General Hospital Casting News: Kirsten Storms Done Taping As Maxie For The Year, Moving Out Of LA
Last week, General Hospital fans discovered when watching the Thursday, July 3 episode that Kirsten Storms was being temporarily replaced in the role of Maxie Jones by Nicole Paggi, who had previously filled in for her in December 2023. Paggi is only slated to appear in a handful of episodes (one is scheduled to air on July 30, and another one will follow on August 13), and Soap Opera Digest has learned that Storms will return during the week of August 18. But her comeback will be a relatively short one, as Storms posted a new video to Instagram to reveal major personal news — she is taking a longer break from the show and will be gone for several months.
Southern Charm
In the caption to her video, the GH star revealed the reason she asked for an extended amount of time off: She’s moving from Los Angeles to Tennessee with her daughter, Harper Rose Barash, who she shares with ex-husband Brandon Barash (ex-Johnny, GH; ex-Stefan/Jake, Days of Our Lives). She wrote, “I’m very excited to be making Tennessee my home! I can’t wait to return to GH, once Harper and I are settled in our new town. I plan on documenting as much of this new journey on my social media as I can. It’s always been a dream of mine to move to a place like this, it’s hard to believe it’s really happening. 🥰”
In the video, Storms, who assumed the role of Maxie back in 2005, explained that her leave of absence has been in the works since March. “I meant to post this video a few weeks ago, and time just got away from me,” she began. “But in March, I asked Frank Valentini, our amazing executive producer, I had a conversation with him about my reasons for wanting to move — and my desire to not leave the show.”
The actress acknowledged that it was far from guaranteed that the show would be able to accommodate that desire. She noted, “Now, when you approach a job like this, they can always be like, ‘Forget it. I will let you out of your contract if you’re going to leave the state.’ GH did not do that — which was kind of amazing because I also asked for some time off.”
Storms went on to share that she had already wrapped filming at GH — for now. “The week before last week, I had my final taping day for the year,” she announced. (The show is currently on its summer production hiatus, and filming won’t resume until August.) “It’s possible I will be back in December, maybe November,” she added.
She went on to speak glowingly of the stories the show will be telling in her absence. “I promise you the storyline they have going on until my return to Port Charles is kind of incredible — you guys are gonna freak out, actually. Can’t wait to see the comments online about that,” she teased.
As fans already know, one such storyline involves the comeback of Storms’s former on-screen sister-in-law, Kelly Thiebaud, which is slated for this month, although the show has yet to reveal whether Thiebaud will be playing her original character, Dr. Britt Westbourne, or someone new.
Next, Storms said, “I really want to thank GH, the ABC network executives, the writers for agreeing to let me take this time. I know Frank and the producers there know my reasons and I am so grateful that they understand and are supportive.”
Anticipating that her announcement might set off a firestorm of speculation online, Storms went on to say, “Really quick about the online rumors — and I’ll get into some of this stuff at a later date — this is just me very long-windedly explaining that I’m taking a break and moving to Tennessee. If you don’t read about it or watch a video on it from my page, take it with a grain of salt. People like to say a whole bunch of stuff.”
Storms has taken a long break from the show once before. In September 2011, the actress’s struggle with endometriosis forced her to take an extended medical leave, and Jen Lilley (who was later hired to play Theresa Donovan on Days of Our Lives) substituted as Maxie until Storms reclaimed the role in September 2012.
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