Kelly Monaco has been a part of the General Hospital ensemble for over two decades, but her exit is on the horizon. After playing Samantha McCall for over 2,000 episodes, the Daytime Emmy Award nominee will depart ABC’s soap opera after 21 years.
Monaco joined General Hospital in 2003 as Sam McCall, the daughter of Julian Jerome (William deVry) and attorney Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn), who was placed for adoption during their teenage years. She forged her own path as a con artist and was introduced as one of the show’s defining “bad girl” characters.
Monaco embarked on quite a journey while playing Sam over the course of the past two decades, and even received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for this role. ABC has yet to address her departure, and Moncao didn’t make any comments about exiting General Hospital after nearly 2,300 episodes.
Despite Monaco’s shocking exit, the return of several General Hospital veterans should soften the blow. Jonathan Jackson is coming back as Lucky Spencer for the first time since 2015, while Rick Hearst returned as Ric Lansing. Emma Samms is also expected to reprise her role as Holly Sutton in early September, after portraying this character on and off since 1982.
