Credit: Disney
Viewers got a bit of a surprise when they tuned in to the July 3 episode of General Hospital. No, the show didn’t rewrite history so that Sasha and Cody could reunite, despite that being one of its biggest recent mistakes. Instead, they were greeted by a new Maxie who, despite not being Kirsten Storms, seemed oddly familiar.
That’s because Nicole Paggi, who is currently playing the role of Maxie, has stepped in for Storms in the past. Because hey, when you play a part for 20 years, things are occasionally going to come up which require you to miss a few days. In this case, TVInsider reports that Storms had a scheduling conflict which resulted in the show having to call in a replacement.
According to TVInsider, Paggi will be seen several times in the coming weeks. Because the show tapes multiple episodes in a single day — a daunting task if ever there was one! — she’ll appear on July 30 and August 13. As for Storms, she’ll be stepping back into fashionista Maxie’s pumps the week of August 18.
It’s easy to see why some fans might be jarred when a new face steps in as Maxie: Storms has been playing the part since way back in 2005! In fact, she accepted the part shortly after leaving Days of Our Lives, where she’d spent several years as Belle Black.
Fun fact: Martha Madison, who currently plays Belle, temporarily played the part of General Hospital‘s Elizabeth Webber when Rebecca Herbst needed someone to step in as the much-loved nurse back in 2011. So for a brief time, there were two Belle’s walking the titular facility’s hallways!
As for Paggi, primetime soap fans might best remember her stint on the series Pasadena, where she played Jennie (above right), BFF to rich girl Lily (played by Alison Lohman). While that show never truly caught on, it was written by Mike White, who would go on to create the wildly popular HBO series White Lotus!
