‘General Hospital’: Alicia Leigh Willis Returns as Courtney Matthews to Send Off Mike Corbin

General Hospital had a special send-off for Mike Corbin. As a part of the episode, Alicia Leigh Willis returned to the show as Courtney Matthews, Mike’s daughter. It was a surprise return which has been a hit for fans.

Alicia Leigh Willis at Courtney Matthews

The character was first introduced on the show in 2001, arriving in Port Charles right after her mother, Janine Matthews. Courtney learned that Mike Corbin and that she had a half-brother, Sonny Corinthos. Upon learning that Courtney was his sister, Sonny became very protective of Courtney, which ended up leading her to a romance with A.J. Quartermaine, Sonny’s rival. It was originally A.J.’s plan to sleep with Courtney to get back at Sonny because he had custody of his son, Michael Corinthos. However, A.J. realized he actually loved Courtney. They ended up breaking up eventually.

Aside from this, Courtney also had a relationship with Jason Morgan. Once she and Jason broke up, she married Jasper “Jax” Jacks, but Jax continued to get closer to Elizabeth Webber. After this relationship ended, she got with Nikolas Cassadine. Courtney became pregnant and didn’t know if the father was Jax or Nikolas.

Nikolas’s grandmother, Helena Cassadine, attempted to kidnap the baby since it was a Cassadine heir. Courtney did in 2006 due to complications of the pregnancy. She did not tell Nikolas if he was the father before she died, but Jax knew the truth. He tried to raise Spencer as his own before Maxie Jones found out the truth. Maxie gave the results to her cousin, Robin Scorpio, who revealed the truth at his child’s baptism.

She returns for a very special reason

Willis returned once again for a one-episode stint as Matthews in spirit form. The character ushered Mike Corbin’s character off of the canvas as he has now died. It was an emotional conclusion to an emotional arc as Mike has battled Alzheimer’s disease on the show for several years now. Courtney shows up as a spirit to take Mike to heaven.

The actress posted about her surprise return to the show on Instagram, writing, “What a wonderful experience reminiscing with my favorite cast & crew.”

Viewers loved to see Willis return and were fans of this poignant scene for Mike’s final moments.

“Thank you Alicia for keeping it a secret. It was a delightful surprise and so very perfect for the storyline. Thanks for coming back for such a beautiful moment,” said one fan on Instagram.

Another person added, “It was great to see Courtney come to help Mike transition to heaven! Very emotional episode!”

“Nice surprise! I wish they would bring you back permanently,” said another fan. “[It] wouldn’t be hard to believe that Helena has kept you prisoner all these years so she could keep control of Spencer.”

General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC.