What happened to Kirsten Storms? Health Update

 

Kirsten Storms

The talented Kirsten Storms, who is known for her work in the “Zenon” trilogy, “Johnny Tsunami”, and “Kim Possible”, was born in April 1984 in Orlando, Florida, USA. During her childhood, she and her family moved between Casselberry, Sanford, and Kissimmee, together with Kirsten’s three siblings: half-brother Chris, brother Austin, and sister Gretchen. Her parents are Karen and Mike Storms, a WKMG-TV sportscaster.

According to Kirsten herself, she always dreamed of being a soap opera actress, and told one of her first agents so when she was just five years old. “No one took me seriously,” she reminisced in an interview years later. “But I knew, even though I hadn’t actually watched one, it was something I always wanted to do.”

Kirsten was discovered by a talent scout at aged five, after convincing her parents to enroll her in acting classes. She was inspired to try her luck in the entertainment industry after visiting her father at work, and her parents were evidently more than happy that she pursue her dreams. The talent scout then suggested that Kirsten enroll in an intensive New York-based acting camp aimed at children.

Work was scant at first, with Kirsten in minor roles in a handful of commercials. Eventually, she scored a lead role in “Sing Me a Story with Belle”, and a recurring role in “Second Noah”. In 1996, she and her family moved to Los Angeles for better work opportunities, and soon afterwards, she was cast as Laura Cummings in “7^th Heaven”.

However, the turning point in Kirsten’s career was when she was cast as the title character in “Zenon: Girl of the 21^st century”. At the time, the movie made history by having the largest rating for any Disney Channel original movie. From then on, TV movies and family shows became the Floridian’s forte, although she appeared in other Disney projects doing voiceover work or in supporting roles.

In August 1999, Kirsten auditioned for the role of Isabella “Belle” Black in “Days of Our Lives”. Despite the initial backlash from viewers due to how rapidly Isabella’s character had aged – which is a common phenomenon in soap operas when it comes to babies or young children – she soon became a fan favorite, who enjoyed many high-profile storylines with major characters within the show. Nevertheless, Kirsten decided not to renew her five-year contract, in order to focus on other opportunities.

The other projects in mind included “Clubhouse”, a CBS series that aired in late 2004, but was cancelled after just five episodes. The series was produced by Aaron Spelling and created by Daniel Cerone, with Kirsten having one of the leading roles as Betsy Young, the protagonist’s sister. Despite the show not being successful, Kirsten enjoyed the experience of playing Betsy, a troubled teenager grappling with decidedly adult issues that included sex, drugs and alcohol.

In May 2005, Kirsten joined “General Hospital” as the third actress to play Mariah Maximiliana Jones, receiving an Emmy nomination for her role four years later. Mysterious medical reasons meant that she had to vacate the role in late 2011; despite being scheduled to return in February 2012, her illness – which was revealed to be endometriosis – prevented her from doing so until September of the same year.

In early 2013, the relationship between Kirsten and her former co-star Brandon Barash was confirmed. The couple gave a rare interview in August of the same year, and dropped the bombshell news that they had secretly tied the knot, and were expecting a baby girl. Their daughter, Harper Rose Barash, was born in January 2014. Sadly, the lowkey couple filed for divorce in April 2016, citing irreconcilable differences. As the split was amicable, the couple have been successfully co-parenting for years, and have yet to slander each other in the press.

@The_Pigeon Every bedtime includes one (or 4) Mo Willems books. Our 3 yr old loves them… and Brandon does voices – perfection. pic.twitter.com/FpvqPpyTWH

— Kirsten Storms (@teenystweeting) October 12, 2017

In the past, Kirsten has been in trouble with the law for tossing a lit cigarette out of her window while driving on an L.A freeway. The incident occurred in September 2007; she was promptly pulled over by California Highway Patrol, and subsequently arrested on DUI charges after failing sobriety tests.

News outlets reported that Kirsten’s blood alcohol content was 0.13, with the legal limit in the state of California being 0.08. In November 2007, the actress pleaded no contest to the charges and was fined $1,643, ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and complete a three-month alcohol education program. She was also placed on probation for three years and had her license suspended for six months. Kirsten has kept on the straight and narrow ever since.

Health Update

Kirsten has always been candid about her experiences living with anxiety, depression, and endometriosis, and frequently provides her social media followers with well-received health updates. The 2020 pandemic took a toll on her mental health, and in an Instagram post from the same year she told fans: “Even though I wanted to get better without returning to the hospital, my body didn’t have it. Since April, I’ve been struggling with serious pain concerns.”

As it happens, Kirsten had undergone a procedure to eliminate endometriosis-related scar tissue, which left her in pain for many months. One of the side effects of her condition includes weight gain or weight fluctuations, which have often led to unwelcome pregnancy rumors.

In June 2021, fans were alarmed to discover that Kirsten had been forced to take a break from her role in “General Hospital” following brain surgery. It appears that the star had been suffering from random health issues over the last few years, which she had written off as side effects of her medications.

After months of severe neck pain and migraines, Kirsten’s “amazingly thorough” orthopedist ordered an MRI scan which revealed a fluid-filled cyst in the lower portion of the actress’s brain. “I feel very fortunate that my situation wasn’t more serious, and that I had a wonderful neurosurgeon who immediately knew how to fix it,” she wrote on Instagram, after undergoing and recovering from the surgery.

Thankfully, Kirsten’s cyst wasn’t cancerous and she was able to spend more time than ever with her friends and family while taking a break from acting. In early January 2023, it was reported that she would be returning to her “General Hospital” role; however, a rep for ABC stated a couple of weeks later that she would be unable to return to the series as soon as originally announced. For the time being, Jen Lilley is playing Kirsten’s role, with Kirsten presumably still on the way to recovering fully.