General Hospital recasts Charlotte Cassadine

General Hospital shocker: Scarlett Fernandez is out on short notice

Scarlett Fernandez was injured in a bike accident during the summer but announced in October that she was returning to GH. In an Instagram post, the young actress said the following: “You have no idea how happy this made me!” “I love this place, I love the people, and I love being Charlotte". "It’s been five years of playing her and I have loved every day!” Now only two months later fans found out that Fernandez was replaced.

During the December 21 episode, an older girl appeared as Charlotte. Fernandez gave the following statement on Instagram about the recast: "I’m super grateful for the opportunity that [executive producer Frank Valentini] and [casting director Mark Teschner] gave me in 2016,” “Playing Charlotte Cassadine was my favorite and I’m sad it’s come to an end. I will miss my castmates and the crew and I know the fans will support the new actor playing Charlotte.”

Soaps in Depth has detailed the life of the daughter of Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart) and Lulu Spencer (Emme Rylan) and you can read the details by clicking on the following link.

General Hospital rumor: The Fernandez family has moved from California

It's obvious that Scarlett had this statement prepared for her and now fans are wondering what happened. Why was she so pumped up about returning to the role of Charlotte only to have it taken away? Certainly, there is some disappointment but Fernandez is being a pro and saying the right thing regarding her replacement. According to Soap Hub Stuart who portrays Charlotte's on screen dad may have solved the mystery. He said that Fernandez and her family have moved away from California to a farm where there are horses.

The move must have happened suddenly considering that in October Scarlett thought she was returning as Charlotte. General Hospital kept this information under wraps because no spoilers had reported this change. There also is not one source who has the name of the new actress who will be portraying Valentin's daughter.

General Hospital has come under fire for several recent decisions and not revealing that Charlotte was being recast will be added to the list. Fans are still reeling at the firings of Steve Burton and Ingo Rademacher and the fact that infant Liam Mike Corbin died at Christmas. To be fair its possible that Scarlett's family pulled up stakes on short notice and GH was left in a lurch with no time for explanations. Considering that they tape shows about 6 weeks in advance however, there was plenty of time to tell the fans that Fernandez was leaving and introduce her replacement. This would indicate that the new actress would have taped her first scenes in November.

General Hospital: Fans deserved better

General Hospital fans fell in love with Scarlett and enjoyed the dialog between her character and her "papa." The new Charlotte looks a lot like Fernandez but is a few years older and also taller. Fans will get used to the new actress in time but the way this all went down has been stunning. At least 7 news outlets have reported that the character is being recast and all of them have been since General Hospital aired this afternoon.

This indicates that everyone was left in the dark and also reveals that Scarlett was probably told not to say anything until after today's episode aired. Loyal viewers deserved much better and are wondering why all the secrecy? Best of luck to Scarlett Fernandez in her future endeavors and perhaps soon we will know something more about her replacement.