13 Soap Opera Exits, Firings, and Deaths From 2022
It’s been another climactic year for daytime dramas… and not just because another soap opera left the airwaves and moved to streaming, bringing the total of broadcast TV soaps from four to three.
Even so, some of American television’s longest-running soaps — General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, and The Bold and the Beautiful — continued chugging along in 2022. And in daytime television, cast turnover remains a constant.
Below, get details on notable cast exits from this year — as well as the deaths of soap opera veterans over the last 12 months.
EXIT: Wes Ramsey, ‘General Hospital’
Peter August was fatally whacked with a tire iron in a February installment of General Hospital, and after that episode, Ramsey thanked fans for “taking the journey” with him. “To those who were kind and supportive, my heart has felt inspired by you,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “To my friends and family (and the fans everywhere), it has been an honor to give everything I had to this, and I will never forget how fun it was to entertain you.”
EXIT: Sydney Mikayla, ‘General Hospital’
Mikayla signed off on GH in March to attend college at UCLA, with actress Tabyana Ali succeeding her in the role of Trina Robinson. “I have loved working on General Hospital, but I feel like this is the right time to dive in and enjoy my college experience to the fullest,” Mikayla said in a statement to Soap Opera Digest.
EXIT: Jordi Vilasuso, ‘The Young and the Restless’
Soap Opera Digest revealed in March that Vilasuso was exiting The Young and the Restless. “Playing Rey Rosales … for the past four years has been an incredible experience that has brought me immense joy as an actor,” he said in a statement to the mag.
EXIT: Sal Stowers, ‘Days of Our Lives’
This July, Stowers bid farewell to Lani Price, a character she’d been playing on Days of Our Lives since 2015. “As an artist, there just comes a time when you want to try to see what else you’re capable of doing,” she later told Soap Opera Digest. “I put so much into my work, and I’ve given so much to Lani. I know her like the back of my hand, and I love her so much, which is why it was so hard for me to make the decision to walk away from her. But life is short, and you’ve got to live.”
EXIT: Victoria Konefal, ‘The Young and the Restless’
Konefal announced the end to her three-year run as Ciara Brady on Y&R in July. “I would love the opportunity to continue working with my castmates in the future, but at this time I will not be returning as a full-time cast member,” she said in a statement to Deadline at the time.
EXIT: Kelly Thiebaud, ‘General Hospital’
In August, Soaps.com reported that Thiebaud would be saying goodbye to General Hospital’s Dr. Britt Westbourne by the end of the year and heading back to Station 19, on which she plays Eva Vasquez. “Excited to be back on [Station 19] stirring up trouble!” the actress wrote on Instagram in August.
EXIT: Johnny Wactor, ‘General Hospital’
In a September episode of GH, Brando Corbin succumbed to injuries sustained in an attack from Port Charles’ serial killer The Hook. “Whether you were excited to see Brando Corbin killed off or outraged and have questions, I’m just so lucky to have been on this show. Truly,” Wactor said on Instagram following his character’s demise.
EXIT: Rena Sofer, ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’
Sofer played Quinn Fuller on The Bold and the Beautiful for nearly a decade but left the soap over the summer hiatus. As she told Soap Opera Digest, after her contract ran out, producers asked her to stay on the show on a recurring basis,. “I just felt like if my decision wasn’t set at that point, that kind of made it clear, that they just didn’t know what to do with Quinn, and I felt like I deserved more than just sitting around until they figured it out,” Sofer added, per Decider.
FIRING: Richard Burgi, ‘The Young and the Restless’
Burgi was fired from the role of Ashland Locke for “naively and inadvertently” violating the show’s COVID-19 policies, as he said in an Instagram Live post (per Variety). “I felt terrible about it,” he added. “I still do. It bothers me mightily, but it is what it is. I respect whatever the show’s decision is. They’re doing the best they can, as we all are.”
DEATH: Joan Copeland
Copeland, whose soap opera credits included long-standing roles on Search for Tomorrow and How to Survive a Marriage in the 1960s and 1970s, died at age 99 on January 4.
DEATH: Kathryn Hays
Hays, who played Kim Hughes on As the World Turns from 1972 until its end in 2010, passed away on March 25 at age 87.
DEATH: Marnie Schulenburg
Schulenburg, who played Alison Stewart on As the World Turns in the late 2000s, died of metastatic breast cancer on May 17 at age 37.
DEATH: John Aniston
Aniston, father of Jennifer and longtime Victor Kiriakis portrayer on Days of Our Lives, died at age 89 on November 11.
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