh life into his character. \u201cThere’s been really nothing romantic for quite a while on When Calls the Heart, except Melissa Gilbert came on last year and is returning, which is awesome,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n “They have a backstory and a history, and I kissed her in the final episode last year. So that sprung a whole well of romance for my character.”<\/p>\n Recognized for his role as Nick Marone on The Bold and the Beautiful<\/a><\/em>, Wagner drew a comparison between the two characters. \u201cThe difference in being able to do ‘The Bold and the Beautiful,’ coming back as Nick, are the layers. This guy [Bill Avery] is completely about romance.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the scripted drama, Wagner credits Gilbert\u2019s return with unlocking something meaningful in his own creative journey. “Its given me the opportunity to kind of exercise something in myself that has been a little dormant for a while,\u201d he explained. \u201cI\u2019m so grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally reported by Parade<\/a> on Oct 3, 2025, where it first appeared in the News<\/a> section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Melissa Gilbert is celebrating someone near and dear to her heart \u2014 her Hallmark co-star Jack Wagner, who just celebrated a major milestone. On Friday, October 3, the Little House on the Prairie alum took to Instagram to share a heartfelt birthday message for Wagner, who turned 66. The two television icons have found a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2068063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[386872,332342,330671,330120,386873],"class_list":["post-2068062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-bill-avery","tag-jack-wagner","tag-little-house-on-the-prairie","tag-melissa-gilbert","tag-mountie"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Little-House-on-the-Prairies-Melissa-Gilbert-Has-a-Touching.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2068062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2068064,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068062\/revisions\/2068064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2068063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2068062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2068062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2068062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}