ARTICLE: 'General Hospital' Star Kirsten Storms Responds to Untruths, Speculations and Rumors

[Errol]

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In response to her video announcement on Monday night, where it was revealed she’ll be taking an extended break from “General Hospital” while preparing a move to Tennessee with her daughter, actress Kirsten Storms (Maxie Jones) took to the comments section of her Instagram post to clear up inaccuracies and additional rumors that have continued to spread, including fans not believing she’ll return after her break concludes in a few months, with Storms noting her situation differs from former co-star Chad Duell, whose Michael Corinthos character was later recast with Rory Gibson, since the actor chose not to renew his contract.

When a fan stated in the comments, “You will be missed. Your replacement made her debut the other day and I have to say, it wasn’t the best choice. I fast forwarded through her scenes,” Storms quickly put to bed any rumors of the show recasting her character during her absence. 

“No replacement while I’m gone, but I won’t say more than that for storyline purposes,” Storms confirmed. They had to bring a replacement in on a day I was sick. My last few episodes haven’t aired yet,” said Storms, referring to the show temporarily recasting Maxie with “Hope & Faith” star Nicole Paggi.

In a follow-up post, Storms responded to another fan who claimed that the show’s executive producer, Frank Valentini, “also told Chad he could return when he was ready and we see what happened just a few weeks later. I hope you return because no one else can come close to your performance as Maxie.”

Storms shut down the untruths in the poster’s comment, saying, “I apologize in advance, but these types of comments really bother me. People assume they know things that have happened on set/with ‘GH’ actors because they read some anonymous blog post.” She added, “Then somehow Frank gets blamed for a fictional situation that a random person (not associated with ‘GH’) most likely made up as they were typing it. Frank does not come on social media and start throwing people under the bus to clear up these undeserved - and often incredibly mean - lies. He could absolutely throw shade at actors that made major mistakes or caused problems. Instead he works to make sure 'General Hospital' continues to air.”

“For the record, Chad *chose* to completely leave the show,” continued Storms. “No one at ABC gave away ‘his’ job - he told them he didn’t want it anymore when he said he wasn’t going to resign his contract. I’m still under contract and have every intention of returning when the break (I was fortunate enough to be granted) is over.”

On Monday, Storms announced that she is moving to Tennessee with Harper, her daughter she shares with Brandon Barash (“Days of our Lives,” “General Hospital”).

“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,” said Storms in the caption of her Instagram post. “It’s always been a dream of mine to move to a place like this; it’s hard to believe it’s really happening.”

As for when fans can expect her back on screen, she said in her video message, “The week before last week. I had my final taping day for the year.” It’s possible I will be back in December, maybe November. I promise you the storyline they have going on until my return to Port Charles is kind of incredible – you guys are going to freak out, actually – can’t wait to see the comments online about that.”

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This article first appeared on Soap Opera Network.

[BrendaB]

That's nice of her to clear up the untruths about Frank.

[DRW50]

I am surprised that Steve Burton got involved in reposting Kirsten's statement as I didn't even know if he and Frank got on that well.

Unless Chad Duell was promised in writing that he could return whenever he wanted, I don't think there's anything to complain about. It's not the same situation as whatever is going on with Kirsten.

[Liberty City]

It stems from people online thinking they have "exclusive" information, which they don't.

[DRW50]

Many of us did think the role would be open for Chad, but that seemed to be just assumptions due to past history. I can see where fans who loved his Michael might be upset that they recast - and that the recast has seemingly been well-received - but it's not going to do Chad any good if fans rake the matter over. And involving Kirsten may just remind her of the whole situation with Jen Lilley which at times got ugly. 

[Liberty City]

Yes, but there were a couple of people trying to peddle information that Chad was taking a brief break but was coming right back. As for the Jen Lilley situation... that was unfortunate, as I don't think anything Lilley said was all that negative, and Kirsten Storms walked into that situation on her own.