Chris McKenna may be playing a secret agent, but the cat’s out of the bag where his future at General Hospital is concerned. According to SoapCentral, the actor announced during the show’s fan club weekend that he’s officially becoming a contract player on the soap.

Happy as fans were to hear this news, it certainly wasn’t a given. You might recall that McKenna stepped into the role of WSB head Jack Brennan when previous portrayer Charles Mesure unexpectedly opted to leave the soap he’d joined less than a year prior. News of the recast came as a surprise and unfolded quickly, with Brennan stepping into the part only days after his predecessor had last aired and less than 48 hours after the switch had been announced.