Why Robin Mattson Didn’t Return to General Hospital

Robin Mattson is a former actress with an extensive resume spanning around five decades. She is a legend of daytime television and appeared on several soap operas. Mattson portrayed Hope Bauer on CBS’ Guiding Light, Gina Capwell on NBC’s Santa Barbara, and Janet Green on ABC’s All My Children. But, she is arguably best known for essaying the role of Heather Webber on ABC’s General Hospital. She played the character as a series regular from 1980 to 1983 and as a recurring character in 2004 and from 2012 to 2016. However, when Heather eventually returned in 2022, she had been recast with Alley Mills. Since then, fans have wondered why Mattson didn’t come back to General Hospital.

Why didn’t Robin Mattson’s Heather Webber return to General Hospital?

Back in November 2022, after Alley Mills debuted as Heather on General Hospital, Mattson took to Facebook to explain to fans why she didn’t return to the long-running soap opera. She revealed that she had recently undergone knee surgery and was recovering. Further, she was slated to undergo hip replacement surgery soon at the time.

“As nice as is to be mised [missed] and so many of you have wondered what happened to me, I just want to let you know that I’ve been recovering from my knee surgery and today I’m going to have hip replacement surgery,” Mattson shared. “Thank you all for your love and support! Looking forward to a fast recovery! Love Robin,” she added.

For her performance, Mattson won the Soapy Award for Favorite Villainess in 1981 and 1983.

Mattson is not the first actress to portray Heather. Before her, Georganne LaPiere played Heather and then she was recast with Mary O’Brien.

Notably, per Soap Opera Digest, the current actor playing Heather, Mills, exited General Hospital this month. The outlet also reports that this is not a permanent departure for the character. So, fans can hope that Mattson might come out of retirement to play Heather again. However, nothing has been officially confirmed yet.