General Hospital's Tajh Bellow shares his next project; Will TJ return?

Since his last appearance as Dr. TJ Ashford on General Hospital last December, Tajh Bellow has stayed busy. And now he has a new project to celebrate.

Bellow announced on Instagram Thursday that he has been accepted into a Master’s Degree program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He will work towards a degree in Entertainment Leadership and Management in LMU’s College of Business Administration and School of Film and Television, beginning with the fall semester on August 25.

Several General Hospital co-stars congratulated him, including Bradford Anderson (Spinelli), Jon Lindstrom (Kevin), and Marc Anthony Samuel (Felix).

Tajh Bellow has been away from General Hospital since December

What this means for the future of TJ on the show is uncertain. Tajh Bellow, who has been on General Hospital since 2018, was taken off contract and dropped to recurring status in February 2025, but he hasn’t appeared on the show since Christmas 2024.

Bellow went to South Africa in March to star in a play, but has been mostly silent on social media since then. In an Instagram post on February 18, he was vague about whether he would ever return to General Hospital as TJ, saying, “I know a lot of my fans are wondering what’s next for TJ, but before I speak to that, I wanted to celebrate all that we’ve accomplished together.”

Offscreen, TJ is still a doctor working at General Hospital. Curtis confirmed that by mentioning him in dialogue recently, when he couldn’t come to the house to reunite with Marshall (Robert Gossett). That was a rare mention of Dr. Ashford on the show, which has confused fans who miss the popular member of one of the show’s core families.

Bellow has not made it clear whether his dropping to recurring status was his choice or the General Hospital showrunners, but it’s clear that TJ has been missed in the story these last few months.

TJ is mourning the loss of his child

TJ and Molly (Kristen Vaganos) have been together since their preteen years, when Molly was writing books and TJ was standing by her side, but the fallout from Kristina’s (Kate Mansi) accident led to the breakup of the longtime partners.

They have lost two children who never had a real chance at life. Before Kristina’s fall and the death of Irene, their first surrogate suffered a miscarriage. We have seen Molly continue to mourn the loss of the baby Kristina carried, but not TJ.

TJ would be keeping an eye on Sidwell

When Jordan (Tanisha Harper) resigned as deputy mayor and began working for Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota), her son would not have accepted that without an explanation. TJ would worry if she were safe working for the mysterious mineral mogul. At some point, he would have suspected her of working undercover as he’s seen her do in the past, and she would have to explain that. And certainly, TJ would be looking side-eyed at Sidwell (Carlo Rota) every time they were in the same room, the same way TJ acted towards Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober).

TJ would have helped Molly after Ric’s car accident

When Molly’s father Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) was seriously injured in a car accident, she was constantly by his side and wandering the halls of General Hospital praying for him to wake up and recover. It was a perfect recipe for TJ to talk to her and try to comfort her. There might have been awkward conversations, but it would have been good emotional drama as they try to remain friends. TJ would have been involved in Ric’s care as much as he could, maybe even in charge of it. Instead, we never got even a mention of him. And speaking of Kristina and the accident …

TJ might have found out that Kristina caused the accident

Lucky covering up for Kristina after she admitted she cut the brakes in Ric’s car didn’t make sense to many fans. It was hard to understand since the woman he loves nearly died in the accident and suffered a broken leg. Ultimately, Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) forgave Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) and later told Kristina that she would cover up for her, too, in a tense confrontation this week.

But imagine if TJ had discovered that Kristina had cut the brake line? It easily could have happened. He could have been in Ric’s room when he first remembered the brakes failing, or overheard him and Ava talking about it. TJ also could have seen or heard Kristina do something to make him suspicious.

TJ was still angry at Kristina for confronting Ava (Maura West) in her hotel suite, leading to her fall into the Metro Court pool. So if he figured out Kristina caused Ric’s car to crash, their confrontations would have been more fiery and fraught with drama than anything we saw between Kristina and Lucky.

TJ and Molly could have had an awkward Nurses' Ball

Since TJ’s departure, we have rarely seen Molly mention him or mourn the end of their relationship. She has gradually gotten closer to Cody Bell (Josh Kelly), most recently becoming his date at the Nurses' Ball, humorously posing with him on the red carpet as they pretended to already be a couple. This week, Molly looked on with confusion and intrigue as Cody cozied up with Ava, not knowing he was doing it as part of Kristina’s latest crazy scheme.

But imagine if TJ had gone to the General Hospital Nurses' Ball, too, and posed on the carpet. He could have seen Molly and Cody pretend to be a couple, and then he would have seen them sitting together all night. TJ would have performed onstage, too, and maybe he and Molly would have remembered the times they performed together. Either way, the young former lovers could have been trying to figure out if they can be friends or if there’s still a spark of romance left.

TJ would have joined the fight against Drew

Drew’s (Cameron Mathison) machinations and blackmail have hurt several members of TJ’s family on General Hospital. When Curtis (Donnell Turner) realized Portia (Brook Kerr) was hiding something from him, he could have discussed it with his nephew. By then, TJ could have seen Drew in Portia’s office more than once and had his own suspicions, and he could have helped Portia deal with Drew.

While Kai (Jens Austin Astrup) was preparing for his risky spinal surgery at General Hospital and Drew was having a documentary made about it, TJ could have been a sounding board for both Kai and Trina (Tabyana Ali). As a young black male, TJ could have been a great source of advice for the quarterback, and helped Trina challenge Drew as he pressured Kai into having the surgery.

And we haven’t forgotten that brief spell when TJ and Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) were close friends while she had leukemia, and we thought something might spark between them someday. Their chemistry was obvious, and it is a missed opportunity now. TJ would be weighing in on her romance with Drew and checking in on her after her collapse last week. Maybe sparks would have flown between them along the way. TJ could have had his own confrontations with Drew at General Hospital, and he would be in a position to capture her heart if she ever got wise and dumped the congressman.

So what do you think? Should General Hospital invite Tajh Bellow back to our screens to treat patients again and be there for his family and friends? Or is TJ gone for good?

You can watch General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu