Kelly Monaco leaving General Hospital after 21 years: Report

We did not expect that we would be seeing Kelly Monaco leave General Hospital at almost any point and yet, here we are.

According to a report from Soap Opera Network, the longtime cast member could be leaving the ABC daytime institution after 21 years; not only that, but her character of Sam McCall could be killed off. Monaco was reportedly “blindsided” by the decision, which sounds about right given that you wouldn’t expect to be departing a job you’ve been at for over two decades.

If this is the end for Monaco here, could she land a gig somewhere else within the daytime world? Given the tight-knit nature of this community, that certainly feels like a possibility. She also does have a history in reality TV, given that she is the first-ever winner of Dancing with the Stars on ABC and went on to compete in the All-Star version of the show as well.

Of course, this is not the only instance of a prolific soap star leaving the show that they’ve been on after so many years, but isn’t it still stunning whenever it does happen? It certainly is also the sort of thing that can lead to a backlash among fans. At the moment the actress has yet to discuss the news of her potential exit, but the initial report claims that she will make her last appearance at some point this fall. This does mean that at the very least, you have some time to prepare for what is coming.

One last thing we’ll say

Even though a character being killed off does feel relatively final on paper, this is the world of daytime TV! We can’t even begin to get into all the instances where someone who is “dead” ends up coming back to life in some form … and all of that feels 100% possible now.

What do you think about the idea of Kelly Monaco leaving General Hospital after so many years?

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