Kelly Monaco: Why She’s Been Temporarily Replaced By Lindsay Hartley On ‘General Hospital’

‘General Hospital’ is back, and you might be asking yourself when watching the upcoming episodes: where is Kelly Monaco? The ‘GH’ vet had to be temporarily recast with Lindsay Hartley stepping in to play Sam.

There’s going to be a new Sam on General Hospital for a bit when the soap opera returns with all-new episodes starting Aug. 3. Lindsay Hartley, 42, will be taking over the role of Sam from Kelly Monaco, 44, temporarily, Daytime Confidential first reported on July 31. Lindsay later confirmed the news via Twitter and wrote, “Some big shoes to fill…precious too. I hope you enjoy watching Sam as much as I have enjoyed playing her, temporarily.”

Fans understandably wanted to know more about why Kelly had to be temporarily replaced. Kelly has played the role of Sam on General Hospital since 2003. Kelly’s mom, Carmina Monaco, took to Twitter to reveal more details about what happened to Kelly and when she would be back on set.

“Kelly is safe and healthy,” Carmina responded to a fan on July 31. “First day back she had a hard time with the Covid mask and was given a rather unexpected 14 day quarantine even though she tested negative twice for Covid and a third negative test for Covid antibodies. She is excited to get back on set next week.”

Kelly is safe and healthy. First day back she had a hard time with the Covid mask and was given a rather unexpected 14 day quarantine even though she tested negative twice for Covid and a third negative test for Covid antibodies. She is excited to get back on set next week.

— Carmina Monaco (@kellysmom1) July 31, 2020

HollywoodLife reached out to ABC for comment. General Hospital’s production was halted in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. After new episodes ran out, ABC began airing classic episodes of the iconic soap opera. Production resumed on July 22. Lindsay posted a selfie on her Instagram page on July 28 and captioned it, “Masked… Covid set.”

Lindsay is a soap opera veteran herself. She notably starred as Theresa on the NBC soap Passions. That’s where she met her now ex-husband Justin Hartley, 43, who played Fox. They have one daughter together, Isabella, 16. Lindsay also played Cara Castillo on All My Children. Over the past few years, Lindsay has starred in a number of Lifetime movies. The role of Sam is certainly in good hands with Lindsay!