As you very likely recall, the veteran actress was fired from General Hospital late this summer… a stunning development considering the star had portrayed the character of Sam McCall since 2003.
Not very much information was released at the time about what the heck happened.
Kelly Monaco attends the 49th Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Convention Center on June 24, 2022 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
According to Soap Opera Network, which broke this unexpected news in August, Monaco was “blindsided” by the firing.
Based on her very first comments since getting ousted, this report appears to be accurate.
“Last scene with the Davis girls,” Monaco captioned a behind-the-scenes photo on Instagram this weekend, adding by way of non-explanation and consternation:
“Still doesn’t make any sense to me.”
General Hospital viewers met McCall on October 1, 2003, having previously seen Monaco as Livvie Locke on the short-lived General Hospital spinoff Port Charles.
(Lindsay Hartley briefly filled in for Monaco in 2020, 2022 and 2024.)
Monaco earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2006 for this iconic role.
She was previously nominated in the supporting category in 2003 for playing Livvie on Port Charles.
Kelly Monaco attends The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Warner Bros. Studios on April 26, 2015 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Elsewhere, Monaco competed in the very first season of Dancing With the Stars 19 years ago — and actually won the inaugural Mirror Ball trophy.
In 2012, the actress was a contestant on the show’s All-Stars edition… on which Monaco and her professional partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, finished in third place.
In 2017, Monaco returned to Dancing With the Stars once more to perform the Rumba with Terrell Owens and Cheryl Burke.
The above photo, meanwhile, features Monaco on a couch with colleagues Kate Mansi, Nancy Lee Grahn and Kristen Vaganos.
Kelly Monaco attends the 49th Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Convention Center on June 24, 2022 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
In the comments section of the post, Grahn, offered a few words of encouragement.
“‘In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.’ — Albert Einstein,” Grahn told her friend. “I love you. All will be well. There are some things a TV mother just knows.
The General Hospital cast has undergone a number of significant changes in the past few months, starting in April when it was announced that Nicholas Alexander Chavez would NOT be returning to the role of Spencer.
In June, Michael Easton announced his sudden exit as Hamilton Finn, a role he took on for a decade.
This departure was followed by the returns of Rick Hearst as Rick Lansing and Jonathan Jackson as Lucky Spencer; both in August.
No one from ABC has yet said anything about Monaco’s firing, but it seems to be a done deal.
How do we know? Insiders say McCall will be killed off the soap opera.
