‘General Hospital’ Temporarily Recasts Kelly Monaco’s Sam With Lindsay Hartley

Meredith Jacobs August 3, 2020, 1:00 pm

Kelly Monaco Lindsay Hartley Replacement General Hospital — ABC/Craig Sjodin; Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

Someone familiar to daytime fans will be stepping into a major role on General Hospital in the (hopefully) short-term.

Lindsay Hartley, who has appeared on Passions, Days of Our Lives, and All My Children, will be playing Sam McCall Morgan on the ABC soap “for a couple of weeks,” Daytime Confidential reports. Kelly Monaco (above, left) will be back as Sam after that.

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Hartley confirmed the casting and the duration of her stay on Twitter. “Some big shoes to fill…precious too,” she wrote. “I hope you enjoy watching Sam as much as I have enjoyed playing her, temporarily.”

Some big shoes to fill…precious too. I hope you enjoy watching Sam as much as I have enjoyed playing her, temporarily ❤️🙏🏻 https://t.co/o7aTNni5dN

— Lindsay Korman-Hartley (@L_Hartley) July 31, 2020

Monaco’s mother explained on Twitter the reason for this change. “Kelly is safe and healthy,” she assured fans. “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.”

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

Kelly is great and should be back on set Monday. 14 day quarantine after a breathing problem with mask 1st day back. 3 negative Covid test, I’d say she is better than great. Thank you for all of the love 💕

— Carmina Monaco (@kellysmom1) July 31, 2020

Monaco is expected to return to set Monday, the same day GH resumed airing new episodes. After production shut down, it filled gaps in the schedule with reruns, including “Flashback Fridays” and classic Nurses Ball episodes. Filming restarted on July 22.

General Hospital was the second soap to return with original episodes; The Bold and the Beautiful did so on July 20, while Days of Our Lives never had to turn to reruns because it has enough original episodes banked through October. The Young and the Restless is set to join the others with new installments on August 10.