The Real-Life Marriage And Divorce Of General Hospital's Kirsten Storms And Brandon Barash

Soap opera fans undoubtedly have their favorite couples. Through the years, soaps build relationships between fan-favorite characters, and the viewers are usually quick to respond with their opinions about the pairings. While soap couples often go through many breakups and make-ups, sometimes art imitates life, and the pairs find love off-camera as well. Many stars have fallen in love on set over the decades, per Entertainment Weekly.

Billy Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes fell in love on the set of "Days of Our Lives," and the pair have been married since 1974. Kassie DePaiva met her husband, James DePaiva while working on "One Life to Live," and they tied the knot in 1996. "The Bold and the Beautiful" actors Mick Cain and Schae Harrison married in 2001 and later welcomed a child together. Cindy Fisher and Doug Davidson met while on "The Young and the Restless" and have been married since 1984 — and the list goes on and on.

Sadly, not all soap opera marriages work out. Many real-life soap couples have gotten divorced, including Arianne Zucker and Kyle Lowder, Lindsay and Justin Hartley, and Rena Sofer and Wally Kurth (via Soaps). Meanwhile, Brandon Barash and Kirsten Storms also know a thing or two about divorcing their co-star.

Kirsten Storms is a big name in the soap opera world. The actress began working on daytime television at a young age when she was cast as the teenage Isabella Black on "Days of Our Lives" in 1999. Belle became an instant hit with viewers, along with her friends like Shawn-Douglas Brady (Jason Cook), Mimi Lockhart (Farah Fath), and Chloe Lane (Nadia Bjorlin), per Daytime Confidential. The actress opted to leave the sudser in 2004 and was ultimately replaced with Martha Madison. She later moved on to "General Hospital" to play the fan-favorite role of Maxie Jones — the daughter of legendary characters Frisco and Felicia Jones — where she has remained since 2005.

Meanwhile, Brandon Barash appeared on shows such as "The West Wing," "24," and "Gilmore Girls" before landing the role of bad boy Johnny Zacchara on "General Hospital" in 2007. It was there that he met Storms, and the two formed a relationship. However, Barash later left "GH" and found himself at Storms' old stomping ground. The actor took over the role of Stefan DiMera on "Days of Our Lives" from actor Tyler Christopher (via Soaps in Depth). When Stefan was killed off, he later played the role of his identical twin brother, Jake DiMera.

Between the pair, Storms and Barash seemed like the perfect soap opera power couple. However, they sadly couldn't make things work.

Kirsten Storms and Brandon Barash met on the set of "General Hospital" and had a bit of a whirlwind romance. The couple got married in an impromptu ceremony held at the iconic Caesar's Palace in 2013 (via People). Just a few months after tying the knot, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter named Harper Rose. Sadly, the pair announced their plans to divorce just three years after getting married.

"We are splitting due to the cliché irreconcilable differences, but we're splitting amicably," Barash told Soap Opera Digest at the time. "We have every intention of remaining a family through this and successfully co-parenting our kid and retaining a friendship in the efforts of raising her in a healthy environment." Storms went on to reveal that the couple did try to save their marriage before coming to the decision to divorce. "This was not a hasty decision; a lot of thought and therapy went into this," the actress revealed. "We went to therapy for a long time, trying to figure out how to communicate better with each other. It's not anything that we dislike about each other."

In April 2022, on "GH" costar Maurice Benard's YouTube show "State of Mind," Storms admitted that her divorce and co-parenting relationship with Barash hasn't always been easy. However, she made it clear that he's been a good and loyal friend to her along the way. "Brandon has been there for me a lot in my life," she said. The former couple often posts loving tributes to each other and their daughter on social media to the delight of their fans who continue to follow their stories on-screen and off.