Soaps

Soap News: Kirsten Storms Taking GH Break, Jen Lilley Quits DAYS; Plus: Behind-The-Scenes Shakeups?

kirsten storms leaving general hospital 2016

kirsten storms leaving general hospital 2016

Oh wow, so where exactly do we begin? Thursday’s edition of soap news covered some big items that were broken by Daytime Confidential: General Hospital’s Tyler Christopher, who is currently in contract negotiations, is taking time off due to a personal matter. Nick Stablie (Sunset Beach, Passions and Days of our Lives) will be assuming the role of Nikolas Cassadine this July. Meanwhile, Bree Williamson (One Life to Live) has been cast as Claudette. Elizabeth Hendrickson is on her way back to The Young and the Restless as Chloe full time.

kirsten storms leaving general hospital 2016

The DC crew was hard at work through Memorial Day weekend with more scoop: Early Friday it was reported that Kirsten Storms would be taking a leave from GH and that Molly Burnett (ex-Melanie, DAYS) would be stepping into the role of Maxie Jones. The next day, the popular soap site broke that Jen Lilley (who subbed for Storms from 2011-2012) had quit her role as Theresa on Days of our Lives! For the sake of familiarity, too bad GH didn’t manage to snag Lilley for the temp Maxie gig again. Burnett would be coming in a difficult time as story for Maxie and Nathan (Ryan Peavey) will build up with the arrival of Bree Williamson’s Claudette.

Storms took to social media on Sunday to announce that her leave from GH is stress related: “Thank you for the outpouring of love and support. I appreciate the positive messages I’ve received… I’m taking a little break from work due to some skin issues I’ve been having. My doctors say my breakouts are due to stress, but shouldn’t take too long to get under control. It was becoming too difficult for GH to cover up… In the meantime, I look forward to seeing Molly [Burnett] on screen as I take the next few weeks to heal.”

Also coming back to GH is Bradford Anderson as Spinelli — look for him to help Jason (Billy Miller) and Sam (Kelly Monaco) as they are trying to clear Jason’s name in Nikolas’ fall at Wyndemere.

jen lilley leaving days of our lives

Such a shame about Jen Lilley leaving. There is a strong need for characters, especially female, in that age group on DAYS. We’ve already got Kate Mansi (Abigail) and Martha Madison (Belle) leaving. While it’s great that they’ve now got a teenage set, it would be a lot better if DAYS put the focus on characters in the late 20s and 30s. By fall, there won’t be Belle, Shawn, Abigail or Theresa. Not to mention, the show hasn’t really recovered from losing Alison Sweeney (Sami) and James Scott (EJ). The bright side of Lilley leaving means that it looks like we’re getting visits from Patsy Pease (Kimberly), Charles Shaughnessy (Shane) and Kassie DePaiva (Eve) for Theresa’s exit story.

As if there wasn’t enough to digest, Daytime Confidential posted a trio of behind-the-scenes blind items: One exec is going to be fired, while one writing regime has until the fall to improve while another scribe’s health is standing in their way of doing their job. Best guesses: Y&R’s Jill Farren Phelps as the soon-to-be-axed exec while Jean Passanante and Shelly Altman have until the end of the summer to fix the mess that is GH and Dena Higley’s health issues could cost her the head writing gig at DAYS. While these blind items spell bad news for those in power at these three shows, it would prove good news for fans who deserve so much better.

Speaking of good news: another blind item (this time from Serial Scoop) has one legacy character returning home.

Okay, now we’re all caught up. Check back later this week for our regular Soap News which will include next week’s spoilers!

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