Why Kelly Thiebaud had to return to General Hospital

On Friday, July 18th, General Hospital's Kelly Thiebaud appears on our daytime screens once again. While we are not 100 percent sure who she is going to be playing, the actress seems 100 percent sure she did the right thing by returning to the ABC soap.

You can go home again

Britt with Ben who is now known as Rocco | Image: JPI

When Thiebaud left GH for the second time at the start of 2023, she was sure she was gone for good. She had no plans to return, which was why the show decided to kill her character in what seemed like a very permanent way. While suffering from Huntington's Disease, Britt was hooked by Heather Webber's poison hook and died in her mother's loving arms aboard The Haunted Star.

Not long after, Thiebaud wrapped her limited run on ABC's Station 19 and moved to London. Last year, the actress returned to sunny Los Angeles with GH clearly on the brain.

"There were multiple signs, let’s just say, that I was receiving from people, and General Hospital just kind of kept coming back up in my life," Thiebaud told TV Insider of her decision to revisit Port Charles. "After much talk with my executive producer, Frank [Valentini], and going over things with myself and where my life is currently, it felt like there was a lot of unfinished business there."

Back on the General Hospital set

Will Britt be back at the helm at General Hospital | Image: JPI

When Thiebaud returned to GH this time around, it was an emotional experience for the Daytime Emmy award-winning actress.

"I was so excited when I first walked on stage to see the crew, camera operators, the lighting guys, the audio people, the hair and makeup people who I absolutely love," Thiebaud said. "I had a full breakdown in the makeup room with my old makeup artist and Cynthia Watros, who plays Nina [Reeves]. So, it was a really overwhelming first day back, and I was just so excited to see everyone and see that some things had changed, but it also had still stayed the same.

While who Thiebaud will be playing is being kept under wraps for now (most fans hope that Britt is somehow alive), Thiebaud is excited to dip her feet back into the daytime pool (and maybe even the Metro Court pool).

"I’m extremely grateful and really excited to take things up a notch with this third time around and have a good time on the show," she said. "Because to have a job like this, where you can keep stepping in and out of, doesn’t happen all the time. And I feel extremely lucky."

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.