GH Comings & Goings: Swaps Sam Out Once Again! Fans Angry With ABC’s Decision To Fire Kelly! Lindsay Hartley Temporarily Replaces Kelly Monaco as Sam McCall!
Lindsay Hartley Temporarily Replaces Kelly Monaco as General Hospital’s Sam McCall
Photo: JPI
On General Hospital, viewers will now see Lindsay Hartley stepping back into the role of Sam McCall temporary filling-in once again for Kelly Monaco.
Hartley began airing on today’s Thursday, August 22nd episode and reportedly via Soap Opera Digest, is only back for a “short-term stint.” Lindsay is no stranger to the soaps having also appeared as Theresa on Passions; Arianna on Days of Our Lives; and as Cara on All My Children.
Back in 2020, when Kelly Monaco had to step away from GH for a bit, Hartley first took on the part. Later, she returned to play Sam in 2021, and once again in January of 2024. Taking to her Instagram Story, Hartley wrote, “Grateful to be stepping in again.” She was pictured in a photo from the funeral of Molly (Kristen Vaganos) and TJ’s (Tajh Bellow) baby alongside her on-screen mother, Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) and also Kristina played by Kate Mansi.
Photo: JPI
The timing of Kelly’s temporary exit comes at a pivotal time for the character as her man, Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) awaits to see just what the prognosis is of his ex-wife, Lulu, who has been in a coma in a longterm care facility, plus all the drama between the Davis sisters.
Last fall, Monaco celebrated her 20th anniversary with General Hospital and her fans have been clamoring for her to have more story as Sam has been a bit back-burnered of late. Is that all about to change? Stay tuned.
So, glad that if anyone was replacing Kelly, it was soap vet, Lindsay Hartley? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
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Here we go again! Once again today, General Hospital has swapped out Sam McCall, replacing regular portrayer Kelly Monaco with someone who is, by now, very familiar to the ABC soaps viewers: Lindsay Hartley. This is, after all, her fourth time stepping in to play Sam in the last few years.
But, as with Hartley’s first few appearances, this doesn’t mean Sam’s been permanently recast. Often times it’s just a matter of illness requiring a quick recast for a day or two while the actor recovers. That’s what happened the last time Hartley played Sam.
The last time she was on was at the beginning of this year, when Scout was stressing over school and Sam was about to have it out with Drew over pushing their kid to go to Westwood.
While Hartley’s past stints were mostly for only about a week’s worth of episodes each, last time around, she was just subbing in for a single episode.
Of course, at this point, Hartley feels almost enough of a regular on General Hospital, that we can’t help but feel there’s got to be a way to keep her around for good!
That doesn’t mean as Sam, of course (unless Monaco decided she wanted to step back from the show on a permanent basis), but there are plenty of other roles she could take on that would keep her in Port Charles! In fact, we’ve already got the perfect one in mind here!
