In 2023, General Hospital fans were stunned when Kelly Thiebaud's beloved character, Dr. Britt Westbourne, was killed off during a storyline involving The Hook killer. Now, two years later, the Emmy-winning actress is making her way back to Port Charles. But this time, she won't be playing Britt.
Speaking to TV Guide, Kelly opened up about what drew her back to the iconic soap.
© FilmMagic"It felt like there was a lot of unfinished business there," she explained. "I guess I wanted to see if that door was closed, what the vibe was like and if there was an opportunity there."
The actress previously left the show to pursue other creative projects, including her role as Eva on Shonda Rhimes' show Station 19.
At the time, Kelly told Soap Opera Digest: "I wanted to spread my wings, get other work and do other creative characters. I am very much a free spirit. I need to go and roam and feel like I can go on adventures."
© InstagramOn General Hospital, Kelly was originally introduced as Britt in 2012. She quickly became one of the show's most complicated and dynamic characters. Britt was the daughter of villainous parents – Cesar Faison and Dr. Liesl Obrecht.
The character earned the nickname “The Britch” but eventually grew into someone the viewers loved.
Despite Britt's dramatic exit, Kelly now finds herself back on set relearning the rhythm of a soap opera set.
© Instagram"I feel so rusty," she admitted. "I feel like I'm starting all over. When I left the show, I felt I was at the height of the work that I had done, and my acting even was growing and expanding so much. Now, I have to rebuild all that all over again and get comfortable performing the way that you do for daytime."
When Kelly left the show in 2023, she and executive producer Frank Valentini agreed Britt’s death would be final.
"I needed to feel like this was the end," she explained to Soap Opera Digest. "That's why we all kind of decided on her dying."
Kelly acknowledged that soap operas operate in a world where anything can happen. Surprising returns, even post-death, aren't off the table. Now 42, Kelly is embracing her third run on the show.
© Instagram"I'm extremely grateful and really excited to take things up a notch this third time around," she said. "To have a job like this, where you can keep stepping in and out of it, doesn't happen all the time. I feel extremely lucky."
Fans of General Hospital are already speculating about who she'll be playing. Maybe she'll be a brand new character, a surprise twin, or perhaps even a back-from-the-dead Britt. But for now, Kelly's keeping that secret under wraps.
