General Hospital fans have celebrated all the happy times in their favorite characters’ lives for decades, but these days, it feels more like a 24/7 funeral. First, viewers had to grieve Sam McCall’s (Kelly Monaco) death, and now they’re gearing up for another huge shift in the cast.
Chad Duell posted on Instagram that he has decided to step away from the show and that his 15 years of playing Michael Corinthos are over. He told his fans, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Executive producer Frank Valentini posted on X that Duell will have “a great story” and that right now, another actor isn’t going to take over the part. Since it feels like every day, another character dies or moves away, fans are stunned at how their favorite Port Charles residents are basically dropping like flies! One viewer wrote, “Not another key character!”
Another fan wrote on X, “Please tell me you’re not killing off the character?!” If that happened, it would definitely cause some chaos. This news is a tragedy for many viewers who feel Michael is “a key figure.”
Since Duell said “This isn’t a goodbye — it’s a ‘see you later’,” Michael could definitely pop back into Port Charles. But the actor’s choice to leave proves a disturbing trend that fans aren’t loving: necessary characters exiting the soap opera. There have been recent goodbyes for the sweet kid Violet Finn (Jophielle Love), and for Sam, and with Michael leaving, it’s hard to stay optimistic. As one fan wrote on X, “Soon we won’t have anyone left.” Another shared that the soap “is losing yet another good one. It’s sad what’s happening.”
Duell is the one who felt it was time to leave, and it seems like he could have continued as a regular cast member if he wanted to. So, while this is a different story from Monaco, who was let go from the show, it still stings since fans are wondering why so many characters are disappearing.
As Sonny (a mob boss) is Michael’s adoptive dad, Michael has been part of many serious plotlines, including when he purchases a gun as a pre-teen. When asked about the plotline he most associates with Michael, Duell told Soap Opera Digest it was Michael’s time in prison. Michael ends up in prison after killing Claudia Zacchara (Sarah Brown) by mistake. He said he was “crazy-nervous” and explained, “I thought I was going to get fired because I was so in over my head.” He added, “That was the first story where I felt like I got really into what I was doing and got out of my head.”
General Hospital features several different and intriguing families, from the Corinthos to the Quartermaines to the Cassadines, and watching them all go through life is one of the joys and comforts of being a soap opera fan. Losing a member is always tough, and it’s a particular struggle to lose Michael, who has been on the show for so many years. Since Duell will be in several more episodes until his last one in 2025, fans will still see a bit more of one of their faves. But it’s hard not to feel some anxiety and dread over how everything is going to wrap up.