General Hospital has shocking news that recently broke that Kate Mansi is officially done and is out as Kristina Corinthos Davis, and that means big changes are coming. And that has us wondering if Lexi Ainsworth is coming back as a replacement or if Kristina is just going to leave.
We’re going to talk about the reasons behind Kate Mansi’s shocking exit, how the ABC soap’s going to handle it. And what is next for Kristina.
Kate Mansi Chose Not To Renew Her Contract
All right. So, it was absolutely jaw-dropping when the official news broke and it was confirmed by actress Kate Mansi herself that she had chosen not to renew her contract at General Hospital and she just wrapped up her three-year run. That was her initial contract. So, during the contract renewal process, I guess it was just like, “No, she’s not going to stay as Kristina.”
And Kate explained her reasons for leaving GH in a recent interview and she said it was a very difficult decision. The actress said that leaving as Kristina just made sense though. And Kate Mansi says she has some new projects that she wants to give her full attention to. One of those is producing a series with her husband Matt McInnis and it’s filming abroad. Kate Mansi said she needed flexibility to travel as needed while also pursuing other projects. Now, her husband is producing Tomb Raider, so she may be working on that with him as well. But basically, it sounds like that she ran out of space in her life to keep playing Kristina.
General Hospital: Kate Mansi Grateful
And then Kate Mansi talked about being incredibly grateful to showrunner Frank Valentini as well as the network and the writers. And Kate Mansi called playing Kristina meaningful and unforgettable. Kate also said she was proud of the story she got to play during her three-year run at General Hospital. And one of the storylines that we know from the get-go that meant a lot to her was Kristina going through the endometriosis storyline with her sister Molly Lansing Davis. Because the actress has endometriosis herself in real life.
So, Kate Mansi also mentioned how satisfying it was that she got to do some directing at General Hospital and then she said it just felt like the right time for her and for Kristina to step into new adventures.
Now, that phrasing is kind of a red flag to me of what might be coming. And showrunner Frank Valentini said that the door is always open to Kate. So, that to me sounds like Kristina is leaving rather than jumping right into a recast. But that doesn’t mean a recast won’t happen sooner rather than later. And I know a lot of fans would love to have Lexi Ainsworth back in the role. But for now, it sounds like Kristina is going to exit.
How Will They Write Kristina Out?
So, let’s talk about how they will write her out, at least for now, with Kate Mansi saying there are new adventures for Kristina. That sounds like her character may be finding something cool to do outside of Port Charles. So, one thing we might see with Kate Mansi leaving General Hospital and Kristina also leaving Port Charles is some kind of romantic situation. Official GH spoilers have her getting big news this week and that may be something tied to her ex-girlfriend Blaze who of course is now out on tour.
There was a big fan base for Kristina and Blaze and fans had given them the smoosh name Kraze. And I know this fan base would love to see Kristina and Blaze get back together. You know, I’m sure they would prefer it to be on General Hospital rather than offscreen. But it could happen if they go that route. You know, they could set it up. So, Kristina left town with Blaze.
General Hospital: Kristina Thrilled
So, we could see Kristina thrilled. Because Blaze pops into town and then talks her into going on tour with her and reuniting. And if Kristina did leave town with Blaze, I could see her leaving Charlie’s pub in Gio’s hands to run. He is a good choice. Because his other job right now is at Bobby’s and in the summer he worked by the Metro Court pool but otherwise you know he’s free to run the pub for Kristina if she decided to leave Port Charles for a while plus he’s family you know Gio is her nephew.
And also we have to consider that there is a chance given current storylines that something bad might happen to Kristina and she exit under unfortunate circumstances. Because this week we’ve got Ric and Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) plotting on how to take down Sidwell and Colum is an ongoing problem since he is plotting to kill Kristina’s other nephew Rocco Falconeri since now he knows the kid shot him. So Kristina might wind up caught in some sort of crossfire and she’s injured.
You know, if she winds up collateral damage in the Sonny versus Sidwell war, we could see Kristina exiting, you know, in a long-term coma or that she’s presumed dead or blown up like Morgan Corinthos with no body found to prove that they’re dead or not, which would easily set up a later return for either a recast or if Kate Mansi decided to come back.
Could Lexi Ainsworth Return?
Remember when Michael Corinthos swapped from Chad Duell to Rory Gibson? That was after Michael was badly burned in the penthouse bombing and he came back from Germany where he went for burn treatments with a new face. When he returned, Chad Duell had exited and Rory Gibson was in the role. And that’s when Michael showed up at the Nurses Ball and shocked everybody. And in other General Hospital spoilers for this week, Ethan Lovett (Nathan Dean) gets a new assignment. So, he might go chasing after Rocco.
Since Ethan and Kristina have gotten closer again, I could see a setup where she goes with Ethan to help find her nephew Rocco. From there, Kristina could actually take Rocco and go hide out with him until the danger dies down. And then, of course, they could bring Kristina back later with a new face. And unless GH has decided to sideline the role, that means there is a chance for a recast.
Let’s be honest, a lot of General Hospital fans would love to see them dial it back and bring Lexi Ainsworth back to GH. If you remember, basically they just up and exited her to make room for Kate Mansi. And a lot of fans were ticked off. So maybe the powers that be at General Hospital would undo that and bring Lexi back.
General Hospital: Kate Mansi Done
And another reason that’s a red flag to me that GH may be considering a recast is that they just spent all that money to redo the Charlie’s Pub set. And by then, you know, I think they likely already knew that Kate Mansi wasn’t going to renew her contract. But they did the set anyway in the big debut. So that would be the perfect time for Lexi to come back and reprise the role of Kristina. Currently, it doesn’t look like Lexi has any projects on her plate, at least that aren’t listed on her IMDb page as, you know, in production, stuff like that.
So, if you remember when she debuted as Kristina on General Hospital, Lexi was really young. She was 16 years old and she played the role for like 14 years or something. So, I’m sure that the ABC soap is like a second home to Lexi Ainsworth. We’ll have to wait and see how it shakes out. One thing we know is that the end is coming in the next few weeks for Kristina. Because Kate Mansi already taped her last episode.
So, she is officially done. She’s gone from GH dressing room, packed up, out of there. So, maybe we’ll see them take Kristina Corinthos out of town, you know, one way or another. We’ll find out if it’s something violent or something good like her going off with Blaze, but in the end, we still might end up getting Lexi Ainsworth back.
