WHERE THERE’S SMOKE, THERE’S KURT MCKINNEY

Fans of “Guiding Light” started out the New Year by seeing much of Fifth Street go up in smoke. And when Vanessa Lewis, played by Maeve Kinkead, feared that her secret lover, Matt Reardon, played by Kurt McKinney, got caught in the blaze, she went public to ensure his safety. Quite a plot twist for a story that was never supposed to happen.

Although Matt’s encounter with Vanessa was originally meant to be brief, the viewers’ response to their May-December romance was so great that they have become one of the show’s hottest duos.

“It’s the luck of the draw,” McKinney says. “I’m working with an actress who is really good. The writers are writing good material, and the story line is happening. People are into it.”

McKinney recalls some similarities and the outcome of a relationship involving his last daytime character (Ned Quartermaine on “General Hospital.”)

“When I played Ned, I was brought on in a similar way, but my lover (Monica Quartermaine, played by Leslie Charleson) turned out to be my uncle’s wife so that relationship was doomed,” says the actor. “Then,” he continues with a sigh, “I was paired with Monica’s daughter Dawn. They were constantly in the midst of casting, recasting, or deciding why the new Dawn didn’t work. There were four different actresses playing Dawn. I never got a chance to get going as Ned.”

After “General Hospital,” McKinney worked as a car salesman in Los Angeles while he continued to pursue roles. When he was offered the role on “Guiding Light,” he was not so anxious to take it.

“I didn’t want to be confronted with the choice of not only going back into daytime but of moving to New York City,” says the actor. “I admit I kept waiting for a great nighttime series or a great movie role that would lead to others. At the time, there was even a martial arts movie in the works.” (McKinney has starred in “No Retreat, No Surrender” with Jean-Claude Van Damme.)

The actor even balked at going through phases of the audition process. When he was asked to do a screen test, he kept turning down their offers and almost hoped that they would turn him down.

When he finally accepted the role, the actor says, “I was a neurotic mess. I had only two weeks to rent out the house, prepare to move my family (wife Maronda, dog Maggie and cat Merlin) and sell our cars.”

“Change is good,” he now admits, “only sometimes you don’t realize it. I’m having a great time now that I’m here. It was the right thing to do.”

As for the Fifth Street fire, expect lots of excitement and some tragedy in the fallout.

There are no doubt other changes coming for “Guiding Light,” since the show has hired Douglas Anderson, an award-winning playwright and television writer, to lead the headwriting team. Anderson’s co-headwriter is two-time Daytime Emmy winner Nancy Williams Watt. The rest of the writing team includes Craig Carlson, Michael Conforti, Tom King and Peggy Sloane. At this time there is no hint of any story line surprises in the immediate future.

“Guiding Light” airs weekdays at 2 p.m. om CBS.