Getty

We kept hearing it wasn't going to happen, but we held out hope -- and now, our greatest wish has finally come true: Grant Aleksander is officially returning to "Guiding Light" as Phillip Spaulding! Is that the best news ever, or what?

Grant started playing Phillip in 1982 and quickly became one of the most popular actors in the show's history. He's been nominated for tons of Daytime Emmy Awards and took home a Soap Opera Digest award for Best New Couple with Beth Ehlers (who played Harley Davidson Cooper) in 1998. Though Grant's last exit was not of his own accord -- and extremely controversial for that reason -- he'd taken a few breaks previously to try other things. Like between 1993 and 1996, he played Alec McIntyre on "All My Children." (Remember him, Pine Valley fans?)

Phillip was last seen in November 2004, when he was shot and killed at Company. And because he'd been acting like a complete maniac in the months leading up to this -- doing stuff like trying to kidnap his own children and plotting to turn the entire town into some kind of twisted "Spauldingland" -- there were plenty of suspects to go around. Harley even went to prison for the crime. But, in the end, Phil's dad Alan (Ron Raines) turned out to be the culprit.