Why is Kelly Monaco leaving General Hospital?

Kelly Monaco’s General Hospital character Sam McCall has been a fixture in Port Charles for decades and is a huge fan favorite. Thus, her followers are having a hard time understanding why the show unexpectedly let her go. No explanation for her exit has been given, and the only detail known so far is that Sam will be killed off sometime in the fall.

She first journeyed into the soap opera world when she nabbed the role of Livvie Locke on the GH spinoff series Port Charles in 2000, where she stayed until 2003. Subsequently, she slid over to GH to play Sam, who at first was a con artist. Over the years, she’s had several relationships, and her list of beaus includes Jasper “Jax” Jacks, Dr. Patrick Drake, and Sonny Corinthos, among others, and she’s currently with Dante Falconeri.

But Sam’s most popular relationship was with Jason Morgan, with whom she had a child named Danny, who’s a lot like his dad. The couple is affectionately known by the fan smoosh name “Jasam.”

The couple’s followers are devastated by the news of her departure because they’d been holding out hope that the two would reunite since Steve Burton returned to reprise his role as Jason in April 2024.

But Sam’s exit might pave the way for Dante to reunite with his ex-wife, Lulu Falconeri, who is slated to be emerging from her coma soon (as a yet-to-be-determined recast).

When did Kelly Monaco join General Hospital?

In October 2003, Kelly Monaco originated the character of Sam McCall, who had a mysterious past. She was searching for a deck of cards called the “Dead Man’s Hand,” which were the cards that Wild Bill Hickock was holding when he was killed in real life. She hooked up with Jax while escaping, but she later had an affair with Sonny and got pregnant. Jason stepped in to briefly pretend to be the child’s father because Sonny was married at the time. Sadly, they lost the baby when Lila was stillborn.

In addition to her son, Danny, Sam McCall also had a daughter named Scout with Jason’s identical twin brother, Drew Quartermaine, and became a strong and loving mother. Turning from being a con artist to being a private investigator was also good for Sam, who put her skills to much better use by helping people. When her sister Kristina was indoctrinated into a cult called Dawn of Day, Sam risked her life to infiltrate the group and try to get the young woman out from under the thumb of its evil master, Shiloh, a.k.a. Henry David Archer.

Sam ended up killing Shiloh and got two years in jail for manslaughter, costing her valuable time caring for her children. More recently, she’s enjoyed a wonderful, loving relationship with Dante, who had gotten divorced from Lulu before an explosion at a restaurant rendered her comatose in 2020. Sam and Dante are really finding their groove as a stable soap opera couple, so the news that she’ll be killed off is not only devastating to fans but will also put a major monkey wrench into the characters’ romance.

Kelly Monaco has appeared in a few movies, including BASEketball (1998) and Idle Hands (1999), as well as several TV shows, such as Marie and Baby Daddy. Given that she’s been nominated for several awards, which include two Daytime Emmy nominations—in 2003 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work on Port Charles, and 2006 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her work on General Hospital—Kelly Monaco’s impressive acting skills show that she’ll be scooped up by another show or major project in the future.