Kelly Thiebaud is getting back to herself — and her General Hospital character. Though the Station 19 actress has previously come and gone from the long-running soap opera, fans were sure they had seen the last of Britt “The Britch” Westbourne when she was officially killed off in 2023. However, when you are part of a show where there is no shortage of twists and turns, a return from the dead is never fully out of the question.

Speaking with Woman’s World about her return, Kelly revealed: “I was getting messages on my social media about how much people missed the character,” and noted: “The last time I was on the show, we were creating this different version of Britt. And it wasn’t just me — it was the writing and a real team effort to give her this redemption, and then the Huntington’s disease. It was so beautiful. I got so much love from the GH fans, and I think we grew closer during that whole experience.”

Though she said “there’s still some haters out there,” she maintained: “The majority of people have just been so welcoming and happy to have me back, so it’s just been a wonderful, full-circle experience. I feel very lucky.” Plus, she knew that by signing back on, she would be coming back to a redemption arc, her one request.

“I knew if I did come back, I didn’t want to play Britt’s evil twin or another character,” she explained. “I wanted it to be Britt and initially, I didn’t think that that was going to be possible — because we did choose to kill her off! I was also kind of afraid to open that door again. Will the magic still be there?”

Kelly hopes to find that magic again by reuniting her character with Steve Burton’s Jason Morgan. “Steve and I had a wonderful conversation and we both felt like there was a lot of unfinished business we wanted to explore,” she shared, adding: “We gave viewers something that started to become interesting, exciting, and maybe romantic… and then it got taken away from everyone. We want to give that back to them.”

Her return is also giving her renewed purpose, after a bit of a “midlife crisis,” and a move to London — where she still hopes to spend part of her year during the 17 weeks she gets off from filming — even though the reason she moved, a relationship, didn’t exactly work out.

“I’ve heard so many people say how wonderful their 40s are, and I’m hoping to get to that point,” Kelly, 43, confessed, and further shared: “When I was turning 40, I went through a bit of a midlife crisis. I was single, I obviously felt the pressure of the baby clock ticking, and I kind of panicked. I ended up making some decisions that really set me back and hurt me.”

She admitted that the last few years have been “a bit traumatic,” however things are looking up. “I’m feeling a little bit more like myself, but a different version of myself,” she emphasized. “One of the biggest lessons I’ve finally learned is to never put someone else above myself and always protect myself first. Better late than never, I guess! I hope I can take those lessons and have an amazing rest of my 40s.”