‘General Hospital’ star Kirsten Storms taking leave of absence after nearly 20 years

Maxie is maxed out.

Kirsten Storms is taking an extended break from “General Hospital” after nearly 20 years. The actress made the announcement in an Instagram video on July 7.

Storms, 41, has already filmed her final scenes — for now. Amid her absence, she is moving from Los Angeles to Nashville with her daughter, Harper, 11, whom she shares with her ex-husband and fellow soap actor, Brandon Borash.

“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,” she wrote. “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.”

The “General Hospital” vet approached executive producer Frank Valentini in March about her plans to travel cross-country.

“I had a conversation with him about my reasons for wanting to move and my desire to not leave the show,” she said in the clip. “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.”

Storms has played Maxie Jones since 2005. The series debuted in April 1986 on ABC.

The actress will return later in the year.

“It’s possible I will be back in December, maybe November,” she said.

“I promise you the story line they have going on until my return to Port Charles is kind of incredible. You guys are gonna freak out actually.”

When it comes to rumors that this brief exit is permanent, she quipped to fans: “Take it with a grain of salt.”

Other actors have taken on the role of Maxie in Storms’ absence. “Days of Our Lives” star Molly Burnett has stepped in and Nicole Paggi briefly replaced her in 2023; she will appear again as Maxie in episodes on July 30 and Aug. 13. In 2011, Jen Lilley came onboard when Storms took medical leave after being diagnosed with endometriosis.

Storms, who returned one year later, admitted she was surprised that her character was recast.

“I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was taken aback a bit by it,” she told Soap Opera Digest. “I would prefer that someone play Maxie and be playing Maxie well to keep the character relevant and in the soap world still because it doesn’t take much for a character to die off and for somebody else to come in and be in a front-burner storyline. I was very excited just to know that she was still going to be in Port Charles and doing lots of things.”

Storms is also known for her work in Disney’s “Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century” film franchise, and her credits in “7th Heaven,” “That’s So Raven,” and voicing Bonnie Rockwaller in “Kim Possible.”