Kristen Alderson confirms her departure from 'General Hospital'

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Daytime Emmy Award-winning actress Kristen Alderson has confirmed in a YouTube video she is leaving General Hospital, but she did not say exactly when.

The clip Why I decided to leave General Hospital. A THANK YOU to my fans! has been viewed nearly 40,000 times since it was posted Jan. 13.

"I'm so sorry I'm just now getting this video to you guys. I wanted to get it to you sooner, but life has just been crazy these past few weeks, but instead of tweeting, I wanted to make this video to tell you guys myself why I decided to leave General Hospital," she explained.

"And I did. And it's because... Well, it's not because of the cast and crew, I can tell you that right now. Everyone has been so lovely to me. I've had the best time over the past three years. And this decision is purely spur-of-the-moment, kind of an epiphany that I had, that I've been in this amazing little soap bubble since I was six years old and now I'm 23," she went on. "I've never done anything else. I've never pushed myself. I never challenged myself to do other things, not necessarily in the industry, but just things in life, like taking a class here or there for something other than acting, and getting back into singing, which you guys know I love to do, so that would be really exciting. Who knows where this road is going take me, but this has all happened very quickly, but I am prepared for the worst. I'm prepared for any failure. I'm prepared for all the excitement that it will bring and it's just a new chapter in my life and I couldn't be more grateful for the support that you guys have given me. ... I love you guys so much!"

The actress then promised she would keep in touch with her fans via social media in the future.

Alderson previously portrayed Starr Manning on One Life to Live from 1998 until the daytime drama ended in January 2012. She reprised her role of Starr on GH weeks later, but a legal dispute regarding the rights to the character meant she had to temporarily leave the show in early 2013 until the new character of Kiki could be created for her. She returned shortly after and has been playing Kiki since.