‘General Hospital’ Comings and Goings: Kelly Monaco Is Off the Canvas for Now

The latest General Hospital comings and goings spell trouble for fans of the #Sante ship. Kelly Monaco, who plays Sam, is off the canvas. Find out who is temporarily stepping in for Monaco.

Kelly Monaco periodically leaves ‘General Hospital’

This isn’t the first time that Kelly Monaco has temporarily left General Hospital. The last time Monaco took a leave from the show was back in August 2020. At that time, Monaco said she had a breathing problem related to a mask she had to wear on the set. This was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Monaco went into a 14-day quarantine, according to Daytime Confidential.

Later, Monaco’s mother shared an update on her daughter’s health. “Kelly is great and should be back on set Monday. 14-day quarantine after a breathing problem with mask 1st day back. 3 negative Covid test, I’d say she is better than great. Thank you for all of the love,” she said on Twitter.

Lindsay Hartley will temporarily replace her

During Monaco’s latest leave of absence, Soap Opera Network is reporting that Lindsay Hartley will replace her in a “handful of episodes” of the hit daytime drama.

Prior to her work with General Hospital, Hartley was known as Theresa on Passions, which was one of her longest-running roles. She also played Cara Castillo on All My Children and Arianna Hernandez on Days of Our Lives.

Outside of the soap world, Hartley has portrayed characters on such shows as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Smallville.

Monaco is already back to filming

Despite being off the canvas briefly, there are no hard feelings between Monaco and Hartley. In fact, when Hartley stepped in for Monaco another time, Monaco sent several tweets of support to her fellow actor. She said that Hartley “kicked a**” in her temporary role of Sam McCall and that she “did a good job.”

But GH fans shouldn’t worry too much about Monaco being off the canvas. According to Soaps.com, Monaco is already back to filming and just needed a quick break.

This continues in the time-honored tradition of temporary substitutes.

“This isn’t the first time General Hospital has used other actors to fill in for their stars,” reported the outlet. “Back in 2017, Days of Our Lives alum Jen Lilley stepped in for Kirsten Storms as Maxie, and in 2020 fellow GHer Jon Lindstrom (Kevin/Ryan) joined his real-life wife Cady McClain (ex-Jennifer) on the Salem soap to fill in for Matthew Ashford as her onscreen hubby Jack.”