Hayden Barnes

First appearance
 Created by
 Introduced by
 Birth name
 Alias(es)
 Age

 Parents

 Siblings

 Spouses

 Children

 Nieces and nephews

**Hayden Barnes** is a fictional character on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital. She is the daughter of Dr. Jeff Webber and Naomi Dreyfus. She bears a striking resemblance to Dr. Robin Scorpio-Drake before becoming a blonde to match her daughter Violet and Ava's hair color via hair color swap with Maxie Jones.

## Casting/Characterization

* Budig
* Dunst

Daytime Emmy nominated actress and *All My Children* alumni Rebecca Budig, debuted on *General Hospital* in the role of Hayden Barnes on March 20, 2015 as the woman pretending to be the wife of Jake Doe (Billy Miller).

Budig's casting was announced on *Twitter* by executive producer Frank Valentini and head writer Ron Carlivati on February 10, 2015. "I've always loved GH and I love Frank, so it’s really exciting to get to go over there and play" Budig said to *Soap Opera Digest*. Carlivati described the character as "a real spitfire" and Valentini said it was "Killer role."

In an interview with Michael Logan for *TV Insider*, the character was officially revealed to be Hayden Barnes. Budig described the character as "ballsy and very direct" similar to her former *All My Children* character, Greenlee Smythe Lavery. "However", Budig continued, "this one is much more out there than Greenlee."

Budig admitted that she herself was surprised by some of Hayden's actions. The actress anticipated fan backlash, considering the trouble she is sure to stir up for the popular heroine Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) in her romance with Jake. Logan described Hayden as a "maneater."

On May 19, 2015, Rebecca departed from the show after her character went into to a coma, but she and her character could come back at anytime.

On July 31, 2015, *Soap Opera Digest* confirmed that Budig will return to *GH* as Hayden. She returned on August 3, 2015 on a four year contract.

On June 27, 2017, *Soap Opera Digest* reported that Budig had been let go from the show. According to *Digest,* GH sources claim that her exit was storyline dictated. There is no news yet on when Budig will last air.

On August 13, 2017; Budig revealed that she was written off the show therefore it was not her choice to leave.

She made her last appearance on September 5, 2017 before being replaced by Cesar Faison (Anders Hove), Jim Harvey (Greg Evigan), Margaux Dawson (Elizabeth Hendrickson), Mary Pat Ingles (Patricia Bethune), and Rupert Watson (Patrick Cox) in 2018 along with Michael Carson (Leif Gantvoort) and Shawn Phillips (Owen Saxon) who replaced Patricia Bethune and Patrick Cox that same year.

On May 8, 2019; it was announced that Budig was set to return to *GH* as Hayden.

On July 5, 2019; Soaps.com confirmed that Budig will be back on-screen during the week of July 8. She returned at the end of the episode on July 8, 2019.

On November 20, 2019; it was confirmed that Budig will once again be leaving *GH*, especially when William deVry put up a tweet which was later deleted. He tweeted, "It sucks we have to see @RebeccaBudig leave again. Grr." and also responded to a fan who asked about this casting news and said, "Yep. She's awesome."

She made her last appearance on November 27, 2019. Her voice was heard while Finn read Hayden's goodbye letter on November 28, 2019.

In 2021, various rumors suggested that Budig could return to *GH* as Hayden, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

On November 3, 2021; it was rumored that Hayden would be recast with actress Marie Wilson, who previously portrayed Karen Wexler on GH.

On July 7, 2022; General Hospital Tea reported a rumor that Hayden could be recast and could be coming back. This turned out to be false as Liz's visitor was her son Jake.
In 2023, Kirsten Dunst is recast as Hayden Barnes who dyed her hair blonde to match Ava (Maura West) and her onscreen daughter Jophielle Love (Violet)'s hair color via hair color swap with her onscreen counterpart Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms) revealing that Hayden has come back and survived after the death of Victor Cassadine (Charles Shaughnessy) via drone strike to the Haunted Star by the WSB after being replaced by Esme Prince (Avery Kristen Pohl) who is two decades younger than Hayden after Victor's will reading.

## Storylines

* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018-19
* 2021
* 2023

In the Fall of 2018, Hayden sends Finn a letter telling him that she is in Rome after the deaths of Cesar Faison and Nathan West which triggered the earthquake caused by Jim Harvey one month later after their deaths, Mary Pat Ingles and Rupert Watson who tortured Carly Corinthos at Ferncliff Asylum where her brother-in-law Franco's biological mother Heather Webber was at which left Spencer Cassadine traumatized, and Ryan Chamberlain was revealed to be alive months later before his death less than four years later because Hayden had no interactions with Faison nor Jim. After Anna pressures him to go and he decides not to, but instead go to Cuba with Anna.

On July 8, 2019; Hayden appears at the Haunted Star after when Franco Baldwin married Elizabeth and gains Franco as Hayden's brother-in-law.

On November 27, Hayden leaves Port Charles before Maxie Jones began visiting Violet who is like James West's female counterpart but Violet is only six months older than James. After she left Port Charles, Hayden is nowhere to be found and replaced by her brother-in-law Franco afterwards. Over a month later, Dolores Maloney came in as Sam's parole officer before the three separate shootouts occurred by Cyrus Renault from Seattle in the Pacific Northwest who bores an uncanny resemblance to Faison in which Dolores denied any involvement working with Cyrus Renault.

On July 20, 2021; Shawn Butler wanted to find the person who really ordered the hit on Hayden and had her shot in the head after Esme Prince has replaced her hospitalized stepcousin Lulu and Hayden as well as Julian Jerome after his death in Secaucus, New Jersey and her brother-in-law Franco's death and were replaced by Yuri Tamashevich a month later before Yuri was deported by ICE. Nikolas later bribed him to drop the investigation.

On October 29, Shawn tells Spencer that Nikolas paid someone to shoot Hayden. Shawn hints that Nikolas may also be involved in Hayden's disappearance. It is revealed Shawn is working with Spinelli to sow seeds of doubt in Spencer. They listen in to the bug that Shawn put on Spencer while he confronts Nikolas at Pier 54. Nikolas suspects Spencer is wearing a wire. Nikolas insists Hayden isn't dead and Spencer realizes that Nikolas did have Hayden shot. Nikolas asks who told Spencer about Hayden. Shawn appears and says it was him. Spencer says he was there to defend his father but it is obvious he is guilty now and Spencer leaves.

On December 6, Victor Cassadine tells Nikolas and Ava that he stepped in when Hayden was vulnerable to Valentin's bribes and threats. Nikolas explains to Ava that Hayden was on the verge of blowing his plans to regain the Cassadine fortune. Victor says Hayden needed to be dealt with along with others (Naomi Dreyfus and Roger Barstow) who could implicate them which was why he sent out his henchman and killer Rodney Maynard.

On December 23; the body of the hitman, Ray Giles, who shot Hayden was found in the Pine Barrens since Giles was also a friend of Naomi Carson. Shawn is cleared of her attempted murder. He talks with Nikolas on the phone and Nikolas pays Shawn the rest of the bribe money.

In April of 2023, her counterpart Maxie becomes a brunette and is looking like Hayden Barnes who was dealt with two years prior to it.

After the death of Victor Cassadine via drone strike to The Haunted Star by the WSB, Hayden Barnes has returned to Port Charles undetected and is a blonde to match her daughter Violet and Ava's hair color resulting in Maxie and Hayden swapping hair color with each other as the people can barely recognize her. Then she found out that Esme Prince had replaced her for over two years and is two decades younger than Hayden and is the daughter of two serial killers Ryan Chamberlain and Heather Webber who was revealed to be The Hook leaving Violet unharmed during the Hook attacks and Yuri's return after Drew's imprisonment at Pentonville revealing that Yuri made a deal with SEC and ICE which they agreed to let him back in Port Charles and give him a second chance after Esme began working as a receptionist at The Invader.

She runs into Finn and Elizabeth again while Nikolas is living in Europe replaced by his uncle Valentin and his own children Donald and Charlotte as well as Nikolas' other uncle Cyrus Renault as Nikolas has a fear of being found and recognized.
## Crimes Committed

* Secretly kept her daughter, Violet away from her father Finn before and after the crime at the Metro Court Hotel where her male counterpart and soon-to-be brother-in-law Franco Baldwin denied any involvement as he was left unharmed along with Nathan West, the earthquake caused by Jim Harvey one month after the deaths of Cesar Faison and Nathan West; Mary Pat Ingles, Rupert Watson, and Kurt Lazarus tortured Carly Corinthos at Fercliff Aslyum where Franco's biological mother Heather Webber was at; Ryan Chamberlain revealed to be alive, and Hank Archer aka Shiloh's death [Sep 5, 2017-Oct 23, 2019]
* Drugged with truth serum by Valentin Cassadine by mistake [Jul 31-Aug 1, 2019; was meant for Jasper Jacks but Hayden drank the spiked martini instead]
* Gave birth to a baby girl [Nov 2017; revealed Aug 22, 2019 after the death of Hank Archer aka Shiloh]
* Threatened by Valentin [Nov 22, 2019]
* Grabbed by one of Nikolas Cassadine's goons [Nov 26, 2019; revealed to have been under Nikolas' orders on Nov 27, 2019]
* Broke into Nikolas' office and bribed Liesl Obrecht to keep quiet about it [Aug 14, 2019]
* Withheld the information that Nikolas is alive [revealed Nov 1, 2019-Jan 3, 2020]

## Health and Vitals

* In the line of fire when a woman tried to take Emma Drake, Emma later described the woman to Commissioner Jordan Ashford [Nov 16, 2015; the woman who tried to take her was sent to prison as a result]
* Cursed under the spirit of Helena Cassadine [Feb 19, 2016; shown from Feb 23-24, 2016]
* Ignored Jordan Ashford's intercom calls to evacuate the hospital due to a bomb having been placed on the premises and was locked in the locker room [Mar 10-13, 2017]
* Presumably kidnapped under Victor Cassadine's orders and was replaced by her brother-in-law Franco Baldwin before his death who Violet has never got to meet over a year later, she was later replaced by her new enemy Esme Prince along with The Hook whose face and identity were concealed until New Year's Eve 2022 who was revealed to be Esme's mother and Hayden's mother-in-law Heather Webber [Nov 27, 2019-2023; revealed on Dec 6, 2021 and later replaced by Esme Prince nearly a year after Franco's death before the attacks from The Hook and Jane Edwards who also assumed her late mother's identity and Victor and Jane's death by a drone strike to The Haunted Star by the WSB]

## Relationships

* Family
* Friends
* Enemies

* Franco Baldwin - Hayden's brother-in-law (deceased)
* Scott Baldwin - Hayden's father-in-law and Franco's father
* Raymond Berlin - Hayden's legal father
* Naomi Dreyfus - Hayden's mother (deceased)
* Violet Finn - Hayden's daughter with Finn
* Jake Spencer - Hayden's nephew; Elizabeth's son
* Aiden Webber - Hayden's nephew; Elizabeth's son
* Cameron Webber - Hayden's nephew; Elizabeth's son
* Elizabeth Webber - Hayden's paternal half-sister
* Jeff Webber - Hayden's biological father
* Heather Webber - Hayden's mother-in-law and Franco and Esme's mother (imprisoned)
* Steven Webber - Hayden's paternal half-brother

* Leah Adams
* Curtis Ashford
* Jordan Ashford - Former Commissioner of the Port Charles Police Department, current Deputy Mayor of Port Charles, and the late Eileen Ashby's successor
* T.J. Ashford - Jordan's son and doctor at General Hospital
* Cody Bell
* Charlotte Cassadine - Spencer's cousin, Nikolas' niece/cousin, and Emma's counterpart
* Spencer Cassadine - Hayden and Ava's former stepson
* Sasha Corbin
* Michael Corinthos
* Emma Drake - Patrick's daughter with Robin
* Patrick Drake - Hayden's former doctor now living in Berkeley
* Dante Falconeri - Detective of the Port Charles Police Department
* Hamilton Finn
* Brad Haynes
* Paul Hornsby - Former District Attorney (imprisoned)
* Ava Jerome - Nelle's former sister-in-law and Spencer's ex-stepmother
* Julian Jerome - Ava's paternal half-brother, Nelle's former husband, Nikolas' brother-in-law, and Spencer's former uncle by marriage (deceased)
* Kiki Jerome - Ava's daughter, Julian and Olivia's niece, Nikolas' ex-stepdaughter, and Spencer's ex-stepsister (deceased)
* Maxie Jones - Hayden's blonde counterpart
* Griffin Munro
* Brook Lynn Quartermaine
* Monica Quartermaine
* Tracy Quartermaine
* Nina Reeves - Hayden's counterpart
* Georgie Spinelli
* John Wass
* James West - Maxie's son and her daughter Violet's male counterpart

* Frank Anderson - Faison's former henchman (imprisoned)
* Hank Archer - aka Shiloh (deceased)
* Seth Baker
* Greg Barnes - Faison's former henchman (imprisoned)
* John Brennan - (captured)
* Linc Brown - Music producer (captured)
* Helena Cassadine - Valentin's late mother; and Nikolas, Donald, and Charlotte's paternal grandmother (deceased)
* Stavros Cassadine - (deceased)
* Valentin Cassadine - Helena's son with Victor, Donald and Charlotte's father, and her former doctor Patrick's counterpart
* Victor Cassadine - Valentin's late father, Nikolas' great uncle, Ava's former great uncle-in-law, Donald and Charlotte's paternal grandfather, Spencer and Ace's great-great uncle, and Esme's former boss (deceased)
* Ryan Chamberlain - Esme's late father (deceased)
* Sonny Corinthos
* Jane Edwards - Victor's henchwoman (deceased)
* Cesar Faison - (deceased)
* Fred Gray
* Jim Harvey - (deceased)
* Charlie Heineck - (deceased)
* The Hook - Serial killer whose face and identity are concealed and is revealed to be Esme's biological mother, Hayden's mother-in-law, and her daughter Violet's step great aunt Heather Webber (captured)
* Marie Hopkins - aka Chloe Jennings (deceased)
* Jerry Jacks
* Olivia Jerome - Faison's female counterpart, Ava's paternal half-sister, Nelle's former sister-in-law, Nikolas' former sister-in-law, and Spencer's former aunt by marriage (imprisoned)
* Manrico
* Rodney Maynard
* Cassandra Pierce - (presumed deceased)
* Esme Prince - Ryan and Heather's daughter, her brother-in-law Franco's maternal half-sister, Spencer's ex-girlfriend, Victor's former henchwoman, and currently receptionist at *The Invader*
* Cyrus Renault - Nikolas' uncle and Spencer's great uncle who bore an uncanny resemblance to the late Cesar Faison before changing his appearance to look like Johnny Zacchara 25-30 years later
* Winston Rudge - Olivia Jerome's former henchman and Valentin Cassadine's associate from South Africa who bores an uncanny resemblance to Valentin (imprisoned)
* Robin Scorpio-Drake
* Tilda
* Waltz