After nearly a decade playing Valentin, the veteran soap star was seemingly written off on March 24 when his character was taken to Steinmauer to serve out a life sentence.

In February of 2025, TJ’s portrayer was dropped back from contract to recurring status (which was where he began back in 2022 when he assumed the role of Molly’s partner).

Five years after Cyrus started wreaking havoc on Port Charles, the mobster-turned-holy roller got his number punched when he brought an axe to a gunfight with Dex’s grieving girlfriend, Josslyn.

As Lucky tried to get the goods on Cyrus, the case took an unexpected twist when Lulu’s big brother was suddenly, temporarily recast with Guy Wilson (ex-Will, Days of Our Lives).

The primetime mainstay opted to leave his role of Brennan, Soap Opera Digest reported in February 2025. Picking up where the actor left off was Young & Restless vet Chris McKenna.

December 23 delivered a shock to viewers when Emma returned — not played by the actress who’d held the role since she was 5. Turned out, Anna’s granddaughter had been recast with Braedyn Bruner. (Read Silzer’s message here.)

As quickly as Cameron arrived in Port Charles with new girlfriend Gretchen, the two of them left again to spend Christmas in Key West with her family. One of these years, we’ll make it onto the nice list and get to keep Cam in town!

We were as shocked and horrified as Josslyn when in December’s Friday the 13th episode, her boyfriend Dex went into cardiac arrest and died. What the heck happened? Read what Hofer has to say here.

A year (!) after we last saw Sonny’s pal Phyllis on screen, we learned that she’d moved back to Nixon Fall without so much as a send-off.

Just before Thanksgiving, the Emmy winner announced that he was leaving his role of Michael. Why? “It feels like the right time in my life,” he said on Instagram, adding that “this isn’t a goodbye, it’s a ‘See you later.’”

In November 2024, the vets, who were once real-life sweethearts, were finally able to ride off into the sunset as star-crossed lovers Robert and Holly.

Turned out that Finn’s release from rehab didn’t mean a return to Port Charles. In late October, we learned that the embattled doctor had moved to Seattle and sent for daughter Violet, thus bringing to an end Love’s five-year run as Liz’s niece.

Well, that was an interesting experiment. Bringing back Jagger Cates as both a blond and a jerk didn’t win the character any popularity contests. So it was only a matter of time before he joined the ranks of all the others who have tried to bring down Sonny.

In August, it was reported that after 20+ years as Sam, the fan favorite had been let go. What’s more, her character was going to be killed off. (As if that means diddly squat in Port Charles!)

Yeah, we screamed, too, when we realized that Kristina was really dumping Blaze and the singer was leaving Port Charles to tour with Miguel Morez.

Although Anna busted Valentin for his involvement in Pikeman, she gave him a lovely parting gift: a chance to run away with daughter Charlotte.