General Hospital’ Major Cast Updates for 2024: Exciting Returns, Upsetting Exits, & Recasts Revealed!
General Hospital has had a revolving door for cast members lately and there are so many beloved actors returning to the show after long absences!
Some major updates were announced during the first seven months of 2024 and we’re recapping everything that has happened lately.
After 60 years on the air, the daytime soap opera continues its tradition of passion, intrigue and adventure that has depicted the ongoing lives of the diverse and evolving citizens of the fictional town of Port Charles set in upstate New York.
Several stars have taken temporary leave of absences recently and there have been some major exits that were unexpected. Fans were also lucky to see the return of some fan-favorite actors!
Browse through the slideshow for all the big changes recently…
Kelly Monaco – Temporarily Replaced
Kelly, who played Sam McCall, missed some episodes during the first week of January 2024 as she was “simply under the weather” when the episodes were filmed.
Avery Pohl – Exited
ABC has confirmed that Avery Pohl has officially exited the long-running soap opera drama series following the January 31, 2024 episode.
Esme fell overboard from a private yacht during a dramatic fight with her ex-boyfriend Spencer and his current girlfriend Trina.
Both Esme and Spencer fell overboard and were presumed dead, but we know some details about what will happen with Spencer in the future.
William Lipton – Returned
Soap Opera Digest reported on February 2, 2024 that William Lipton will return to the show as Cameron Webber in the wake of his best friend and cousin Spencer’s presumed death.
William previously left the show in March 2023 when his character went to school at Stanford.
He won’t be around for long though as William just landed a role in the Amazon series The Runarounds.
Adam J. Harrington – Joined Cast
Adam J. Harrington recently joined the cast as John “Jagger” Cates, replacing original star Antonio Sabato Jr. nearly 30 years after the actor’s last appearance on the show.
Adam just broke his silence on replacing the star.
Eva LaRue – Joined Cast
Eva LaRue, best known for previously starring on All My Children, has joined the cast as Blaze’s mother.
Eva‘s character Natalia Rogers-Ramirez made her first appearance in the February 26 episode.
Jeff Leaf – Joined Cast
Jeff Leaf has made several appearances on General Hospital in February 2024 as O’Neill.
Lydia Look – Returned
Lydia Look was back in February 2024 as Selina Wu.
Michael E. Knight – Temporarily Exited
Michael E. Knight is taking a temporary leave of absence from playing Martin Gray. It’s not yet known when he will return.
Tonja Walker’s character Olivia Jerome was killed off
It was revealed in a recent General Hospital episode that Tonja Walker‘s character Olivia Jerome was attacked and killed. She was serving time in Pentonville at the time of her death. There’s some speculation amongst fans that the murder was committed by Jason Morgan.
It appears that Tonja learned about the death through Twitter.
“Looks like I died,” she tweeted. “Oh what a rip! I wish we could have actually shot some great story but again, another missed opportunity… unless it’s not. I guess you never know. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Tonja seems to be alluding to how soap operas often bring characters back from the dead.
If you didn’t know, Tonja played Olivia from 1988 through 2017.
Steve Burton – Returned
Steve Burton, who just left Days of Our Lives after spending a year on the show, is returning to General Hospital in early 2024.
Cassandra James – Returned!
Cassandra James will be back soon as Terry Randolph.
She wrote on social media, “First day on set since October. Almost half a year. Choosing gratitude because I know most actors have waited longer… Just imagine if the job you trained to do, that you’re good at and you love was consistently demonstrated to be ephemeral.
That having a second job was not only normalized but systemically suggested. When you come home and stream our work on your TV, artists are wondering why we rarely feel valued enough to make our job a living.”
Nicholas Alexander Chavez – Temporarily Exited, But Exit Is Now PERMANENT
It was revealed on January 26 that actor Nicholas Alexander Chavez will be taking a leave of absence from the show. His final episode as Spencer Cassadine, for the time being, aired on January 31, according to Deadline.
Nicholas will be starring in Ryan Murphy‘s upcoming Monster series about the Menendez brothers.
Ellen Travolta – Returned!
It was announced that Ellen Travolta would be back on the show during the week of May 13 to reprise her role as Gloria Cerullo.
She was on the show for the wedding of Brook Lynn and Chase.
He will reprise his role as Jason Morgan after leaving in 2021 for not adhering to the show’s vaccination policy at the time.
His first episode back aired on Monday, March 4.
Kody Kavitha – Joined the Cast!
Soap Opera Digest reports that Kody Kavitha will play the new Bobbie’s manager Hunter. She has previously appeared on SWAT and Awkward.
Virginia Ma – Joined the Cast!
Soap Opera Digest reports that Virginia Ma will play Nina’s new assistant Madison. She has previously appeared on The Thundermans and Magnum PI….
