Nikolas Cassadine and Britt Westbourne

Tyler Christopher and Kelly Thiebaud as Nikolas Cassadine and Britt Westbourne

**Prince Nikolas Cassadine** and **Dr. Britt Westbourne** are fictional characters and a former popular couple on the ABC daytime soap opera *General Hospital.*

## Casting

Actor Tyler Christopher originated the role in 1996 and portrayed him, on and off, until 2016. Christopher brought home his first Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in 2016.

Actress Kelly Thiebaud portrayed Britt from 2012 to 2014, although she made brief returns in 2015, 2017 and 2018. She will be making another return in either late March or early April 2020.

## Background

Nikolas was the son of the late, Prince [Stavros Cassadine and Laura Webber. He was also conceived via rape.

Britt is the daughter of supervillains, Cesar Faison and Dr. Liesl Obrecht.

Nikolas proposed to Britt on February 17, 2014 but she didn't say yes until February 18.

Nikolas broke up with Britt in March 2014, when he found out that she had used his sister and brother-in-laws embryos to conceive the child that she claimed was hers.

Nikolas was shot and "killed" by Valentin Cassadine on July 19, 2016, however he was revealed to be alive on October 31, 2019.

## Storylines

* 2013
* 2014

Nikolas and Britt met in the park on the Fourth of July in 2013. Britt had just come from another bad run in with Patrick Drake and his girlfriend, Sabrina Santiago at their 4th of July family picnic. Britt was left with no one to spend the holiday with, until she ran into Nikolas and his son, Spencer Cassadine. Spencer invited Britt to watch the fireworks with him and his father, which she accepted. From that point on Nikolas and Britt became friendly. Britt was the town pariah, not many people liked her, so Nikolas decided to befriend her.

A week after meeting in the park, Nikolas ran into Britt going to Lamaze class at General Hospital. Britt was almost 8 months pregnant with a baby she claimed with Patrick's. Patrick was unable to attend the class with her due to a last minute surgery, so Nikolas stepped in and attended the class with Britt instead. As Nikolas and Britt began to bond more, Britt's criminal mother, Liesl Obrecht attempted to dissuade this by stating that her daughter needed to focus on winning Patrick's love. But Britt told her mother she was no longer interested in Patrick and that she enjoyed spending time with Nikolas.

A month later, Obrect attempted to poison Police Commissioner, Anna Devane, but Duke Lavery ended up drinking the poison instead. Anna pursued Obrecht for the attempted murder of Duke, and Obrecht went to Britt for help. Britt helped her mother escape, but soon after Anna and Detective Dante Falconeri showed up on her doorstep. They arrested Britt when she was 9 months pregnant and took her down to the station in an attempt to use her to lure Obrecht out. Having no one else to turn to, Britt calls Nikolas and he bails her out of jail. He also invites her to come stay at Wyndemere with him, which she accepts.

While living together, Britt and Nik got to know one another more. They bonded over the fact that they both have evil parents -- Nikolas is the son of Stavros Cassadine, who was considered evil and crazy, and Britt is the daughter of super villains Cesar Faison and Dr. Liesl Obrecht. They also bonded over the questionable things they have done in their own lives. The next day Patrick comes to Wyndemere to tell Britt that he will be suing for sole custody of his son, after he learns that Britt's mother is Dr. Obrecht. This prompted Britt to tell Patrick that he is not the real father of her baby -- Brad Cooper is. Initially Patrick does not believe her, but he does eventually and they fight. When Nikolas comes home to find Patrick upsetting Britt, he asks Patrick to leave his home.

When Nikolas asks what the fight was about, Britt tells him that Brad, not Patrick is the father of her baby. After hearing that Brad is the father and he wants nothing to do with Britt or the baby, Nikolas headed over to the hospital and confronted Brad, telling him that he needed to man up and accept his responsibility as a father. While Nikolas is confronting Brad, Sabrina comes to confront Britt, after learning from Patrick that he is not the father of Britt's baby. While Sabrina and Britt are arguing, Britt goes into labor. Nikolas arrives soon after and Sabrina and Nik are forced to help Britt give birth to a baby boy, whom she names Ben Westbourne.

Soon after the baby is born, Britt realizes that something is wrong with him. Using her experience as an OB/GYN, Britt deduces that there is fluid in her son's lungs and he needs to be rushed to the hospital immediately. The launch arrives and Britt is in no condition to be moved, so after some convincing she allows Sabrina to take her son to the hospital. Sabrina rushes the baby to the hospital and he is saved by Dr. Silas Clay. Meanwhile back at Wyndemere the launch returns and Nikolas carries Britt out of the house and to the launch. When they arrive at the hospital, Dr. Clay tells Britt that her son is fine and Sabrina got him to the hospital just in time.

When Britt is getting ready to leave the hospital, she runs into Nikolas and tells him she named her son Ben, because her best friend in med school had a son named Ben and she liked the name. When Nikolas asks her where she will be staying, Britt tries to lie and act like she has somewhere to stay, but Nikolas sees through her ruse and insists that she come back to live at Wyndemere with him. A few days later Obrecht comes to Wyndemere to visit her grandson and upon learning that Britt told Patrick he was not the father, she kidnapped Ben. Britt was heartbroken when she realized her son had been kidnapped and Nikolas comforted her through the ordeal.

Nikolas and Britt worked together to find Ben, and after Obrecht sent a video to Britt of her and Ben, Nikolas was able to deduce that they were on Cassadine Island. Britt and Nikolas then took off for Greece together to rescue Ben. Once they landed, Nik called Anna and told her that Obrecht is on Cassadine Island. Despite Anna's warning to stay off the island, Nikolas and Britt charter a boat anyways. When they arrive, they learn from the guards that Obrecht and Jerry Jacks are currently residing on the island. Nikolas heads off to confront Jerry and warns Britt to stay put. But soon after, she became restless and heads off in search of Ben. She ran into her mother and demanded to know where her son was. Obrecht told Britt that Ben was upstairs and tried to warn her of something else, but Britt pushed her away. Obrecht fell hitting her head on the coffee table and became unconscious. Britt hurried upstairs and found her son in the arms of her father, Faison. Faison claims he's going to raise Ben as his heir, but Britt claims that Ben isn't even her son, therefore not related to Faison either. Faison thinks she's lying, and threatens her, but Nikolas shows up and helps her out.

Soon after, Britt finds out that Patrick's late wife, Robin Scorpio-Drake is alive, having been held hostage by Britt's parents. Faison and Obrecht corner the three of them with Ben, and hold them at gunpoint. Then, Jerry shows up and reveals that he's holding Robin's parents, Robert and Anna Scorpio, and will only let them go if Robin creates a cure for his polonium poisoning. Nikolas and Britt say they have to go back to Port Charles, or people will become suspicious. Jerry agrees, but has Faison and Obrecht watch them and Robin to make sure they don't turn against him. Britt, Nikolas, Robin, and Ben come back held in captivity by Faison and Obrecht at Wyndemere. Britt takes Ben to get checked out at the hospital, and finds out Patrick and Sabrina are engaged. Distressed, Britt nearly tells Patrick about Robin being alive, but holds back when Nikolas tells her to. However, she later lets Robin know about this, who is upset to know her husband has moved on.

Britt and Nikolas manage to pull strings so Robin can get into the GH lab unnoticed to analyze the sample and formulate a cure. Nikolas and Britt later attend the GH Halloween party together with Ben. They continue to bond and later admit they have feelings for each other, which results in their first kiss. From that point on, they became an official couple. A short time later, their hostage situation is resolved when Robin is rescued by her parents and Jerry, Faison and Obrecht are neutralized. Robin reunites with her family and Faison and Obrecht are taken into custody. Free from their ordeal, Nikolas and Britt start to bond as a couple without all the outside stress of being held captive. As their relationship progresses, Nikolas could tell that Britt was still hiding things and asked for honesty at the start of their new relationship. In response to this, Britt admits that she lied about Ben's father again and Brad is not his father, but instead she used an anonymous sperm donor to get pregnant. Nikolas is initially upset at the lie, but they are able to overcome it. Soon after they prepare for the holidays, decorating Wydemere together, and in early December, they take their relationship to the next level and have sex for the first time.

A short time later Obrecht again calls on Britt for help and Britt is forced to comply. It is soon discovered that Ben is not Britt's biological son either, but Britt and her mother stole the already fertilized embryos of Dante and his wife, Lulu Spencer-Falconeri and used them to impregnate Britt. Obrecht threatens to reveal Britt's secret, and terrified of losing Nikolas over this misdeed, she helps her mother by calling a lawyer. The secret of what she has done begins eating away at Britt as she worries what Nikolas will do if it ever came out that she stole his sister's embryos. Nevertheless she keeps the secret, even as she, Nikolas and Ben spend Christmas with Dante and Lulu. Nikolas and Britt go on a date for New Years Eve and ring in the new year together.

At the start of the year, Britt and Nikolas are still dating and growing closer. Nikolas has also spent a lot of time getting to know Ben. Britt was in the running for the new Chief of Staff position at GH and was shocked when the position went to her mother instead, due to some deal she made with the WSB. Britt continues to feel guilty about her secret when Lulu starts coming to Wyndemere more often and is frequently seen holding Ben. When Britt hears that Dante and Lulu have separated due to the loss of a baby they thought was theirs, along with Lulu's inability to have any more children, Britt felt even worse for what she did and tried to convince Lulu to work things out with Dante.

On Valentine's day, Nikolas asks Spencer what he thought of him asking Britt to marry her. Spencer says he would love it so him and Spencer go out looking for the perfect ring. Afterwards they go to Lulu and Dante's so Nikolas could ask for Lulus blessing. Lulu gives him her blessing. During a nice dinner, Nikolas asks her to marry him, but she says that she can't. When he asks she told him about the baby being Dante's. Nikolas still wants to be with Britt and asks her yet again, to marry him, and Britt says that she doesn't believe why he would want to be with her after her having his brother in laws child. Nikolas asks one final time and she says yes.

During their engagement party, the truth about Ben being Lulu's son comes out and Nikolas breaks off their engagement. Nikolas and Britt are apart for several months. Britt decides that she wants Nikolas back and she goes to her mother for help. They begin scheming together and come up with a plan to help Britt win Nikolas back. The first step in the plan -- Britt helped Elizabeth get her job back in order to look good in Nikolas's eyes.

On July 4, the one-year anniversary of Nikolas and Britt's meeting, they come together to watch the fireworks with Spencer once again. Nikolas and Spencer were originally supposed to go with Elizabeth and Cameron, but Britt called her mother and had Dr. Obrecht arrange for Elizabeth to work that night. She then talked to Spencer about how much she missed him and Nikolas and wanted Nikolas back. Spencer preferred for his dad to be with Britt over Elizabeth because he didn't want Cameron to become his step-brother. So, Spencer agreed to help Britt get Nikolas back. The second step in getting Nikolas and Britt to spend time together was for Spencer to invite Britt to watch the fireworks with him and his dad. Before the fireworks show, they shared a picnic and Britt reminisced with Nikolas about what it was like a year ago when they first met.

Spencer and Britt continue to scheme together to get Nikolas and Britt back together. Spencer tells Britt about Alice Gunderson's unfortunate heart attack and hospitalization, and encourages her to volunteer as the substitute counselor for Lila's Kids camp. Britt takes Spencer's advice and "runs" into Nikolas when he comes to drop Spencer off at camp. Britt and Spencer concoct a little scheme to make Britt look better in Nikolas' eyes which works. Britt is having a hard time wrangling all the kids, so Nikolas volunteers to help.

Nikolas and Britt work the camp together and have time to talk. Britt tells Nikolas that it's obvious that Spencer wants them back together, but she reassures Nikolas that she will talk to Spencer and let him know that it's not going to happen, because that's not what Nikolas wants. Nikolas agrees with her, but seems a little unsure in his answer. Later, Britt tells Nikolas that she hopes one day they can be friends again.

***Nikolas**: "Britt Westbourne... will you marry me?"*
***Britt**: "Oh, Nikolas. I don't know what to say."*
***Nikolas**: "Look, I-I know it's sudden, okay? But I feel like we've already had to weather more emergencies than most couples do their whole lives, you know? And you just -- you really make me happy."*
***Britt**: [Crying]*
***Nikolas**: "I love waking up next to you every day. I-I get -- I get this, like -- this thrill every time I hear you coming home, and when I'm gone, I can't wait to rush back to you. And I-I know that Spencer really loves you. And, Britt, I-I love Ben as if he were my own son. I really do. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you be my wife?"*
***Britt**: "[Crying continues] I can't. I'm sorry. [Sniffles]"*

***Nikolas**: "Britt, you told me you didn't know who Ben's father was, and I believe you. But more than that... I love you. I love you, and... I still want to marry you... if you want to marry me. So what do you say?"*
***Britt**: "Nikolas, you can't be serious. I mean, you just found out that I have a kid with your brother-in-law. And you want to propose? Tonight?"*
***Nikolas**: "It kind of looks that way. So, what I hope is for the last time... [Laughs] ...Will you marry me?"*
***Britt**: "[Sighs] Yes. Yes, I'll marry you. [Chuckles, sniffs]"*

***Nikolas***: Okay. Just for now, I'm gonna put it on your right hand, till your wrist heals, okay?

***Britt***: Okay.

***Nikolas***: Okay. I really love you.

***Britt***: I love you more.