General Hospital
GH’s Kirsten Storms Admits Her On-Screen Storyline with Greg Vaughan as Lucky Spencer Was a “Rough” One For Her; But Who’s Maxie’s All-Time Best Love Match?
Kirsten Storms, who has been so unforgettable and beloved as General Hospital’s Maxie Jones, is celebrating this month her 20th anniversary with the ABC daytime drama series.
Along the way, Maxie had had several key romances and husbands, and which is why in her recent interview with Swoon, she explained, “So many of them are dead. Maxie is black widow-ish.”
One of Maxie’s suitors was none other than Lucky Spencer and at that time in the story back in 2005, it was played by Days of our Lives favorite, Greg Vaughan (Eric Brady). As Storms recalls, “It was weird. I’ve known Greg since I was, like, 14 or 15, and to me, back then, he was a grown-up. So, that was a very interesting experience.” In real-life, Vaughan is ten years older than Storms.
Photo: ABC
Kirsten clarified, “Of course, I always thought Greg was a gorgeous guy, but that was a little strange for me. And the storyline was rough because of all the things Maxie was doing just to get him. So, that was a crazy time, and questionable choices were made.”
In the storyline, Maxie used Lucky’s addiction, and bribed him with pain pills so he would have sex with her. Then, even worse, when Lucky he tried to reconcile Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst), Maxie faked being pregnant and faked a miscarriage.
Courtesy/ABC
Over the years, Maxie has had some interesting men in her life, which also included Oscar-nominee James Franco, when he visited GH for a guest arc as the crazed artist, “Franco.” Storm recounted, “I thought he was interesting and unique and his authentic self, if you will. I loved that he was honest about his nerves. He didn’t walk in as the movie star ‘James Franco.’ He walked in as somebody who wanted to learn about how we do things and then was honest about being overwhelmed by the amount of stuff we had to do. And he was humble. He was great to work with. I was nervous to work with him, but it was a great experience.”
Photo: ABC
Many GH fans loved Maxie’s romance with her then-husband, Nathan West played by Ryan Paevey, who was sadly killed-off the show in one of the most heartbreaking storylines. Storms shared, “We had times where we really got along, and then there were times I think I annoyed him like a little sister kind of, and those moments only helped our onscreen chemistry, like, the tension, I guess. I always laughed with him, and I enjoyed being around him. And I think that’s one of the best, on a non-humor level, romantic storylines I’ve been able to play with somebody.”
Photo: JPI
As for the one that has come back around, over and over again, is fan favorite, “Spixie” – Spinelli and Maxie. On working with Bradford Anderson (Spinelli), Kirsten expressed, “I still enjoy working with him so much. We grew into the adult versions of our real selves together. I learned a lot about what I’m capable of, as far as comedy and stuff in a scene, and so much of that is thanks to him.”
Photo: JPI
Along the way, Maxie has had romances with Jesse Beaudry (Matt Marraccini), Cooper Barrett (Jason Gerhardt), and Johnny Zacchara (Brandon Barash). It should be noted that Storms and Barash were previously married in real-life and share a child together, their daughter, Harper.
Kirsten recalled on working with Brandon Barash, “I remember being super excited to have a make-out scene with him. We were good buddies. Even still, our banter is unlike anything else in my life, and we always had that. ”
So, as we celebrate Kirsten Storms 20th anniversary as General Hospital’s Maxie, who is/was Maxie’s all-time love? Share your picks via the comment section below.
Spinelli
Love, love Maxi with Nathan ( Ryan Paevey)
Yes
Funny this piece doesn’t mention the lackluster pairing with Matt Hunter nor the hated coupling with Peter August.
Maxie & Spinelli are nice together, but domestic bliss with a younger couple usually equates to soap boredom.
Get Maxie a real storyline ASAP. Sadly, she’s been used as filler for about 2 years now.
The full interview does mention Matt, Peter, and even Levi! I like Maxie and Spinelli together, but would love to see a storyline for Maxie.
Thanks. I (luckily) forgot about Levi.
Maxie’s body count is actually higher than Michael’s.
Jesse, Cooper, Levi, Nathan, and Peter all dead.
I feel like Maxie is being groomed to be the next generation Lucy Coe when Lynn Herring finally decides to retire.
The Matt Hunter pairing was an obvious attempt to recreate Shawn & Belle from Days. They had actually pulled this off before, when Stefan Cassadine & Katherine Bell were the literal reincarnation of Steve & Kayla.
Even the first scene with Maxie & Matt bumping into each other at the hospital was a carbon copy of how they first met in Salem. Still with all that, it didn’t seem to work in Port Charles, and poor Matt went to prison for killing Psycho Lisa Niles, who of course nobody on your side of Earth’s crust was ever going to miss, in either case. Though at least she was more entertaining than Whiny Heiny. Still is, actually. I have her on succubus duty down here now.
I loved Greg Vaughan as Lucky.
Totally agree. He is one of the best soap actors we have.
Nathan
Nathan was her great love.
Interesting that there was no mention of Peter August (Wes Ramsey). Her acting during that storyline was among her very best work ever on the show.
I liked (Austin) Roger Hogarth and (Peter August)
Wes Ramsey
Love her just in general. But for me, Nathan was the ultimate. Really Like the ease of Maxie’s relationship with Spinelli, though.
I enjoyed Maxie with Nathan, but Spinelli is my favorite.
The latest ratings are out for the week of October 26-30, 2026 and the big takeaways include: that CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates was separated by only 23,000 viewers behind third place (of the soaps) General Hospital! For the last several weeks, Beyond the Gates has been closing the gap on this year’s winner for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, and continuing to best GH in the key demos.
According to the latest Nielsen ratings breakdown from Soap Opera Network, the final week of October brought Beyond the Gates 1.790 million on average tuning-in and the show set a season high in total viewers. Meanwhile, General Hospital hit a new season low! The long-running ABC soap had 1.813 million for the week, and once again the series did not go over the 2 million mark.
Meanwhile, in the key Women 18-49 demo, Beyond the Gates was firmly ahead of GH with a rating share of 0.21, while General Hospital had 0.17 rating share.Then, in the key Women 25-54 demo, Beyond the Gates was once again ahead of the ABC soap with a ratings share for that demo at 0.30 while GH came in with 0.26.
Photo: CBS
MORE BY THE NUMBERS
In addition and comparatively, Beyond the Gates +22,000 viewers week-to-week, and had the largest gains in viewership year-to-year in daytime TV with +267,000 from this in 2025.. However, General Hospital seems to be going in reverse. The show was down -56,000 viewers week-over-week and down -22,000 year-over-year .
BEYOND THE GATES
Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that had people tuning-in to Beyond the Gates during the ratings week:
Hayley (Marquita Goings) attempted a massive shocker regarding her pregnancy and tried to use it to extract money from Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). Although, Bill saw right through her game, he demanded a paternity test, and made it clear he has no intention of raising the child—planning instead to pay her off to take the baby and leave. Meanwhile, Hayley confided her plan to her cousin Randy (Maurice P. Kerry).
Jacob Hawthorne (Jibre Hordges) and Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) clashed over Jacob’s ongoing investigation into The Impaler, causing significant strain in their marriage. At the same time, Smitty (Mike Manning) considered taking matters into his own hands—including potentially heading to Mexico for evidence—while Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) worried about what comes next.
Photo: ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital for the ratings period, the story served up included:
Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) teamed up to investigate what really happened to Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Later, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) leads them to Jack’s dead body.
Jude (Wil Traval) dropped a bombshell claim to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn); that he is Phoebe’s father, while Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) signed their divorce papers.
Then, Danny caught Rocco (Finn Carr) and Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) sharing a kiss, plus the shocking return of Heather Webber (Alley Mills) capped the week.
Now the questions become; without having much promotional synergy in the ABC day-part to draw more eyeballs it is not helping but hurting General Hospital. It seems Beyond the Gates is also a benefactor of a one-two-three punch of CBS soaps (Y&R, B&B and BTG) and promotion.
However, that still doesn’t take away the fact that Beyond the Gates is close to besting GH in all ratings category as they go head-to-head in some markets across the country.
So, are you excited to see Beyond the Gates climb in the ratings? Are you concerned for General Hospital? Do you think they can stave off Beyond the Gates in total viewers or will the upstart soap overtake them in the next ratings report? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Antonio Sabáto Jr., the former Jagger Cates of General Hospital and GH: Night Shift, and the former Dante Damiano of The Bold and the Beautiful has issued his first public statement since the incident involving his son, Jack’s arrest in Alaska for a fatal hit-and-run.
Jack is the son of Sabáto Jr. and Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, and according to court documents obtained by KTUU Jack, was allegedly driving a white Chevy Tahoe when he hit and killed Carl Simmonds, 42, near an intersection in Anchorage around 5:35 a.m. on Monday, November 9.
The reports indicated that Jack fled the scene — but later decided to called the cops to say he hit “something” that “suddenly appeared in the road” while he was “doing late-night DoorDashing.”
Photo: NBC
Now, Antonio has taken to his Instagram breaking his silence on the situation, sharing, “At this time, my family and I are navigating an extremely sensitive and deeply personal matter.”
He added, “As a father, my love for my children remains unconditional, and my priority is the well-being of my family. We ask that the public and members of the media honor our privacy during this difficult time and keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.”
The soap alum concluded, “I also wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the gentleman who tragically lost his life. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well. We sincerely appreciate your compassion, understanding, and respect for the privacy of everyone affected.”
Jack Sabáto was arraigned in court on Tuesday, November 10 with bail set at $5,000, and a no-driving order and the potential of $5,000 penalty fees if he fails to attend future court appearances.
Antonio is the father to Jack, 34, daughter, Mina Sabato, 24 and son, Antonio Sabáto III, 15.
This is a developing story. You can check out Antonio’s official statement below.
So, let us know your thoughts on this tragic hit-and-run, which claimed the life of another man, and Antonio’s statement, via the comment section below.
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Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Ava’s (Maura West) daughter Avery looks quite different, starting on today’s November 9 episode of General Hospital. That’s because GH has made Avery into a full-blown teenager and the role is now being played by actress Alya Bullington.
In her debut, the Tennessee native was thrown into the deep soap waters with Daytime Emmy winners, Maurice Benard and Eden McCoy (Josslyn). Bullington weighed-in to TV Insider about her first scene which featured Avery overhearing a fight between Sonny and Josslyn.
She explained “It was something I have never done before, I did not have a lot of experience with the screaming and the crying stuff, but I got my first script, and I was like, ‘OK, this is a huge opportunity to learn so much about how that stuff works and to become this character that I have never even tried playing before.’”
Photo: ABC
THE TEENAGED VERSION OF AVERY WILL HAVE A LOT TO CONTEND WITH
Speaking of working with McCoy, Bullington shared, “She’s incredible. I remember her just laughing and making jokes on set, and then the minute that they started taping, she just locked in and she cried immediately, and my first thought was, ‘I want to be able to do that.’
The soap opera newcomer added, “I think she just inspired me so much because she is so great and she can just lock into whatever character she wants to in the moment.”
The character of Avery was born back in 2014, but as recently as the October 8 episode of General Hospital, the character was suddenly referred to as a teenager. This is the second young female character in recent months to be aged up following the casting of Kayden Brenna Tokarski as Scout Cain.
As for her take on Avery and what’s ahead, Alya said,“She’s emotional, and she’s curious, and she’s a really fun person to play because so much stuff is happening in her life. I think she’s kind of confused about what’s happening and what to believe.”
So, what do you think about General Hospital making Avery a teenager? Are you excited to see the conflict between Sonny, Ava and Avery now that they have aged up the character? Share your thoughts and welcome Alya to GH via the comment section below.
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