“I can’t get her jealous if I try!”

A whole lot of soap couples have been torn apart after one catches the other in an illicit kiss. Of course, that’s somewhat ironic given that in real-life, the romantic partners of soap actors usually have to watch their mates turn up the heat with other people!

“My girlfriend is not an actor,” Johnny Wactor (Brando) told Maurice Benard (Sonny) when the General Hospital stars recently chatted during an Instagram live session. “And I’m the first actor she’s dated. So it’s difficult having that conversation. ‘It’s my job!’”

To his credit, Wactor admits he understands why watching him share passionate scenes with on-screen wife wife Sofia Mattsson might be difficult on his girlfriend. “[She asked], ‘What if my job was kissing good looking guys?’ I probably wouldn’t like it. That’s why I’m not dating an actress!”

For his part, Benard remembers well those conversations with wife Paula. “In the beginning, she was very jealous and we had a lot of arguments,” he laughs. “When a love scene would be in a script, she would be like, ‘Why another one?’”

This particular topic came up quite a bit during the Sonny/Brenda scenes, when Benard and Vanessa Marcil were one of the hottest couples on soaps. These days, although Sonny pretty routinely finds himself sharing kisses with Cynthia Watros’ Nina (and, before her, Laura Wright’s Carly), Paula’s attitude has definitely changed.

“Now, I can’t get her jealous if I try!” laughs Benard. “It does nothing! But that’s [what happens after] over 30 years of being together.”

And like Wactor, Benard admits he’d struggle were the roles reversed. “I said to Paula, ‘I wouldn’t be with you [if you were an actress], ’cause I couldn’t take it!’ I really couldn’t take it if I saw Paula kissing another man on screen!”

So who are the real-life partners dealing with this challenge? Check out our gallery of General Hospital stars and their significant others!