Kelly Monaco Makes Final General Hospital Appearance

Kelly Monaco officially exited General Hospital following her character Sam McCall’s shocking death, making one final appearance during the Friday, November 1, episode.

While most of Friday’s episode revolved around Sam’s loved ones learning of the news and mourning together, Monaco made a final appearance when her fiancée, Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), went to her hospital room to pay his last respects.

“Sam, it’s not supposed to go like this. I am so sorry,” he told her dead body after kissing her cheek. “You look like you’re sleeping, like you could wake up. But that’s not going to happen, is it? I’m sorry, Sam. You were so beautiful. I don’t think you ever realized how beautiful you really are. Maybe I should have told you more often. I just don’t understand anything.”

After breaking down into tears, he held her hand and continued, “Thank you for saving my life, Sam. Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for the beautiful family. Thank you for saying yes to be my wife. I just don’t know how I’m going to do this. I don’t know how I’m going to do this without you. I love you, Sam.”

Elsewhere in the episode, other characters learned of Sam’s death on Halloween night, including her kids, Danny Morgan (Asher Antonyzyn) and Scout Quartermaine (Cosette Abinate), who were informed by Sam’s former love, Jason (Steve Burton).

Us Weekly previously confirmed that viewers would see Monaco, 48, on the ABC soap opera one more time after her character died during the Wednesday, October 30, episode. Earlier this week, Sam came out of surgery successfully and got engaged to Dante but she later began crashing and doctors were unable to revive her. Friday’s episode revealed that she died from a heart attack after the doctors removed an organ to donate to Lulu Spencer but how that occurred remains a mystery.

In August, Us reported that Monaco was set to exit General Hospital in the fall after portraying her role on more than 2,000 episodes since her 2003 debut on the soap.

Monaco has remained relatively tight-lipped about her departure since the news broke. However, she appeared to address the shakeup for the first time in a since-deleted comment on a September Soap Hub Instagram post when she responded to a user who claimed she was “monotone, had no primary roles and [was] just boring” as well as refused to take a pay cut to stay on the show, which Monaco had previously disputed.

“‘No primary role’.. do your homework,” Monaco replied. “When Billy Miller was fired, Sam’s storyline stopped. Stripping Sam of every characteristic she had. Something I worked for decades to build… Slowly dismantling her, into a character that I did not recognize, let alone the audience. Call it what you will… retaliation at it [sic] finest. I will give a proper statement. The truth will set you free.”

The following month, Monaco reflected on her final days on the General Hospital set. “Last scene with the Davis girls. 😘🥲🙏🏻,” she captioned an October Instagram photo alongside costars Kate Mansi, Nancy Lee Grahn and Kristen Vaganos. “Still doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Prior to Kelly’s last appearance on General Hospital, her mother, Carmina Monaco, revealed that she filmed her final scenes on September 27, which fell just days before her 21st anniversary on the show.

“I want to take this moment to reach out to Kelly’s incredible fans and express my deepest gratitude for the unwavering love, loyalty and support you’ve shown her throughout her time on General Hospital,” Carmina wrote via X. “On this final day, just four days shy of the anniversary of her first episode on October 1, 2003, Kelly will close the door of her dressing room for the last time.”

Carmina noted that the moment was “difficult” for Kelly. Still, she insisted, “Knowing that she has had such an incredible, devoted fan base has given her strength,” adding that her fans have reminded her “of the impact she’s made.”