After a beloved three-decade long run as Brooke English on All My Children, Julia Barr left the show after an ugly contract dispute 2006.

So you can imagine the surprise of fans when they heard the following news: the actress will appear on the show's 40th anniversay episodes, which air on January 4 and 5.

Other former stars returning for the occasion will be: Kelly Ripa (Hayley), Mark Consuelos (Mateo), Eva LaRue (Maria), Taylor Miller (Nina) and Laurence Lau (Greg). But all eyes will be on Barr.

She spoke to TV Guide Magazine about the comeback in a recent interview. A couple of excerpts follow...

On her original exit: It was not an appropriate way to go. After being on the show for so long the character needed some kind of closure and so did the fans. For whatever reason that didn’t happen. Now, hopefully, it will.

On her return: This is to the show’s credit. It’s a good, lovely, positive thing. I truly appreciate the cast and crew I worked with... for the greater part of the 30 years, I had an incredible time and that was due to so much to the people around me.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.