General Hospital fans are devastated after beloved character is killed off after 2,200 episodes

Kelly Monaco made her final appearance on General Hospital during Friday’s episode of the ABC soap.

It comes after the end of the 48-year-old actress’ tenure on the series was announced in August.

Monaco appeared in more than 2,200 episodes as Sam McCall over 21 years, and in early October she said her firing “doesn’t make any sense” to her.

Upon hearing about the fate of Monaco’s beloved character and after watching her final performance, fans took to social media to share their emphatic reactions.

One person wrote on

Although viewers knew McCall would be killed, it was unclear how until recently.

It later became clear that her character’s decision to donate her liver to Lulu Spencer would prove fatal.

On October 30, fans learned that her organ was successfully removed, but Sam did not survive the surgery.

Then, Friday’s episode showed Sam’s mother Alexis, played by Nancy Lee Grahn, breaking the news of her daughter’s death to her love interest Dante (Dom Zamprogna), explaining that she had a heart attack after surgery.

Kelly’s TV mom Nancy addressed [castmates] to play.’

She added, “Playing Kelly Monaco’s mother was effortless and the love is real.”

Fans praised her performance, with one person replying in the social media thread: “That was challenging and remarkable.”

The person added, “I knew you guys would take it.” And I’m so sorry you had to.’

Another fan added, “It’s so sad but I was hoping you would be with Sam for the last scenes and you were. They were excellent. Word on the street is that I see Kelly Monaco leaving.”

There was a long-time viewer who wrote, “I really hope someone can step in and revise some of these storylines.”

The person went on to say, “This past year has been an emotional roller coaster and it breaks fans’ hearts over Kelly.”

‘I will miss Kelly. Truly a terrible call from the powers that be at GH,” someone else chimed in.

And one fan sent an angry message to show producer Frank Valentini: ‘This is for Frank Valentini for so callously firing Kelly Monaco and throwing away the most popular #GeneralHospital character of the past 25 years. You shattered the hearts of the viewers and we will never forgive you for that.’

Soap Opera Network reported in August that Monaco was “blindsided” after learning her longtime character would be “killed off.”

Monaco first joined the series in October 2003. She was the first ever winner of the Mirrorball Trophy after competing on Dancing with the Stars in its first season in 2005.

In 2012, she returned for the show’s 15th season, the All Stars season. That year, she finished in third place with professional dance partner Val Chmerkovskiy, who later made a guest appearance on General Hospital as a boxer.

In January, she teased on social media: “I put my dancing shoes back on for the @GeneralHospitalprimetime special (featuring a special appearance by @valentin). “General Hospital: 60 Years of Stars and Storytelling” airs tomorrow (Jan. 4) at 10 p.m. on ABC. Don’t miss it!’

In early October, she shared a photo of herself with the show’s Davis family — played by Kate Mansi, Nancy and Kristen Vaganos — on Instagram, captioning it, “Last scene with the Davis girls.” I still don’t feel like it.’

Nancy wrote in the comments, “In the midst of every difficulty lies opportunity. Albert Einstein. I love you. Everything will be fine. There are things a TV mom just knows.”