Rebecca Herbst originally auditioned for the role of Sarah Webber. Although she did not get the part, "General Hospital" created the role of Sarah's sister Elizabeth for Herbst to play, and she debuted on August 1, 1997. Rumors circulated about Herbst's departure, starting when her on-screen love interest Jonathan Jackson (Lucky Spencer) left the series in April 1999, continuing through Herbst's contract expiration in the summer of 2000. Herbst re-signed in July for three years. In November, Herbst guest starred along with Jacob Young (then-Lucky Spencer) and Jacklyn Zeman (Bobbie Spencer) on the FOX network sketch comedy series "MADtv", making a small cameo as Elizabeth. On January 18, 2011, ABC Daytime announced that Herbst had been let go from General Hospital and her exit would be storyline dictated. After much fan protest, a month after the original announcement, ABC released another statement saying that Herbst would retain her role on the show. Richard M. Simms, executive editor of "Soaps In Depth" discussed the fans' impact on reversal, stating: