Daytime TV queen Susan Lucci is a knockout at 78. The former All My Children star was in New York City on Jan. 14 for a special event celebrating the iconic soap opera’s 55th anniversary. During her conversation with Bravo’s Andy Cohen, Lucci opened up about her 40-year run as Erica Kane on All My Children and her memories of the ABC soap. 

Susan Lucci chats with Andy Cohen about her time on ‘All My Children’ 

Lucci sat down with Cohen for Susan Lucci in Conversation with Andy Cohen: All My Children at 55 at the 92nd Street Y. For the event, Lucci donned a sparkly blue and black animal print dress. She accessorized the figure-hugging dress with silver hoop earrings and a pair of Rene Caovilla Rinaldi pump stilettos, according to Footwear News. 

Joining Lucci onstage were several of her All My Children co-stars, including Kelly Ripa, Jill Larson, and Ellen Riegel, who also dished about their time on the daytime drama, which aired from 1970 to 2011. 

Lucci reveals Erica Kane’s favorite husband 

During her chat with Cohen, Lucci opened up about Erica Kane’s many relationships over the years, and which of the 10 men she married was the character’s favorite. 

“Jack Montgomery was the one who wouldn’t leave and couldn’t get out of her life, and she couldn’t walk away too much,” Lucci said, according to Swooon, referring to the character played by Walt Willey. “Although in the end she was in the crosshairs of that rifle going after Jack because she had left him again… I guess, Jack.”

All My Children’s final episode ended with Jack walking out on Erica after finally realizing that he would never come first in her life. As Erica chased after him, a shot rang out, and the screen went black, leaving viewers to wonder if the show had just killed off its most famous character in a massive cliffhanger. 

‘All My Children’ writer dishes on the show’s original ending 

During the discussion with Cohen, writer Lorraine Broderick opened up about the controversial ending of All My Children. She revealed that the initial plan was to give Erica a happy ending with Jack. But the canceled soap had been picked up for a short-lived online revival, which forced the writers to rethink their plans.     

“We had an entirely different happy ending of All My Children, the final script that we all worked so hard on,” Broderick said. “And then they decided to pick up on this short term internet thing that happened and we had to go back in and change everything so that everything was a cliffhanger so that they would have something.”

“If we tied everything up and Erica were happily married to Jack, what do you do then? So we had to change the whole thing,” she continued, per TV Insider. “That’s an interesting inside glimpse into what happened when they moved the show up to Connecticut for a short while.”

For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.