Heartbreaking News! General Hospital Kills Off Fan-Favorite Character in Shocking Twist!

During the Friday, Dec. 13 episode, fan-favorite Dex Heller, played by Evan Hofer, met his demise. Dex had been expected to make a full recovery after getting stabbed several days prior — only to go into cardiac arrest while being visited by his girlfriend Josslyn (Eden McCoy) and friend Anna Devane (Finola Hughes).

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hofer, 27, revealed that he was “nervous” about fan reactions to the news. However, he also shared that he’s “just so honored” to be a part of the series for as long as he has — especially since his character was only supposed to appear on the show for “one to three months.”

The actor said he learned about Dex’s fate just a few weeks before filming his final episode — but that it only made him more grateful for the experience overall.

“So my last few weeks were really just trying to soak in how much I loved playing Dex, and how much I loved all the people over at GH,” he told the outlet, adding, “I had such a wonderful time there over the last two-and-a-half years, and I was just trying to make sure that I do justice to the character in those final episodes.”

The actor also shared that he will especially miss series veteran Maurice Benard, with whom he shared a major plotline.

“Mo [Maurice] really has been such a special person to me, and I feel so fortunate that I got to work with him from the beginning,” he said. “We hit it off on the first day, and that’s all thanks to his warmth,” he added.

Hofer also reflected on the bitter irony of his character’s sudden death, especially after Dex had finally found love and a person who believed in him.

“I think that this might be the lover boy in me, but I love love,’ the actor told EW. “So I think his relationship with Josslyn was really what impacted Dex most in trying to get his life together, getting out of the mob, becoming the police officer, and realizing he never thought that he deserved anything good out of his life… he had a death wish for a really long time, and then she gave him a reason to live.”

When asked how he thought fans would take his death — especially in light of his romance with Josslyn, he said, “Not well,” with a laugh.

“Mo always said this to me since the beginning, that our fans are like no others,” he explained. “Just the amount that they care and really put so much energy into the show and how much they care about it. And all of us, all the stories and all the history is so special.”

Looking to the future, Hofer reflected on how working in daytime soap operas has made him feel prepared for whatever opportunities come his way next.

“You start getting those 40 pages [of script] a day and you’re like, ‘How am I going to do all this the next day?’ But it becomes second nature,” he told EW.

In terms of the series overall, Dex’s death creates several big questions among the residents of Port Charles — namely, who was behind the stabbing, and could Dex’s mentor-turned-enemy, Sonny, be to blame?