Actress Kirsten Storms is leaving her soap opera General Hospital – but not for long.
Storms was absent from the long-running show on Wednesday, December 27, marking the beginning of her absence.
However, according to the spokesperson, the step is only temporary Soap Opera Digest.
Storms, 39, will only be away from the show for a “few days.” TVLine subsequently reported.
Fellow actress Nicole Paggi replaced the former Disney Channel star, who the outlet reported would fill the role of Maxie Jones until Storms returns.
Actress Kirsten Storms is leaving her soap opera General Hospital – but not for long. Storms was absent from the long-running show on Wednesday, December 27, marking the beginning of her absence
According to Soap Opera Digest, the move is only temporary. Storms, 39, will be away from the show for a “few days,” TVLine reported, with Nicole Paggi (seen in 2006) reprising her role.
Paggi is best known for her appearances on Hope & Faith, where she played the daughter of Faith Ford's character and the niece of Kelly Ripa's character.
Storms previously established herself as an in-demand soap star when she starred on Days Of Our Lives from 1999 to 2004 as Isabella 'Belle' Black.
She then moved to the General Hospital in 2005.
The latest brief absence is just the latest for Storms, who appears to have been temporarily recast on the show for the first time from 2011 to 2012, with Jen Lilley reprising her role while she was away.
Molly Burnett later became her preferred replacement during an absence in 2016 to deal with skin issues, as well as subsequent stints away from the show in 2017 and 2018.
Storms has left the show for periods as short as a few days and as long as several months.
That's not unusual in the fast-paced and unstoppable world of soap operas. The shows typically tape one show a day, five days a week, and the show does not stop if an actor cannot appear on screen for any reason.
However, soap opera fans have also become accustomed to their favorite characters being temporarily or permanently recast.
It is unclear why Storms was absent, but she has previously been temporarily redeployed in 2016-2018 and again in 2021
The actress' most recent absence was due to brain surgery to repair damage caused by a split cyst. She returned to the set in July 2021; seen at the General Hospital
Paggi most recently appeared in The Rooke: Feds and 9-1-1, and she also starred in the UPN sitcom One And One
In 2021, Storms revealed that she temporarily left General Hospital to undergo brain surgery after she sought treatment for severe neck pain and her doctor discovered she was suffering from a “very large cyst that had split in half.”
She returned to the set in July of that year.
Prior to her soap opera career, the actress was best known for playing the title character in the 1999 Disney Channel TV movie Zenon: Girl Of The 21st Century, along with its two sequels.
Paggi most recently appeared in The Rooke: Feds and 9-1-1, and she also starred in the UPN sitcom One And One.