Kirsten Storms Confirms GH Hiatus, Shares Tennessee Move, Return Date & More!
General Hospital (GH) spoilers suggest fans were thrown for a loop on the Thursday, July 3 show when Nicole Paggi was announced as Kirsten Storms’ temporary replacement as Maxie Jones.
With that said, Paggi played Maxie in December 2023 and is also scheduled to appear in a couple of more shows, one on July 30 and the other on August 13. Storms is set to return to the canvas the week of August 18; however, this will be a short-lived comeback.
Kirsten Storms’ Social Media Update
Storms hopped on Instagram and uploaded a video that revealed major news: She’s moving out of Los Angeles to Tennessee, and she won’t be back onscreen as Maxie Jones until about November or December of this year.
She and Harper Rose Barash – the daughter she shares with ex-hubby, Brandon Barash (GH’s ex-Johnny Zaccharra and Days of Our Lives’ ex-Stefan/Jake DiMera) will both be moving there.
The caption read, “I’m very excited to be making Tennessee my home! I can’t wait to return to GH, once Harper and I are settled in our new town.”
The caption goes on to say, “I plan on documenting as much of this new journey on my social media as I can. It’s always been a dream of mine to move to a place like this; it’s hard to believe it’s really happening. ”
Storms Absence, Return & New Storyline
In the video, the actress states that this leave of absence had been planned since March 2025, noting, “I meant to post this video a few weeks ago, and time just got away from me.”
She goes on to say that in March, “I asked Frank Valentini, our amazing executive producer, I had a conversation with him about my reasons for wanting to move — and my desire to not leave the show.”
Storms continues, “Now, when you approach a job like this, they can always be like, ‘Forget it. I will let you out of your contract if you’re going to leave the state.’ GH did not do that, which was kind of amazing because I also asked for some time off.”
The actress confirmed that she’s wrapped up scenes by stating that the week before last, she had her final taping for the year (the soap is on its annual summer hiatus, with filming set to start up again in August).
In the IG video, she states that, “It’s possible I will be back in December, maybe November.”
She also provides some insight into her exit arc by stating, “I promise you the storyline they have going on until my return to Port Charles is kind of incredible — you guys are gonna freak out, actually. Can’t wait to see the comments online about that.”
The actress concludes the video by saying, “I really want to thank GH, the ABC network executives, the writers for agreeing to let me take this time. I know Frank and the producers there know my reasons, and I am so grateful that they understand and are supportive.”
She also addressed potential rumors by adding, “Really quick about the online rumors — and I’ll get into some of this stuff at a later date — this is just me very long-windedly explaining that I’m taking a break and moving to Tennessee.”
She closed the video with, “If you don’t read about it or watch a video on it from my page, take it with a grain of salt. People like to say a whole bunch of stuff.”
Are you looking forward to what’s in store for Maxie? Share your thoughts in the comment section! Tune into the ABC soap regularly for all the drama and check out this site often for the best General Hospital news, updates, and spoilers.
