General Hospital: Kelly Thiebaud Breaks Silence On Steve Burton’s Hiatus, Says ‘I Feel Let Down’
Soap fans were stunned when Steve Burton announced that he was taking a break from his Daytime Emmy-winning role of Jason Morgan on General Hospital — and they weren’t the only ones! When Burton’s GH love interest, Kelly Thiebaud, sat down with Maurice Benard (Sonny) for a candid interview on his mental health-themed podcast, State of Mind, she expressed her own shock and disappointment over her leading man’s hiatus.
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The episode featuring Thiebaud will stream on YouTube on Sunday, February 22, but TV Insider shared an exclusive first look at the interview. In the clip, Thiebaud addressed her reaction to Burton’s decision, admitting, “I was shocked when I found out. I was very shocked. So, I confronted Steve about it.” Thiebaud noted that when they spoke, her co-star “gave me his reasons,” which, according to his public statements, pertain to a desire to spend more time with his family. “I’m newly married,” Burton explained on his podcast with Bradford Anderson (Spinelli), That’s Awesome. “I want to take a break, I want to live life a little bit and go enjoy.”
Thiebaud, who herself has exited the show on more than one occasion since she began playing Britt back in 2013, mused, “I know what that feels like,” adding, “But the other side of that is I feel let down, you know? So I thought we had time together and it’s just been really hard. It’s been really hard.” Thiebaud continued, “He he has more important things in his life. I completely understand that. But it’s … I’m sad. I’m sad that he’s going.”
For his part, Benard observed that Burton’s departure “seemed abrupt,” but concluded, “We have to just let Steve be Steve.” Thiebaud concurred, stating, “He’s got to go live his life and I wish him nothing but the best, I really do. I love Steve and I will miss him terribly, but again, I understand. You gotta go when you feel the need to go.”
Thiebaud returned to GH in the summer of 2025 after Britt was seemingly killed off in early January 2022 when the Daytime Emmy-winning actress opted to leave Port Charles. She told Soap Opera Digest at the time, “My return to the show [in 2020] was only supposed to be temporary and to be quite frank, it was only because of my relationship with Steve and our characters falling in love with each other and having something really magical happen between us that made me want to stay, so I agreed to stay longer.”
While Jason and Britt’s romance heated up during that time period, Burton and GH parted ways in 2021 over the show’s institution of a Covid vaccine mandate. Thiebaud shared, “We were all really excited to go on this journey, and then the whole bomb dropped [with Burton’s departure] and I was really disappointed about that. It was like, ‘What just happened? I stayed on the show for this storyline!'” The actor wound up returning as Jason in 2024.
As first reported by Digest, Burton shot his final episode before commencing his break on Friday, February 6, but will air into the early spring. He is planning to return to work this summer. In a statement provided to Digest, GH Executive Producer Frank Valentini said, “We love Steve and I am glad the show worked it out so he can get some personal time with his family. We have some great Jason story leading up to spring and look forward to his return in the summer.”
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