Former child star Kirsten Storms spent more than two decades portraying Maxie Jones on General Hospital – and navigated a slew of ups and downs offscreen along the way.
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Storms rose to fame on Disney Channel in the early 2000s, starring as the titular role in Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century that spawned two futuristic follow-up films. Amid the height of her intergalactic fame, Storms landed the role as Maxie Jones on General Hospital.
Storms left the long-running soap for good in July 2026 following a series of health battles and custody issues regarding her daughter’s care. Keep scrolling to revisit Storms’ ups and downs in the spotlight:
Storms debuted as Maxie – the daughter of Frisco Jones (Jack Wagner) and Felicia Cummings (Kristina Wagner) – in May 2005, taking over the role from Robyn Richards, who played the character from 1993 to 2004. Storms became a series regular in January 2006, earning a Daytime Emmy nomination and cementing herself as a fan-favorite for a generation of soap viewers.
Storms’ run on General Hospital has been marked by repeated absences tied to her health, all of which she’s spoken candidly about with fans via social media. Storms first left the soap in 2011 while battling endometriosis. Following her return, Storms left again on maternity leave in 2014 when she welcomed daughter Harper with then-husband Brandon Barash.
After her four-month break, Storms reprised her beloved role once more. She, however, stepped back again in 2016 for skin issues, later revealing via Instagram that she suffered from “severe depression.”
Storms took her next hiatus in 2021 when she underwent brain surgery to remove a large cyst that had split into two.
“I had a very large cyst that had split into two, and the doctor said it was, like, so full the pressure was very noticeable when they opened up my skull,” she said via Instagram at the time. “[It] sounds so weird.”
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Storms underwent a second neurological procedure in 2025 after doctors found a brain aneurysm.
In July 2025, Storms told fans via social media she was relocating from Los Angeles to Nashville with then-11-year-old Harper. She had informed GH executive producer Frank Valentini in March 2025 and was granted time off.
“I’m still under contract and have every intention of returning when the break (I was fortunate enough to be granted) is over,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.
Storms returned to the fan-favorite soap in February 2026, in which Maxie woke up from a coma. She left GH for good in July 2026 with Maxie and her family moving away from Port Charles to Australia.
Storms and Barash – who met on General Hospital, where he played Johnny Zacchara – had gotten married in 2013, one year before welcoming daughter Harper in 2014. The pair ultimately divorced in 2016, almost 10 years before Barash filed for custody of Harper in December 2025. He also obtained an emergency restraining order against Storms.
“Moving to Tennessee, as a single mom who lives alone 50 [percent] of the time, with a newly discovered brain aneurysm … well, I don’t think I need to explain how upsetting this entire situation has been for me,” she recalled of the custody drama in a July 2026 statement. “Given what’s been going on, I can’t say I will feel comfortable heading back to Los Angeles and returning to work [on General Hospital]. This has been an eye-opening experience about the downside of my profession.”
She added, “My daughter is my entire life, she is (and always will be) my first priority.”
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This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.
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This story was originally published July 26, 2026 at 4:02 PM.