General Hospital Comings and Goings for 2026: Exits, Returns, New Arrivals, Recasts, Special Guests + Airdates

General Hospital spoilers indicate the land of Port Charles can be a flurry of activity when it comes to new character arrivals and departures. Read on to see all the returns, exits, debuts, and more happening in 2026 below.

Startling Exits

Reports reveal that Chris McKenna, who plays Jack Brennan, will exit the show in the fall. Word is that he’ll be killed off; however, neither the actor nor the ABC soap has confirmed this.

In early July, Kirsten Storms announced she would not be heading back to Los Angeles for filming.

Later that month, on July 23, Maxie Jones, along with Damian Spinelli (Bradford Anderson), Georgie Spinelli (Lily Fisher), James West (Gary James Fuller), and Bailey Lu Jones (Miley & Riley Plonski) were all written out of storylines as the family headed to Australia.

Storms had returned briefly in February 2026 after a six-month hiatus, but exited shortly after.

Dastardly villain Director Ross Cullum, played by Andrew Hawkes, exited July 2 when he was shot in a showdown with WSB agent Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy).

While Cullum is dead and gone, his associate, Cassius Faison, played by Ryan Paevey, is very much alive; however, the WSB is telling the world he died.

Still, Cassius ended up leaving Port Charles on July 6. Pascal, Jenz Sidwell’s (Carlo Rota) “butler”, played by Marc Forget, left the canvas on June 4.

On Sunday, May 24, news broke that Kate Mansi was exiting the role of Kristina-Corinthos Davis. She entered the role in 2023, replacing Lexie Ainsworth, who portrayed the character on and off since 2009.

Mansi decided to opt out of renewing her contract with GH, and her reasons behind this was travel, as her producer husband, Matt McInnis, is currently shooting a television show overseas. With that said, Mansi wrapped up filming as of April and exited on June 12.

GH fans were saddened by the exit of Adrian Anchondo, who plays Marco Rios on the ABC soap. Marco was killed by villain Ross Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) when the WSB double-agent stabbed the lawyer to death in his office at Miller and Davis. Anchondo’s last air date was Wednesday, March 25.

New Characters

Mysterious JJE executive Hudson Parker, played by Troy Lennon Appel, debuted on GH this past July 30. Tristan Roberts, WSB agent turned surgeon, debuted on the show July 13.

Mean Girls and Hallmark Channel star Jonathan Bennett entered the land of Port Charles on Monday, May 18. He plays the newest addition to the PCPD, Joe Fitzpatrick.

While he’s best known for his work in film and Hallmark, General Hospital is not Bennett’s first time in soaps. He once played Adam “JR” Chandler on All My Children (AMC) from 2001 to 2002 as a temporary recast.

Other newcomers to GH so far in 2026 include Lily Cardone, who played “Delilah”, a pregnant woman whom Brook Lynn Quartermaine (Amanda Setton) and Harrison Chase (Josh Swickard) found in distress during a romantic walk.

The character debuted on March 3 of this year and ended up passing away in the hospital shortly after she gave birth. She left behind a daughter, Phoebe Chase, played by Luna and Lucia Creighton.

Special Guests Arriving

This Week Tonight host, John Oliver, appeared as WSB Head ‘Z’ during the July 2, 3, and 6 episodes.

Broadway star Michael James Scott, who’s played “Genie” in the musical Aladdin since 2019, participated in a multi-episode storyline, starting Friday, April 24. Scott played himself and was involved in an arc with Emma Scorpio-Drake (Braedyn Bruner) and Gio Palmieri (Giovanni Mazza).

Major Returns

Speaking of temporary exits, Cameron Mathison, who plays Drew Cain on the soap, had a brief hiatus in January of this year.

As Mathison has multiple projects outside of GH, including films he shoots (and promotes) for the Great American Family network, it’s not unusual to see Drew pop off screen, only to return some episodes later.

Meanwhile, General Hospital fans were horrified to see Peter August, played by Wes Rasmey, re-appear during the January 23 episode this year.

Thankfully, he was merely a hallucination that Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) was having while being captured by Pascal (Marc Forget) and Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota) in the tunnels at Wyndemere. Still, he popped back on canvas when Anna returned to storylines in late June.

Jason Morgan took a “short break” from the daytime drama. Burton announced he’d be leaving the show on a hiatus via Instagram and exited storylines on March 25, only to return in early July.

Recast News

General Hospital spoilers reveal that Ethan Lovett, played by Nathan Dean (once known as Nathan Parsons), the son of Luke Spencer (Anthony Gearing) and Holly Sutton (Emma Samms), returned to Port Charles on Friday, April 17.

With that said, he exited in July, and actor Christian Howard was recast in the role to wrap up the storyline. Howard (and Ethan) both departed from storylines on August 4.

Kelly Kruger stepped into the role of Serena Baldwin during the July 30 show. The character was previously played by Carly Schroeder.

Kayden Brenna Tokarski debuted as the new Scout Cain during the July 20 episode, taking over for Cosette Abinante. Scout is all grown up and ready to stir up the teen scene, so it’ll be interesting to see how she keeps her dad, Drew, on his toes!

Patrick Scott Lewis stepped into the Ezra Boyle role on March 2 and 16 of this year when the character’s portrayer, Daniel Cosgrove, was unable to make it to Los Angeles for filming. A big storm stopped all travel out of the Connecticut airport in January, so Lewis stepped in as a recast. 

What are your thoughts on all the casting news so far in 2026? Share your comments below! Catch the popular ABC soap daily for all the exciting moments and visit GHT often for the best General Hospital updates, spoilers, and news.