The population of Port Charles is decreasing by one, for at least a few months.
โGeneral Hospitalโ star Kirsten Storms posted a video on her Instagram page on July 7, announcing she will be stepping aside from the soap opera for an unspecified period of time so she can move with her daughter, Harper, to Tennessee.
โIโm very excited to be making Tennessee my home!โ she captioned the clip.
โI canโt wait to return to โGH, โonce 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. Itโs always been a dream of mine to move to a place like this, itโs hard to believe itโs really happening,โ she wrote.
Storms, who plays Maxie Jones on โGeneral Hospitalโ and made her debut on the show in 2005, explained her decision in the video.
โI meant to post this video a few weeks ago, and time just got away from me, but in March, I asked Frank Valentini, our amazing executive producer, I had a conversation with him about my reasons for wanting to move and my desire to not leave the show,โ she said.
โNow, when you approach a job like this, they can always be like, โForget it. I will let you out of your contract if youโre going to leave the state.โ โGHโ did not do that, which was kind of amazing, because I also asked for some time off,โ she continued.
Storms, who shares her daughter with ex-husband and former โGeneral Hospitalโ star Brandon Barash, said she taped her final episode of the year โthe week before last weekโ and hinted she could come back in a few months, while her plotline will energize viewers in her absence.
โItโs 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,โ she said. โYou guys are going to freak out, actually. (I) canโt wait to see the comments online about that.โ
Storms also remained thankful she is getting the chance to take a hiatus from the show.
โI really want to thank โGH,โ the ABC network executives, the writers for agreeing to let me take this time. I know Frank and the producers there know my reasons, and I am so grateful that they understand and are supportive,โ she said.
In addition, Storms tried to shut down any chatter about why she may be leaving.
โReally quick about the online rumors, and Iโll get into some of this stuff at a later date. This is just me very longwindedly explaining that Iโm taking a break and moving to Tennessee,โ she said. โIf you donโt read about it or watch a video on it from my page, take it with a grain of salt. People like to say a whole bunch of stuff.โ
Storms’ announcement came on the heels of Eva LaRue revealing she would be leaving the daytime sudser.
โI had a blast at โGeneral Hospital.โ I loved being there and I had a lot of really great scenes and I loved everybody that I got to work with,โ she told Soap Opera Digest.
