'General Hospital' Fans Can Relax Because Jason Morgan Isn't Going Anywhere

There's a reason that soap operas have been on television for so long. The stories are drama-filled, with interesting twists and unique characters that have us going back for more. 

These shows have been providing daily entertainment for decades and General Hospital is one of the long-term ones. Fans understandably get really attached to the characters over the years and worry that they'll be written off. If you're wondering if Jason Morgan is leaving the soap opera, here's what we know.

There are some soap operas that are more popular than others, and even further, characters that are more loved as well. General Hospital has been on the air since 1963, and even in years that soap operas have been in danger of going off the air, this one has held strong. 

One of the more popular characters on the show is Jason Morgan. He's the son of Dr. Alan Quartermaine, and identical twin of a former Navy SEAL character in the show. The character first hit the show in 1981 and was originally played by Quinn Carlson. While there have been several different actors who have taken on the role, one of the more popular ones has been Steve Burton. 

Steve Burton has played Jason off-and-on from 1991 through 2012, and he came back to the role in late 2017. The character is beloved by those who are regular watchers of the show, so when Steve chose to leave in 2012 and the character wasn't immediately recast, it hurt.

In 2014, Jason came back to the screen, but was portrayed by Billy Miller. While fans were thrilled to have the character back, they missed Steve and a twist in 2017 thrilled everyone. 

Steve came back and it was revealed that the character Billy was playing was really Jason's twin brother. While he's been on the show for a while now, fans are worried that Jason Morgan is going to leave again, but Steve is reassuring everyone that he's here to stay for a while anyways. 

In October 2020, Steve reassured fans during a Facebook Live chat with his General Hospital costar that an Instagram photo he shared that many took to mean he was leaving the show was misunderstood. In the photo he wrote, "Looking back at what an AMAZING ride Port Chuck was! Thank YOU," which caused a lot of confusion. 

Steve clarified what he meant, saying, "It's a great picture in my Port Chuck hoodie. Port Chuck was one of the greatest times of my life, and I thanked [band members] Bradford [Anderson], Scott [Reeves], and Brandon [Barash]. And then people misconstrued that I was leaving the show because I wanted to thank Port Chuck for some of the best times of my life."

He continues, "So, Port Chuck and Port Charles, not the same thing, technically. Port Chuck's the band, and Port Charles is the city in which I'm staying for a long time, I hope. So, there you go. That might have been the confusion."

He's not the only one that people have been nervous is going to leave from the series though. People started to ask more questions on other long-time characters. 

Sam McCall Morgan is another big character on the show, played by Kelly Monaco for the past decade. The character was worried to be leaving the show after Kelly fell ill during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of Sam leaving the show, the character was temporarily played by soap opera pro Lindsay Hartley.

Kelly wasn't away from the show for too long, so fans can rest assured that it's pretty clear that neither of these two beloved General Hospital characters are going anywhere any time soon.