Courtney Matthews

Alicia Leigh Willis as Courtney Matthews

Allie Webber-Jacks (legal, with Jax; egg donated by and carried by Elizabeth; miscarriage)
Spencer Cassadine (son, via Nikolas)
Caleb Matthews (son, via Jax)

### Grandchildren

Jackson Asher Matthews (grandson, via Julianna)

## Relationships

### Spouses

A.J. Quartermaine (2002-05; divorced)
Jason Morgan (2003-04; invalid)
Jasper Jacks (2005-06; divorced)

### Romances

Jason Morgan (lovers)
Brian Beck (dated)
Nikolas Cassadine (affair, engaged 2005)
Faith Rosco (kissed)

**Courtney Matthews** was a fictional character on the ABC soap opera, *General Hospital*. She was the daughter of the late Mike Corbin and his ex-lover Janine Matthews, and the half sister of mob boss, Sonny Corinthos.

Courtney was portrayed by Alicia Leigh Willis from December 20, 2001 until February 21, 2006.

## Casting

In September 2001, *General Hospital* released a casting call for Courtney, described to be in her early 20s and "sexy, vibrant and dynamic." The character was speculated to be the sister of Sonny Corinthos, played by Maurice Benard. Benard had hinted at a recent fan club event that Sonny's sister would be brought on canvas.

Alicia Leigh Willis was cast in the role of Courtney in December 2001. Casting director Mark Teschner fought for her to be hired in the role, and coached her before her callback with the show's executive producer at the time Jill Farren Phelps. Years later, Teschner spoke highly of his experience with Willis, "She nailed it and she got the role and four years later, she was one of the most successful additions on the show. That's also very gratifying when you fight for somebody and they do you right by doing a great job with the role."

In 2006, Willis chose not to renew her contract. She was written off the show, but at her goodbye party on set, Jill Farren Phelps asked if she would stay on and wrap up her character's pregnancy storyline, to which Willis agreed.

As the story played out, Willis voiced her opinion on *Soap Talk* on her character's future, "I love playing Courtney and to see someone else come in, it's like, 'It's *my* character!' I don't want to see someone else come in, but if they do, I wish them all the luck." Although the network had initially announced recasting the role, it was later confirmed that the character would in fact be killed off. Willis last appeared on February 21, 2006.

Willis received two consecutive Emmy nominations for her portrayal of Courtney.

Willis returned, as a ghost, on May 4-5, 2015. She returned a second time on September 17, 2020 to escort her father, Mike into heaven.

## Background

Courtney is the daughter of Mike Corbin and Janine Matthews and younger paternal half-sister of Sonny Corinthos. She is a member of the Corinthos family. Sonny's ex-wife Carly Corinthos was Courtney's best friend.

## Storylines

Courtney came to Port Charles, following her mother, Janine Matthews, who was blackmailing Edward Quartermaine for money. There, Janine came face-to-face with Mike Corbin, her old flame. When Courtney met him, she realized that he was her father, who Janine had told her died a long time ago. Courtney was eager to build a relationship with her father and also found out she had a half-brother, Sonny Corinthos.

However, due to her mother's deception, her relationship with Janine fell apart. Courtney was lost with how to deal with Sonny's overprotective nature, and ended up falling for A.J. Quartermaine. Unknown to Courtney, A.J. was using her to get back his son, Michael Corinthos, who had been adopted by Sonny with Michael's mother, Carly. In time, however, A.J. would realize that he genuinely loved Courtney, as well, and they would get married. Their marriage, however, was met with a lot of hostility from the Port Charles residents and A.J.'s family ended up freezing his accounts, leaving him penniless. Both he and Courtney tried to manage with low-level jobs, him working at the docks and she waiting tables at Kelly's, but A.J. turned to alcohol, which he had been addicted to before, and ended up driving into a strip club and causing major damages. Courtney agreed to work the debt off by stripping at the club to help A.J., but she didn't tell him. Sonny, though, and his main enforcer, Jason Morgan, who was also A.J.'s brother, revealed this to A.J. He ended up hiring the owner to stalk Courtney. When Courtney found out about this, she divorced A.J.

While dealing with the stalker, she asked Jason to help her out, and ended up falling in love with him. She also becomes best friends with Carly, Sonny's wife at the time. Courtney became pregnant with Jason's child, but ended up miscarrying after being kidnapped by Lorenzo Alcazar, Jason's enemy. She escaped, but her baby did not survive. Jason and Courtney married in France. The nature of Jason's mob work, however, began to affect Courtney, and she decided to leave him rather than watch him die. She shot officer Brian Beck to defend Jason, but Brian named Zander Smith as the shooter. Brian was shot dead in the Port Charles Hotel Fire by Andy Capelli, and this would eventually lead to Zander's death. Jason and Courtney broke up because of this, despite the fact they still loved each other. Courtney moved on eventually and started a foundation for under-privileged kids, and asked Jasper "Jax" Jacks to serve on the board for the foundation. Jax made a bet with Courtney that if he didn't get her to fall in love with him, he would donate $10 million to her foundation. Despite her constant denial in order to get the money, she fell in love with Jax, who eventually proposed. Courtney accepted, and the two got married in June 2005.

Courtney and Jax wanted to start their own family, but Courtney found out that she was infertile due to her miscarriage. They decided to have a child through a surrogate, and Elizabeth Webber volunteered to do this. She ended up having to use one of her own eggs, though, as Courtney found out that none of her eggs were viable. Courtney started feeling left out when Jax and Elizabeth spent more time together, as a result of the pregnancy. Her marriage started becoming strained, and she found a shoulder to lean on with Nikolas Cassadine, who was having troubles with his wife, Emily. Nikolas and Courtney helped each other out as friends, but turned into an adulterous affair. Elizabeth ended up miscarrying the child. Jax and Emily would find out about their spouses, and filed for divorce. Courtney started an affair with Nikolas, as a result, falling in love with him and finding happiness in life again. To her surprise and joy, Courtney found out she was pregnant. However, she was not sure if Jax or Nikolas was the father. A DNA test said that Jax was the father, and though they were disappointed, Nikolas and Courtney were determined to fight to make sure the child stayed with them. When they found out that the test might have been tampered with, though, they had a second DNA test run at a separate lab. This test, though, also said that Jax was the father. Courtney and Nikolas still decided they would fight to keep the child with them once it was born.

Nikolas's evil grandmother, Helena Cassadine, came to town when she found out that Nikolas was possibly going to be a father. She intended to take her great-grandson and raise him as the Cassadine heir. Courtney decided to leave town after mistaking a close moment between Nikolas and Emily. Helena, however, intercepted and kidnapped her. Courtney managed to escape and subsequently went into hiding. She returned in February 2006 when the deadly encephalitis virus was going around Port Charles. She was admitted to the hospital when she contracted the virus. There, she reunited with Nikolas, who also contracted the virus, and they got engaged. Courtney's symptoms grew worse, and she went into premature labor as a result. The doctors said the baby was at risk, so she decided to have a C-section to save her child.

Courtney gave birth to a boy on February 20, 2006, though he was born severely premature. Jax and Nikolas were both at the hospital, trying to help Courtney. After giving birth, Courtney told Jax she wanted to name the child John after Jax's father. Jax finally confessed the truth to Courtney: Nikolas was the baby's biological father. He had both tests changed to make it look like he was the father so that the baby and Courtney would be safe from Helena. Courtney was upset, but forgave him and demanded to see Nikolas. However, by the time he got there, Courtney was too weak from the virus and giving birth. With her last breath, she told Nikolas that she loved him.

She died without telling Nikolas he was her baby's father. Jax chose not to tell Nikolas the truth, and named the baby John Michael Jacks, after his and Courtney's fathers. Carly, now in a relationship with Jax, found out the truth, but chose to keep the secret and help Jax raise John. The doctor who helped Jax change the results retired and decided to leave the real results behind to have a clean conscience. Maxie Jones found the test results, which proved that Nikolas was baby John's father and told her cousin, Dr. Robin Scorpio, as Maxie didn't know how to handle it. Eventually though, Robin told the truth at John's baptism. Jax finally admitted the truth to Nikolas, and subsequently gave John back to him. Nikolas renamed his and Courtney's son, Spencer Cassadine.

On May 4-5, 2015, Courtney returns to help her son. She helps Spencer realize that he is not disfigured by taking off his mask for him so he can see that his face does not look bad at all. She also tells him that no matter where he is or what he is doing she is always there.

In 2019, Sonny and Carly named their daughter, Donna Courtney Corinthos, in honor of his late sister.

On September 17, 2020, the ghost of Courtney appears to her father Mike, as he dies. They share a lovely moment, then her brother, Sonny and wife Carly come in and realize Mike is dead. He tells his son that he loves him and farewell, before she escorts him to heaven.