General Hospital News: Maura West Weighs In On Ava’s ‘Portrait’

General Hospital left us with an unusual Friday cliffhanger with the incredible Maura West as the star.

Maura West: Was This Ava?

Somehow we knew whatever was under that sheet at Wyndemere – whatever Ava thought would be a stunning portrait of her – would not be anything that she expected. And when we saw the looks on everyone’s faces, we knew that it wasn’t. Then we waited all weekend (how wonderfully soapy) to see what our favorite characters had seen. Now West has weighed in on the surprise.

On Monday, we learned that the painting had been ‘vandalized’ (although by whom, we really do not know yet, despite suspicions all around). While some viewers first saw black paint over Ava’s face, others saw the face of a monkey or an ape. When fans debated about what they saw on Twitter, West herself told us what had caught her eye when the piece had first debuted on the set.

“Alright, @GeneralHospital thx for starting an argument in my household because I saw Ava first, and my husband saw a monkey,” said Twitter user Heather DeLuca.

West replied with: “In person, close up like I was…I saw Ava. Honestly, I never saw the monkey til I saw a photo of the painting! I LOVE IT!!!”

Another fan also admitted that she hadn’t seen a monkey at first, at least not until another guest at Wyndemere mentioned it.

“Right?! So cleverly done,” West replied, while also feeling bad for another fan who got an unexpected preview of the painting via social media before she was able to watch her recording, having tuned in to the Democratic National Convention first.

It was fascinating to watch Franco describe the painting using his artistic terms after the shock wore off. So what did you see? Was it Ava or a monkey? Let us know in the comments below. General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes.