We’ve watched Kirsten Storms grow up on our screens from her early years as a Disney child star up till now. Some of her most notable roles include Zenon Kar in the Zenon Trilogy film series, soap opera Days of Our Lives, and ABC’s General Hospital. Also a voice actress, she lent her voice to the animated character of Bonnie Rockwaller on Kim Possible. Here is everything you need to know about Kirsten Storms.
Kirsten Storms Bio
Kirsten Storms was born on April 8, 1984, in Orlando, Florida to Karen Storms and CBS affiliate sportscaster Mike Storms. Her siblings include brother Austin, younger sister Gretchen and a step-brother named Gretchen.
Storms aspired at the young age of 4 to one day become an actress, specifically, a soap opera actress. She succeeded in convincing her dad to let her attend a drama school. At 5, Storms was discovered by an agent and began honing her skills at a children’s acting camp in the Catskills, New York.
Like most child actors, Storm began by doing commercials, her first being for Galoob Baby Doll. At the age of 11, Storm’s professional acting career had begun. She made her debut with a recurring role as Ashley on Second Noah. A very promising prospect, Storms, in no time, relocated with her family to the heart of the film industry — Los Angeles California.
In LA, Storms’ career enjoyed such a rapid surge. She had a recurring role on 7th Heaven (1998) and Sing Me a Story with Belle (1999). Storms also starred in a handful of direct-to-video/ TV films including; Belle’s Tales of Friendship, Love Letters, and Johnny Tsunami, all 1999 films.
Storms’ dream of one day becoming a soap opera actress came true when she landed the role of Belle Black on NBC’s long-running soap Days of Our Lives. A year into her role, in 2000, Storms told the media;
“One of the first agents I got, I told, ‘When I grow up, I’m going to be on a soap opera. You can get me commercials and stuff now, but what I really want to do someday is be on a soap opera.’ […] No one took me seriously. But I knew, even though I hadn’t actually watched one, it was something I always wanted to do.”
By 2001, at the age of 15, Storms was already a star. Disney chose her to play the titular character in their 2001 original film Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century. Disney made the right choice as the film became their highest rated at the time. Her role earned her a Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Child Actor, as well as a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Drama Series: Leading Young Actress.
After 5 seasons, Storms left the soap for the TV series Clubhouse. A year later, Storms landed the series regular role of Maxie Jones on yet another hit soap opera General Hospital. In 2009, she earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for her GH role.
Kirsten Storms Net Worth
From a Disney child star to a well-recognized Hollywood actress, Storms has earned herself a spot on the millionaire’s club. Her net worth is estimated at $3 million.
Kirsten Storms Married/Divorce – Brandon Barash
Storms began dating her former General Hospital co-star Brandon Barash in early 2013. After about a month of dating, they got married in June 2013. However, the public was unaware of their union until August 2013 when Storms revealed that they had married in secrecy and were expecting their first child together.
It also came to light that Barash proposed to her at a gas station with a blue raspberry Ring Pop.
Unfortunately, Storms’ union with Brandon Barash was short-lived. After three years of marriage, the pair revealed to the media on August 6th, 2016 that they had filed for a divorce. However, they said that they didn’t give up without a try revealing how they went through therapy but it just didn’t seem to work out.
“This was not a hasty decision; a lot of thought and therapy went into this. 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,” Storms told Soap Opera Digest.
Her ex Barash also said; “We are splitting due to the cliche irreconcilable differences, but we’re splitting amicably. 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.”
Kirsten Storms Daughter/Baby
On January 7, 2014, Storms and Barash welcomed their baby, a girl they named, Harper Rose Barash. Upon her birth, Barash took to his Twitter page to break the news to fans.
Like Barash told Soap Opera, the couple agreed to raise their child together and so far, they are doing an amazing job getting along while they give little Harper a childhood to remember.
Kirsten Storms Illness
Kirsten has had to take multiple leaves from filming General Hospital due to health reasons. The first was in 2012 when she revealed that she was diagnosed with Endometriosis. Endometriosis is defined as a painful disorder in which the tissue surrounding the walls of the uterus (endometrium) grows outside the uterus mostly down to the ovaries, pelvic region, or bowel.
Fortunately, Storms successfully defeated the disease. She revealed that she was surprised when she learned of her pregnancy as endometriosis is often associated with infertility.
Storms was forced to take another leave from the show in May 2016 as a result of skin disease and stress. She revealed this on Twitter saying;
Much to the dismay of fans, Storms took a third leave around in 2017. This time fans began to troll her with many accusing her of being a drug addict, probably because of the 2007 incident on a Los Angeles freeway when she was pulled over for DUI and later placed on probation. However, Storms was quick to reply to her fans saying that her leave was due to her struggles with depression.
“I actually suffer from severe depression. But kudos to you for being cool enough to tag me in that. #keeptrollin,” she fired back at one fan.
In another reply, Storms revealed that she was doing better;
“…I recently mentioned on Twitter that I suffer from severe depression. If you or someone you know has dealt with it, then you know it can be a difficult time in life. I’m doing much better as of late and look forward to returning to work soon.”
She did return and as of late 2017, she is back to her role at General Hospital.
Revealing why she had to let fans know of her depression, Storms said;
“Depression’s something that a lot of people suffer from. maybe not as severely as I have, but with the number of fans who follow me, I thought there had to be a few who go through this and even some moms who have gone through post-partum stuff and can relate to that feeling of just not being able to help yourself. Especially having a daughter, it got to the point where I needed to change my life for the better. And I wanted people to know why I was getting better.”
