What Led To Kelly Monaco To General Hospital Before Her Shock Firing

"General Hospital" has served as a launching pad for many actors. Among them is Kelly Monaco, who went on to achieve greater heights in her career after stepping into the role of Sam McCall. It didn't take her much time to become a fan favorite. Apart from getting famous, she also earned a good amount of money from the show. However, many people don't know that she got the aforementioned role after hearing devastating news about her other show, "Port Charles."

Monaco was never a stranger to the "GH" universe. The actor gained prominence after her role in the spin-off series and was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy. But things turned upside down when ABC canceled the show after six seasons, leaving Monaco without any work. Fortunately, her performance in "Port Charles" made her a hot commodity, and she started getting offers after the show got canceled. In an interview with Soap Opera Digest in October 2023, Monaco revealed that she said yes to "General Hospital" without even thinking twice. 

"I was, like, a die-hard General Hospital fan. That was my dream. I was like, 'General Hospital all the way!' So, I was thrilled when [then-ABC Daytime President] Brian Frons said they would create a role for me," Monaco Explained. She started on "GH" in October 2003 and portrayed Sam McCall for over 20 years. Shockingly, Monaco was fired from the show in August 2024 after the network decided to write off her character.

Two months after the news of her shocking exit surfaced online, Kelly Monaco made her last appearance on "General Hospital." Monaco's character Sam McCall died in the episode that aired on October 30. Most of the episode primarily focused on every major character saying goodbyes to McCall. Moreover, the episode featured an emotional sequence between Sam and her latest love, Dante (Dominic Zamprogna). The star's exit comes after playing the role for more than 2000 episodes since making her debut in October 2003. 

Although her last scene on "General Hospital" made her fans cry buckets of tears, Monaco feels that her exit didn't make any sense. In October 2024, the 48-year-old star shared a behind-the-scenes picture from the sets and revealed that she was getting ready to shoot her final scenes with her on-screen family. She captioned the since-deleted post (via Entertainment Weekly), "Last scene with the Davis girls. still doesn't make any sense to me." Surprisingly, this is one of the very few instances when Monaco opened up about her exit and made it clear that she was not thrilled to leave the show. Furthermore, the actor has confirmed that she will address the entire scenario in the near future. However, no specific timeline was given. Following her last appearance on the show, fans might get a response from her side shortly.