‘General Hospital’ bombshell: Kelly Monaco dumped after 21 years

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Published Aug 27, 2024  •  Last updated 6 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

After more than two decades, Kelly Monaco is set to leave ABC's General Hospital. Photo by Amy Sussman /Getty Images

Longtime General Hospital star Kelly Monaco will leave the soap opera after over two decades.

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After the Soap Opera Network first reported the news on Monday, Monaco’s departure was confirmed by Variety, Deadline, Us Weekly and other outlets.

Monaco, 48, has played Sam McCall on the sudser since 2003. 

According to the Soap Opera Network, Monaco’s exit will be permanent following her character’s death in an episode set to air later this fall.  

Sources told the outlet that the two-time Daytime Emmy nominee was “blindsided” by the news that ABC has “decided to terminate her character.” The move, Deadline reported, echoes a casting change that happened on CBS’ The Bold & the Beautiful earlier this year when Executive Producer Brad Bell decided to kill off Sheila Carter, played by the popular Kimberlin Brown. At the time, Carter called the decision a “hard pillow to swallow,” but she was eventually brought back in a shocking twist.

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Kelly Monaco arrives at the MAXIM Magazine 100th Issue Celebration at the Wynn Resort on April 8, 2006 in Las Vegas. Photo by Michael Buckner /Getty Images

After playing Livvie Locke from 2000 to 2003 on the spinoff Port Charles, Monaco joined General Hospital as Sam, a con artist who is the biological daughter of mob boss Julian Jerome (William deVry) and attorney Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn).

Last year, during the series’ 20th anniversary celebrations, Monaco reflected on a lengthy character arc, which included a recent relationship with Dominic Zamprogna’s Dante.

“Sam came onto the canvas only having herself and her brother, always taking care of someone and never being taken care of,” she explained. “I think the biggest evolution for her is starting from being a really lonely, scared woman and becoming a woman who is still really independent, but is protected by family and friends and love and relationships and loyalty, and she never had that before.

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“Now she has a family and kids. She came in bent and broken, and I feel like there’s a lot of her that’s still broken, but she’s constantly sort of putting the Rubik’s cube together. All the pieces don’t fit perfectly yet, but it’s certainly not broken anymore!”

Monaco also revealed that landing a role on General Hospital was her “dream” job, saying she also met with producers of One Life to Live and All My Children after Port Charles ended in 2003.

“When I got the call that Port Charles was being cancelled and my heart sunk,” she recalled. “I was so new and just getting my feet wet in the soap community, earning (a fan base), establishing a family. I was like, ‘Okay, well, back to the drawing board! Gonna start auditioning again!’

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“And probably within 30 minutes of finding out the show was cancelled, I basically got an offer from every one of the networks. I had the pick of the litter … But I was, like, a die-hard General Hospital fan. That was my dream; I was like, ‘General Hospital all the way!’ So, I was thrilled when (then-ABC Daytime President) Brian Frons said they would create a role for me.”

Kelly Monaco plays Samantha on ABC’s General Hospital. Photo by ABC

Asked what it was like to have been part of the show for 20 years, Monaco said it was “wild.”

“I was in my early 20s when I started! GH is such a legendary show and I consider it my second home. Every day when I drive to the lot, I am just so honoured to be a part of it,” she said.

On social media, news of Monaco’s departure was met with anger by longtime fans of the daytime drama.

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“This truly shocking and so disrespectful to her history with and devotion to the show,” one person wrote on X. “I hope Kelly Monaco knows she has the fans’ love and support.”

Another viewer called the move “a huge mistake.”

“Kelly Monaco has been one of the best parts of GH. Even with a lack of storyline, I look forward to seeing her on the screen,” they added.

In addition to her work on General Hospital, Monaco appeared on the first season of Dancing With the Stars in 2005, winning the Mirror Ball Trophy with her partner Val Chmerkovskiy. Monaco returned for the reality competition’s All Stars season in 2012.

The shakeup comes after Deadline revealed earlier this month that co-head writer Patrick Mulcahey is leaving the show with Chris Van Etten returning to run the writers’ room with Elizabeth Korte.

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