A shuffle behind the scenes of "THE GUIDING LIGHT" have brought production of the SONBC blog to a halt!!

"As of Thursday, February 15, 2007 David Tom was released from his contract role as Shayne Lewis." Executive Producer Josh Hawkins said.

Tom who joined the SONBC blog on September 4, 2006 completed twenty-three weeks as the son of Josh and Reva Lewis. "All actors and actresses, with the exception of a handful are on a thirteen week cylce." explained Hawkins. Executives and Tom came to the conclusion to terminate that agreement three weeks early.

"David has been nothing but wonderful during his time at "The Guiding Light," however age became an issue." Hawkins stated, "We've all seen the writing on the wall lately and the pre-nominations were the final straw, so to speak." Tom exits immediately and on good terms with the soap.

"I've loved my time here at "GL" and would love to return perhaps one day." Tom said, "Afterall this is a soap opera and my sister does call it home. Josh and Dan have crafted a great story for Shayne that some actor will be fortunate to play."

"Immediately after this became an issue Josh and I began debating back and forth as to who the new Shayne would be." Shares co-Head Writer Dan Gobble. "We brought in three fine young actors and screen tested them with Robert Newman (Josh), Kim Zimmer (Reva) and Marcy Rylan (Lizzie.)

Drew Tyler Bell (Ex-Thomas, B&, Scott Clifton (Dillion, GH) and Ben Hogestyn (Ex-Harry, B& all read for the role and after careful debate between Hawkins and Gobble they decided on, Ben Hogestyn.

"Ben is an amazing addition to the cast and "The Guiding Light" family." Smiled Hawkins. "He has every feature we were looking for to be the offspring of Josh and Reva."

Hogestyn who is the son of "DAYS OF OUR LIVES" leading man, Drake Hogestyn has had short term roles on "General Hospital" as Lucas Jones and "The Bold and Beautiful" as Harry. "Ben has had a bumpy ride in daytime so we're glad that he is here with us to play a role that we clearly adore." Gobble said.

"The writers know who Shayne is. They care about his relationship with his parents, with Marah, his friends and the entire community." Hogestyn said after landing the contract role, "I have big shoes and high expectations to fill and I look forward to doing just that."

Because of the recast, production came to a stand-still during the Valentine's Day episodes earlier this week. "Those episodes were a group effort and we had to go back and reshoot."

Hogestyn first appears opposite Stephanie Gatschet (Tammy) and appears in the credits immediately.