John Oliver is hitting an unlikely career goal – appearing on long-running American soap operas General Hospital and Days Of Our Lives.

Back in March, the comedian told viewers of his HBO show Last Week Tonight how he was jealous of sports commentator Stephen A. Smith, who has made an annual appearance on General Hospital as Brick, the right-hand man to a mob boss, for a decade.

Oliver said he wanted to play a character who would ‘do something juicy like murder, or slapping, or being slapped, or being someone's long lost something. And ideally, I'd like a dramatic close-up of my face.  In return, trust me, I will give my all to this performance.’

Now his wish has been granted, and he is scheduled to appear in three episodes of both soaps, starting with a run on General Hospital on the ABC network from Thursday.

Details of his character have not been released, but Oliver said: ‘It’s a true honour to be a small stain on the history of this illustrious show.’

General Hospital executive producer Frank Valentini said of his latest guest star: ‘He was everything you’d hope he’d be: Prepared, professional, funny and genuinely kind to everyone on set. He plays an integral character in the story, and I can’t wait for fans to see who he crosses paths with in Port Charles.’

Oliver showed a small clip of himself on General Hospital – flanked by what appeared to be a SWAT team –  on the latest episode of his HBO show.

He told viewers: ‘Yes, that is me, surrounded by men with guns, and yes, my hair has been dipped in an inkwell.
‘And if you cannot tell from my face there, I’m acting really hard. I’m acting my hardest. In fact, I don’t want to brag, but they did say that of any guest star they’ve ever had. I used the most takes.’

He then showed a photo of his appearance on Days of Our Lives sporting a very odd-looking wig:

Corday Productions/Chris Haston

His episodes of this show will screen on streaming service Peacock on August 11, 12 and 14.

The soap is a US institution, which has run for more than 15,000 episodes – and was the show on which Matt LeBlanc's Friends character Joey Tribbiani played Dr. Drake Ramoray.

Meanwhile, General Hospital has run for 63 years, with previous cameos ranging from musician Rick Springfield to Elizabeth Taylor.