General Hospital
Kelly Monaco Back On-Screen This Week as General Hospital’s Sam McCall
General Hospital fans have been trying to wrap their heads around the upcoming exit of 21-year vet, Kelly Monaco, who is scheduled to finish her run as Sam McCall when reportedly the character will be killed-off the canvas.
Last week on-air, another soap vet, Lindsay Hartley had once again stepped into fill the role of Sam when Monaco was temporarily away from the series for a few episodes. Now Hartley’s run is completed and Monaco will be back on your screens starting with the Wednesday, September 25th episode of the ABC daytime drama series.
Hartley’s recent returned timed around the funeral episodes of baby Adela, and the beginning of the courtroom drama for Sam’s mom, Alexis Davis, who has been arrested for the murder of John “Jagger” Cates (Adam J. Harrington). Monaco’s return comes in a key point in the story as Sam looks for evidence to free her mom, while Dante’s (Dominic Zamprogna) former wife, Lulu is about to wake up when Alexa Havins (ex-Babe Carey, All My Children) is finally seen on-screen as the new Lulu.
Photo: JPI
There have been many rumors floating about that it will actually be Sam who will save Lulu’s life and be a liver match and not Lulu’s brother Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson), who is still being held captive in Africa. Jason (Steve Burton), Anna (Finola Hughes), Laura (Genie Francis) and Kevin (Jon Lindstrom) are all trying to get Lucky out of a jam, and bring him back to Port Charles.
Photo: X
Meanwhile, the I Stand with Kelly campaign continues to ramp up signatures on its petition to reinstate Monaco as Sam, and to have the powers-that-be rethink their decision. Last week, the campaign took out a billboard in Times Square, New York City showing their solidarity and support of Monaco.
GH usually tapes 4 to 6 weeks ahead of its airshows, so it will be interesting to see what Sam does now to help get her mother out of a jam, and what will develop in the situation with a comatose Lulu in the time Kelly currently has left on the soap.
So, glad to see Kelly back on-screen at GH? How do you think GH plans to kill off Sam? Share your theories via the comment section below.
I’m a big fan of the character and the actress. Kelly is very talented and her character is interesting to watch when she’s been onscreen. Not much of a storyline these past few months. Shame on GH for writing her off the show. Many other characters that we could do without (Cyrus and Heather to name two.)
I agree with you Priscilla.
Hartley was better in the role, Kelly has not seemed to be all in for quite awhile
It’s good to know Kelly will return this week. I noticed her photo hasn’t appeared in the opening credits over the last five+ days and wondered if she would return to wrapped up her role. Many fans think Sam will die searching for the gun Alexis threw off the bridge. Regardless of how she dies, we all know they can always bring Sam back.
While there’s a sub in the role, they leave the permanent cast member out of the rotating opening credits.
I have always felt the opening credit photos represent who appearing on the show that day, nothing more.
There’s about 25 pictures in the credits. Usually that’s a bit more than total number of contract and frequently recurring actors in the episode, so they do add some. Laura hasn’t been on since the end of August, yet her photo has appeared a few times since.
Well, the Lulu liver makes sense if Sam drowns while she dives to find the gun. Loss of oxygen and brain death usually means an organ donation story..
And isn’t it so convenient that the new Doctor in the house is a transplant specialist?
From a story perspective, her death can lead to so many stories for all of the canvas. Maybe not as poignant as BJ dying to give Maxie a heart, since she was just a child. Not that it won’t hit home, but I feel like kids make everything more emotional. But this good be so good for so many on this canvas and lead to some Emmys.
Michael – please stop referring to the baby as
“Adela”. The name on her birth certificate and eventually her grave marker is Irene.
Or at least “Adela/Irene”.
Why do you insist on the baby only being named by her father’s family? As her birth mother, Krissy had every right to give her a name she chose. The name on the birth certificate could say Mickey Mouse, but Kristina can call her whatever she feels her name should be.z
Simple – there would never had been a baby to begin with if it had not been for TJ and Molly. Kristina did not set out to have a child – she was carrying it for her sister and her sister’s partner.
Not until the final month of pregnancy did Kristina decide (unseen by the audience) that she would claim the baby for herself.
Sure, Krisitna can call the baby what she likes, but officially, her name was Irene. Any references to “Adela” should be made with quotes to inflect Kristina’s view.
Wasn’t the egg Kristina’s?
Yes, Kristina was both the egg donor and the surrogate. Doesn’t impact her last minute switcheroo.
Not the switcheroo just that in her own mind, she called the baby growing inside her Adela.
You’d think two sister could have at least agreed on “Irene Adela” for the baby’s name.
To give Kristina a say in naming the baby would imply that she’s a co-parent. That decision was up to Molly and TJ.
Well.. I can now understand how hard it must be to have the egg be yours… then be expecting to just hand the baby over, agreement or not.
I was team Molly & TJ in the beginning of the story.. but now see Kristina side too.
I wasn’t interested when this storyline started, but now glad for the insight it gave into the complications of surgacey.
Meh. That baby was never legally Molly’s. And though it was intended to be, Kristina changed her mind. Not on purpose, but because her maternal feelings (which Alexis warned her AND Molly about) were stronger than she ever could have imagined. That baby was hers; biologically, and bonded in ways that Molly didn’t experience. Had the baby lived we don’t know how the story would have gone. I think it’s safe to say that if Molly and TJ did get custody, yes, the baby’s name would be up to them. But I get why Kristina wanted to give the baby a name. To her, this child that never got to live anywhere but inside her body was hers to name.
I’ll take Soap Opera Kyles for $2000.
Sam could still save Lulu without having to die, GH decision to get rid of a character that has so much rich history is baffling, I’m hoping things get reverse but for now I’m really sad if the character is killed off. sam does have a lookalike maybe real sam gets kidnapped and lookalike is the one killed off. Alicia Montenegro was that characters name.
I will no longer be a supporter to GH. They did Kelly Monaco so wrong She hasn’t had a good story because of the bad writers. They let Jacqueline go and are now bringing on new people. Maybe the writers need to go . I am so disgusted and disappointed.
I agree I stopped watching GH a long time ago because they have done Kelly wrong. She is one of the best actresses next to Laura Wright on the show and I cannot stand some of these new people. I just turned the TV off and don’t watch anymore.
I was a BIG Kelly Monaco fan. JASAM!! But the last couple of years she came off as being very unhappy with GH. My personal opinion is that it had to do with Steve Burton replacing Billy Miller. I for one could just see and feel her animosity words Steve. That’s a shame. They worked so well together and had GREAT CHEMISTRY. It wasn’t his fault that they replaced Billy Miller! This is my opinion!
Glad she’s back. Will stop watching when she leaves if they don’t change their mines and keep her.
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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