What Happened to Spinelli on GENERAL HOSPITAL
Damian Spinelli isn’t seen as often these days on GENERAL HOSPITAL, so whenever he pops back into Port Charles for another visit, newer viewers can be forgiven for not knowing too much about the quirky character. Spinelli was first introduced back in November of 2006 when Bradford Anderson joined GH as the computer geek. Although initially a recurring character, Spinelli proved so popular Anderson was put on contract with the soap just six months later. He remained with the soap until December of 2013, earning three Daytime Emmy Award nominations for his work along the way. Anderson has continued to pop back in periodically — well, aside from that one time when the role was briefly played by Blake Berris (ex-Nick, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) — and continues to delight fans with his occasional visits.
Spinelli was first seen as a computer hacker working for the villainous Lorenzo Alcazar, but he eventually switched sides and began working for Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan. He became smitten with Lulu Spencer but developed a close friendship with Georgie Jones. Tragically, just as he realized she had a crush on him, Georgie was murdered by the Text Message Killer. Determined to find the killer, Spinelli teamed up with her sister, Maxie Jones, and he eventually became taken with her as well. After bringing Diego Alcazar to justice, the pair remained close and even slept together. Their relationship was unconventional, and when he proposed, she reluctantly agreed. But overhearing her fears about marriage just before the wedding, Spinelli turned the ceremony into a “non-wedding.” They agreed to marry in the future and just enjoy the reception.
Maxie sleeping with Franco wasn’t great, but when she later pretended to flirt with Matt Hunter to try to make Spinelli jealous and fight for their relationship, he instead decided to let her go! Spinelli was thrilled when Brenda Barrett moved in with him and Jason and he helped protect her from The Balkan. After taking a bullet for Maxie, Spinelli was temporarily stuck in his Jackal P.I. personality, a character from The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli, the book he’d recently written with Diane Miller. He later moved in with Maxie and helped prove that she didn’t kill Matt. She begged Spinelli to keep quiet and tried to marry Matt so she wouldn’t have to testify against him, but Matt confessed to the crime and went to prison. Maxie eventually forgave Spinelli, but he was still angry.
While helping Jason on an investigation, Spinelli fell for hospital lab tech Ellie Trout. When she learned of his complicated romantic history with Maxie, Ellie didn’t want to be his second choice, and he insisted she wasn’t. He asked her to meet him on the roof of the hospital on New Year’s Eve if they were meant to be together, but she got hit by a car and he got drunk believing he’d been stood up. Maxie took him home and they had a one-night stand. Learning of Ellie’s injuries, Spinelli rushed to her side and they reconciled, but it turned out Maxie was pregnant. She claimed it was Dante and Lulu’s daughter, as she was supposed to be acting as their surrogate. But after the infant’s birth, Spinelli learned the truth that she had miscarried and then gotten pregnant with his child. They initially agreed to let Dante and Lulu raise the girl who they named Connie, but then changed their mind, leading to an ugly custody battle.
In the end, the judge awarded Spinelli sole custody, and Maxie wasn’t allowed to see her child for six months. She begged Spinelli to ignore the court order, but he refused. When Ellie got a job in Portland, he joined her, and before leaving town with the baby, he and Maxie named her Georgie, after her late sister. Two years later, Spinelli returned to Port Charles having been dumped by Ellie, hoping to win Maxie back. She had moved on with Nathan West, but they were having problems, so she decided to give Spinelli another go. But when Ellie showed up wanting Spinelli back, he and Maxie realized they were making a mistake and returned to their respective partners.
Spinelli returned to Portland with Ellie and Georgie, but has returned to bring Georgie to Port Charles for visits with her mother, and even officiated at Maxie and Nathan’s wedding. Mostly, though, he returned to help Jason and Sam solve mysteries, such as proving that Patient Six is the real Jason and locating Cesar Faison’s son.
In January of 2020, Spinelli visited Maxie with Georgie because Ellie was interviewing for a new job in the area and by February, revealed that she’d gotten the position so their family would be moving back East. But when Maxie tried to get Spinelli and her new beau to get along, he refused, knowing that Peter August was up to no good and would break Maxie’s heart. He then began working actively to expose Peter’s crimes to save his Maximista.
However, Spinelli also continued helping Jason with Cyrus Renault, and sadly reported in the summer of 2021 that his ongoing work with the Corinthos family had caused a rift with Ellie, who didn’t approve, and they had split up. But at Jason and Carly’s wedding, Spinelli was pleased when Maxie asked him to save her a dance. And in 2022, Sam was convinced her friend was hiding something and it turned out that Spinelli was working with Zelda on the Society Setups dating service! When Cody Bell discovered the pair were in cahoots, he attempted to blackmail Spinelli to keep him quiet about it!
While trying to warn Maxie not to trust Austin Holt, Spinelli confessed to her that he’d created Society Setups but was using Zelda as the public face of the company instead of his own. But when he tried to urge Britt Westbourne not to go out with Cody again, Cody threatened to expose the truth about the dating service so to cover, Spinelli had to pretend it was because he had a crush on Britt himself. Later, though, Sonny stepped in and warned Cody to leave Spinelli alone.
Spinelli admitted to Sam that he didn’t like Austin because he still had feelings for Maxie himself. He also confessed that he was behind Society Setups but swore her to secrecy. Spinelli eventually shut the business down for fear of ending up in prison, but Austin blackmailed him into running the algorithm on him and Maxie. Unfortunately, the results didn’t matter, because when Maxie found out that Austin had done that, she was furious and they split up.
When Sam asked for his help again in June 2023, Spinelli was annoyed to find out she wanted to help Cody and reluctantly agreed to try and force Gladys to confess she’d framed Cody for stealing her bracelet at the Nurses Ball. But their plan backfired when Gladys caught on to their sting. Then, in October, Josslyn Jacks called on Spinelli to help her and Dex Heller track down Ava Jerome, who had been abducted. And in December, Spinelli moved into Maxie’s house while his place was undergoing repairs, but it was really a scheme he and Felicia had cooked up so he could help Maxie make her rent payments.
Spinelli clashed with Cody again as he accused him of moving in on Maxie, and when Cody countered that he had nothing to be jealous about, Spinelli denied still having feelings for Maxie.
Stay tuned to see what Spinelli gets mixed up in next!
Love GH? Be sure to join our We Love General Hospital Facebook group to chat about all the latest storylines and juicy gossip!
