General Hospital Stars Who Dated In Real Life
"Love in the afternoon" was ABC's promotional slogan in the 1980s, as love happened both on-screen and off-screen on the network's daytime dramas (via YouTube). At the time, ABC aired a wide variety of daytime dramas, including "All My Children" and "General Hospital," but today only "GH" remains on the ABC daytime lineup.
The network's last remaining soap opera has offered some of the most famous on-screen couples in soap opera history, including the iconic Luke and Laura, played by Tony Geary and Genie Francis. Through the years other Port Charles pairs have become legendary, including Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Brenda (Vanessa Marcil), Duke (Ian Buchanan) and Anna (Finola Hughes), Frisco (Jack Wagner) and Felicia (Kristina Wagner), and Jason (Steve Burton) and Sam (Kelly Monaco), according to Soaps In Depth. While "GH" is going through a couple shuffle as of this writing, breaking pairs up and rematching them with others, it's easy to forget that the soap has seen romance off-screen, as well as on.
Chad Duell and Kristen Alderson were a pair on screen and off
Chad Duell, who plays Michael Corinthos and both married and then split from "The Young and the Restless" star Courtney Hope in the fall of 2021 (via People), dated another soap star before meeting Hope. When Michael was briefly paired with Kiki Jerome, played by "One Life to Live" vet Kristen Alderson, the two hooked up in real life and even planned to marry.
Duell and Alderson began dating in 2012 when she was still playing Starr Manning on "General Hospital" before becoming Kiki. In 2015, it was Alderson who announced their breakup and her decision to leave Los Angeles for her native Pennsylvania and start a new chapter in her life.
"We appreciate all of the support we got as a couple from you guys," she wrote on Twitter (via Soap Central). "Sorry we've remained quiet about it all, just needed time ... Thank you all for the love. Chad and I are in a good place though. It wasn't an easy decision for us, but we've remained optimistic and friends."
Bryan Craig and Kelly Thiebaud were ready to marry
Bryan Craig, the Daytime Emmy winning actor who played Michael's brother, Morgan Corinthos, and left the soap in 2016, was once engaged to Kelly Thiebaud, who still plays Britt Westbourne on "General Hospital".
In 2015, Craig and Thiebaud announced their engagement after Craig proposed to her while they were vacationing in Bali. In 2016, the engaged couple appeared on CBS' "The Talk" and announced their wedding date for March of 2017, according to Soaps.com. Sadly, they never made it there.
While the couple never formally announced their split, Celebrity Dirty Laundry noticed at the end of 2016 that the pair had not shared a social media post together in months. That New Year's Eve, Thiebaud posted to Instagram a photo of herself celebrating in New York — alone. In a 2021 interview with Soaps In Depth, Craig did not mention his previous engagement, but raved about new girlfriend, Daniela Lopez Osorio.
Kirsten Storms and Brandon Barash fell in love on the set
Kirsten Storms still plays Maxie Jones on "General Hospital" and although Maxie was never in love with Johnny Zacchara, Storms did fall in love with the actor who played him, Brandon Barash, who now plays Jake DiMera on "Days of Our Lives".
Storms and Barash wed in 2013 and their adorable daughter, Harper, was born the next year. Sadly, Barash announced their split in 2016.
"We are splitting due to the cliché irreconcilable differences, but we're splitting amicably," Barash told Soap Opera Digest at the time. "We have every intention of remaining a family through this and successfully co-parenting our kid and retaining a friendship in the efforts of raising her in a healthy environment."
Storms added that they did not decide to divorce lightly, and a lot of tears and therapy went into the decision. From the looks of their social media pages over the last five years, they have made good on their promise to remain friends and co-parent Harper together.