Olivia Spencer and Natalia Rivera Aitoro
Olivia Spencer and Natalia Rivera Aitoro, often referred to by the portmanteau Otalia, are a fictional couple from the American CBS daytime drama Guiding Light.
Despite this, the couple generated significant interest, not only amongst Guiding Light viewers[1] but also amongst soap opera critics,[2] LGBT-oriented websites such as AfterEllen.com[3] and The Advocate,[4] and mainstream media such as Entertainment Weekly.
Nelson Branco of TV Guide Canada named them 2009's "Sexiest Couple Alive," called the pairing a "fledgling super-couple,"[6] and wrote, "In an age of contrived and soulless couples, Olivia and Natalia’s burgeoning romance felt natural, innocent, and most importantly, real.
"[6] On April 1, 2009 (despite that date's usual connotations), CBS announced that the 72-year-old production of Guiding Light would cease broadcast on the network after September 18, 2009, effectively ending any long-term plans for the pairing.
In a BuzzWorthy Radio interview conducted on February 27, 2009, Crystal Chappell stated that in January 2008 Guiding Light Executive Producer Ellen Wheeler informed her and Leccia of the decision to proceed with the Olivia and Natalia story.
[7] In an AfterEllen.com interview released on March 1, 2009, Chappell stated that, "My EP (Wheeler) sat me down and told me that they were going to tell a story about two women who grow to depend on and love each other.
"[8] Additionally, in an interview in Soap Opera Digest, Chappell notes the collaborative effort of the writing team, but also credits Wheeler and Co-Head Writer Jill Lorie Hurst with giving the love story extra personal attention.
In the interview, Chappell states: "the rest of the writers are involved as well, but it's the two ladies [Wheeler and Hurst] who give the great female perspective and they actually read the lines back and forth to each other.
[10]Tiffany D'Emidion of the Internet magazine EclipseMagazine lauded the writing staff for creating a story that has a "very natural flow and hasn’t fallen into the trap of forcing an unbelievable situation to further a mediocre storyline with the desperate hopes of boosting ratings.
Chappell stated, "I thought it was a story that I had never done before on television and as an actress it was exciting to think about, exploring all kinds of love that exist.
"[8] Chappell and Leccia have been praised for their "impeccable" acting which, along with their on-screen chemistry, has been credited with making Olivia and Natalia a believable same-sex couple.
What fans are responding to is the fact that the chemistry between Crystal Chappell (Olivia) and Jessica Leccia (Natalia) is off the charts!
"[13] Olivia and Natalia's love story starts with the death of Gus Aitoro (Ricky Paull Goldin).
His newlywed bride Natalia, who is also his long lost high school sweetheart and mother of his teenage child Rafe (E.J.
The guilt over the transplant, the grief over Gus's death, and the pain from the surgery all combines to put Olivia in an extremely despondent state.
Olivia and Natalia are drawn closer because of Rafe's suffering over the loss of Gus and the troubles caused by his actions.
Just days after her pacemaker procedure, Olivia physically confronts the prison warden over Rafe being beaten by the other inmates.
Later, Olivia works out a deal with the governor where he purchases Natalia's house for above market value so he can complete a transportation project.
Olivia deals openly with her romantic feelings toward Natalia by discussing them with several people in town, including the closeted lesbian mayor of Springfield Doris Wolfe.
At the wedding altar, with Olivia as her Maid of Honor, Natalia is unable to say her vows to Frank, and flees the church.
Notably, after he guessed, Natalia confirmed to her priest, Father Ray, that Olivia is indeed the "Someone Else" who ended her engagement to Frank.
In so doing, Natalia made a signal break in letting the opinions of others (the Roman Catholic Church) define her own morality (which nevertheless remains strongly grounded in her personal faith).
Olivia has visited her older daughter (out-of-state, and offscreen), Ava, but it has not been stated whether or not she was informed of her mother's changed relationship to Natalia.
More immediately pressing, is how to tell the two children in Springfield: Natalia's 19-year-old son Rafe (freshly released from prison), and Olivia's 8-year-old daughter, Emma (who, with the "My Two Mommies" project behind her, may be the most instinctively supportive member of the family).
As they do so, consciously or not, they seem to be evermore drawn to each other on a physical level, in ways both tender and flirtatious: increasingly expressing that they are in love.
[17] Later that month, a CBS publicist stated that "this is not going to be a gay story line", but would be a "deep, rich, emotional relationship that will be very unusual for soaps.
"[18] In her BuzzWorthy Radio interview conducted on February 27, 2009, Chappell provided insight into the "gay" controversy when she stated, "our intention from the very beginning was not to throw labels out there.
"[7] Since October 2008, the controversy has subsided because Olivia and Natalia's story has progressed enough toward romance that members of the media have considered them to be a budding lesbian couple.and SheWired.com,[19][20] Nelson Branco of the Internet website TV Guide Canada refers to their relationship as "romantic love".
In addressing the potentially broad cultural impact of their relationship, Davis quoted Jamey Giddens, the editorial director for Daytime Confidential: Guiding Light's Olivia and Natalia are off to a good start, as two women who once battled over the same man have managed to find common ground in their love for Olivia's daughter and their joint attempts to rebuild their lives.
If the storyline isn't derailed, it could prove to be one of the most fascinating explorations of love, friendship and sexuality, not just in daytime, but in television as a whole.
