NEED TO KNOW
Rena Sofer and her husband Sanford Bookstaver have left Los Angeles after living there for over three decades to move to New YorkThe move has caused a stir among General Hospital fans who are wondering if Sofer will not return as Lois Cerullo due to the moveShe originally joined the soap in 1994, left in 1997 and returned in 2023, after starring on The Bold and The Beautiful from 2013 to 2022
Rena Sofer just announced that she and her husband are moving out of Los Angeles after nearly 35 years.
For fans of General Hospital, which Sofer, 56, first joined in 1994 and returned to in 2023, that news felt like a possible retirement from her role on the long-running soap, too.
PEOPLE can confirm that Sofer will not be leaving General Hospital, despite relocating to the East Coast.
She will continue to star as Lois Cerullo and will be commuting from New York to L.A. to film.
In her post announcing her move, Sofer reflected on finding “amazing success” in Hollywood during her time in L.A.
“We’ve been in LA for almost 35 years and now it’s time for me and @sbookstaver to go,” she began the caption.
The post featured a selfie-style video of her and her husband, Sanford Bookstaver, in front of their home and their packed car, as they revealed they’re headed to New York by singing along to Billy Joel‘s “New York State of Mind.”
“No one better than Billy Joel to create the perfect soundtrack to our dreams!” Sofer wrote. “Yes I’m getting emotional. I met and had my children in LA met the man of my dreams and created an incredible life there.”
She also noted that she had “amazing success in the Biz and made all my lifelong friends who I will miss desperately.”
“Thank you LA for being you. And now on to quieter and calmer times,” she wrote. In the caption, she also noted that they’re driving across the country “with our 5 dogs in the back.”
Sofer returned to General Hospital in 2023 after a 26-year break from the soap.
PEOPLE confirmed her casting in September 2023, and she returned as Lois Cerullo the following month.
Her return came after she left The Bold and The Beautiful, which she starred in from 2013 to 2022.
She reunited with Wally Kurth, who played her onscreen husband Ned Ashton, and to whom she was married from 1995 to 1997,
Rena Sofer on ‘General Hospital’.
Christine Bartolucci/DISNEY via Getty
Sofer remarried Bookstaver in 2024, seven years after they divorced.
After her 1997 split from Kurth, she married Bookstaver in 2003, but they divorced in 2017.
Seven years later, in 2023, the couple got remarried on what would have been their 21st wedding anniversary.
“I got to re-Marry my best friend @sbookstaver once again!” she wrote in an Instagram post revealing the news. “The journey we are about to begin is the most exciting adventure, in a new state and town, but most thrilling is that we get to do it together as husband and wife.”
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General Hospital airs weekdays (check local listings).