Susan Lucci Says 'There Has Been Movement' with 'All My Children' Spinoff Series: 'COVID Is in Play'

Susan Lucci is sharing some insight into the current status of the All My Children spinoff series.

While chatting with PEOPLE about her ongoing collaboration with the American Heart Association and its Go Red for Women initiative, the 75-year-old actress also opened up about the planned revival series to the Emmy-winning show, which was previously announced in December 2020.

Noting that word about the forthcoming project comes "sporadically," Lucci told PEOPLE, "There has been movement. I wish it was a quicker movement, but yes, everything in terms of being in the right hands, as far as I know, would be in place."

"It's really interesting, and the concept is so good," she continued. "[It's] in the right hands ... [with] Kelly Ripa and her husband, Mark Consuelos, who are both so terrific. They would be executive producers, so I'm really hoping that this is going to actually go forward."

Lucci — who starred as character Erica Kane on the daytime soap opera from 1970 until its final episode in 2013 — did note, however, "COVID is in play again, and things are slowed down."

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Back in 2020, Ripa, 51, and Conseulous, 50, announced their involvement in the project, marking their return to their soap opera roots years after they first met on the set of All My Children. The duo is executive producing the spinoff series, which will be titled Pine Valley, according to a prior report from Variety.

Named after the fictional Philadelphia town where the ABC series originally took place, Pine Valley will follow the story of "a young journalist with a secret agenda" who plans to bring the dark history of the town to light, "only to become entangled in a feud between the Kane and Santos families," per the outlet.

Leo Richardson is writing and executive producing the project with Robert Nixon — the son of All My Children creator Agnes Nixon — who is also on board as an executive producer. Ripa and Consuelos are attached to the series under their Milojo Productions banner, Variety noted.

On Twitter, EP Richardson shared his excitement over the news of the planned revival, writing at the time, "Beyond excited to be writing/exec producing this classic and giving it the full modern prime time treatment. Let's go! #PineValley @KellyRipa @MarkConsuelos." In response, Consuelos quote-retweeted the post from Richardson, and said, "So excited Leo!!!"

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All My Children aired for 41 years on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011. It was later revived briefly as a web series in 2013. (The show began in a half-hour format before changing to hourlong episodes in 1977.)

In the series, Ripa starred as Hayley Vaughan from 1990 to 2002, while Consuelos portrayed Mateo Santos Sr. from 1995 to 2002. Both also appeared on the show in multiple episodes in 2010 for the series' 40th anniversary.

The pair played an onscreen couple, which led to them dating and eventually marrying in real life. Ripa and Consuelos now share three children together: sons Michael and Joaquin, plus daughter Lola.

In 2020, Entertainment Weekly reunited the All My Children cast for their #UnitedAtHome series amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, many of the former stars said they would be open to a potential reboot, including Lucci, though she remained cautious and said she would only be on board if the reboot was "in the right hands."

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Continuing to speak with PEOPLE, Lucci explained that her character Erica would currently "be up to something really exciting" in the present day. "She would definitely be involved [in the drama], she would never be just lying down somewhere," she said with a laugh.

"With Erica, you never knew what she was going to say or do, and that made her really fun to watch," Lucci added. "She was full of spirit, and people identified with that spirit of her very much."

"So certainly, I think, the same thing that women and men could identify with would still be there," she continued. "She was a woman you loved to hate, but, on the other hand, you also loved to love her and root for her."

And though she remained mum on exactly whether or not she will make any form of an appearance on the planned spinoff series, Lucci did offer some insight into characters she would love to see return either way. "Well, certainly I would hope my two daughters would come back," she said of Alicia Minshew, who played Kendall, and Eden Riegel, who played Bianca. "We had wonderful, wonderful relationships, and they were [a part of] important storylines."

Lucci also said that she'd similarly love to see other characters appear as well, such as Walt Willey's Jackson, Jill Larson's Opal and Julia Barr's Brooke, among others.

"But I know the concept would also introduce some compelling new characters and that would be very exciting too," she noted.