role in May 2004. Carnes auditioned for a third time on June 2, 2004 and filmed his first scenes on June 16. At the time, Carnes was on vacation in Hawaii when he was called back to California for his final audition. However, his car broke down on the way to his audition. Fortunately, he was able to get a ride with his acting coach. After the audition, Carnes returned to his car and was forced wait another three hours to have his car towed. During his wait, Carnes learned he had booked the recurring role of Lucas with his first air date slated for July 8, 2004. In 2005, it was announced Carnes would depart the series and would be replaced by Ben Hogestyn, just before Lucas revealed his sexuality. According to TV Guide, Carnes was allegedly fearful of being typecast in gay roles, due to his previous work on television series, Desperate Housewives and the film Eating Out. A representative for the actor claimed Carnes had already planned to leave the series due several upcoming gigs, but chose to vacate the role earlier before the series delved into Lucas's storyline instead of having the role recast in the middle of the story. Carnes last appeared on September 21, and Hogestyn stepped into the role on September 22. Hogestyn, who was only with the show on a recurring status, left in 2006 to pursue a full-time role on The Bold and the Beautiful. According to then-writer Dave Goldschmid, the role was supposed to be recast at some point, but the recast never happened. Starting on December 4, 2013, through Twitter, Carnes began referencing various locations with the word "Port" in the names. In December 2013, executive producer, Frank Valentini announced to Soaps In Depth that Carnes would reprise the role of Lucas. Following the announcement, Carnes updated his Twitter with the simple message: "Ah, Port Charles, it is!" Carnes filmed his first return scenes on December 11, 2013. Carnes first episode was slated for January 16, 2014, but was pushed back to the following day, due to news coverage. In response to bringing Carnes back to the role, Valentini said it was important to maintain continuity of who had previously played Lucas. Valentini contacted Carnes after casting director Mark Teschner sent him Carnes' audition reel. Head writer, Ron Carlivati said he was the most familiar face, and he also