Kelly Monaco Leaving General Hospital After 21 Years

Originally appeared on E! Online

Port Charles will never be the same.

After 21 years and more than 2,000 episodes, actress Kelly Monaco is leaving General Hospital, according to multiple reports. The 48-year-old actress first got her start on the General Hospital spin-off, Port Charles, playing Livvie Locke in 2000. When that show was canceled, Monaco transitioned over to General Hospital, where she played central character Sam McCall from 2003 on.

Monaco is expected to leave the show this fall, and several outlets are speculating that her character might be killed off.

The Soap Opera Network was the first to report the shocking exit.

Monaco’s work in the soap opera world has earned her two Daytime Emmy nominations—one in 2003 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series on Port Charles and one in 2006 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series on General Hospital.

Beyond her work in acting, Monaco also famously won the inaugural Mirrorball Trophy on Dancing With the Stars in 2005 alongside dance pro Val Chmerkovskiy. She also placed third on the show in 2012’s Dancing With the Stars: All Stars. The former dancing pair reunited in January for the primetime special General Hospital: 60 Years of Stars and Storytelling.

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Though Monaco has not publicly commented on her reported exit from the show, she coincidentally recently spent time with another past General Hospital cast member, Tony Geary, who left his role as Luke Spencer in 2018.

In her most recent Instagram post from July 9, Monaco posed with Geary, writing, “Visiting my dearest friend… TG. #Amsterdam.”

During a 2017 interview with Michael Fairman, Monaco gushed about her fanbase supporting her amid tough times.

“My fans are amazing,” she shared at the time. “They support me through thick and thin. They know when I’m quiet something’s going on. I feel like it’s a really awesome understanding.”