Nelle Benson (Chloe Lanier)

Janelle "Nelle" Benson is a fictional character and one of the newer primary antagonists on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital.

She has been portrayed by actress Chloe Lanier since the character's debut on August 8, 2016.

Casting
On July 12, 2016, ABC Soaps In Depth broke the news that Chloe Lanier would return to General Hospital in a brand new contract role.

Lanier was known for her popular portrayal of teenage Pat Spencer for two episodes on April 1, 2015 and on July 23, 2015.

General Hospital was very "tight-lipped" about "Nelle's" character and her Port Charles connections to allow the mystery to unveil overtime.

Due to the actress's former role, there has been speculation that Nelle could be the previously unknown daughter of Pat Spencer and half-sister of Valerie Spencer, making her a member of the Spencer family. She was eventually revealed to be the daughter of Frank Benson and the adopted sister of Carly Corinthos.

Lanier debuted in the role on August 8, 2016.

On June 28, 2018, Daytime Confidential reported that Lanier would be exiting General Hospital after opting not to renew her contract.

Background
Nelle was eventually revealed to be the daughter of Frank Benson and the adopted sister of Carly Corinthos.

She is currently expecting her first child with her ex-boyfriend, Michael Corinthos.

Nelle might seem like a sweet, kind-hearted, mild-mannered young woman but it's all a facade and she's really a damaged, mentally unstable sociopath and a manipulative vixen who uses anyone to get what she wants and to have a better life for herself. She has also shown psychopathic tendencies when she purposely endangered her unborn baby in her plot to drive Carly insane and remove her as an obstacle in her pursuit for Michael, without caring what this will do to her family members such as Josslyn Jacks.

Nelle is enemies with Carly, Nina, Maxie, and nearly everyone in Port Charles.

She was friends with Ava Jerome till she started blackmailing her and forced her into becoming her co-conspirator.

The only real friends she has are Brad Cooper and Josslyn Jacks, though neither of them are aware of how devious and mentally unstable she is.

On June 11, it was revealed that Nelle knows Harrison Chase back from Florida. While Chase was investigating the murder of Zachary Grant, Nelle seduces the detective and they became lovers for awhile until Nelle manipulates and reports their affair to his police force, destroying Chase's career. This indicates that she was indeed responsible for the death of her ex-fiancé Zachary Grant. On July 27, Nelle finally confesses to Michael that she had Zachary killed.

Storylines
Nelle arrives in Port Charles looking for Carly Corinthos. She arrives at the Corinthos family home, Greystone Manor, during Bobbie Spencer's birthday party where she meets Carly's son, Michael Corinthos. Michael thinks she is applying for a babysitting position and asks her to wait until after the party to speak to Carly. After the party winds down, Michael introduces Nelle to his mother, Sonny Corinthos and Jasper Jacks, who were all attending the party. Nelle tells Carly that she saw her article in Crimson Magazine and believes she is her daughter, Josslyn's kidney donor. Nelle is also got fired from her job at Crimson Magazine in 2017.

Carly had been conned for her money before, so Jax and Sonny were hesitant to believe Nelle's story, thinking she was just another person after the money. Nelle shows them her scar and tells them that her parents sold her kidney when she was a child. Nelle's story and the dates matched up with Josslyn's transplant, but they all want to be sure, so they go to General Hospital to run some tests. Nelle meets Josslyn and the two briefly bond. She is happy to see that the ordeal she went through ended up saving a little girl's life. Preliminary blood tests confirmed that Nelle was a match to Josslyn, but to be certain, Dr. Monica Quartermaine recommended a kidney biopsy. However, Sonny explained it wasn't necessary because he located the clinic where Nelle had her surgery, and the timeline worked out.

This information along with the matching blood tests led everyone to believe that Nelle was Josslyn's donor. Josslyn was upset when she realized that her mother had ignored her wishes about finding the kidney donor, but took an instant liking to Nelle and thanked her for the gift of life. Nelle promised she had no regrets, but she had to get back to Atlanta. Carly asked Nelle to stay because she wanted a chance to get to know her and she agreed. After Avery Jerome-Corinthos's nanny was caught stealing Carly's earrings, Carly fired the nanny and offered the job to Nelle. Having just lost her job in Atlanta, she agreed to watch Avery. Nelle lost this position when Carly's mother, Bobbie offered to be Avery's nanny. Bobbie also appeared suspicious of Nelle. Not wanting Nelle to leave, Carly offered her a job at the Metro Court Hotel as her personal assistant and Nelle accepted.

On November 23, Nelle saw Carly and Jax kissing. She went right over to Sonny's to tell him. On November 28, Nelle drugged Sonny, and he passed out. Nelle helped get him into bed, undressed him and, then apologized, before undressing herself. She climbed into bed beside him. On November 29, Sonny woke up and believed he and Nelle slept together. He begged Nelle not to tell Carly, but in November, it was revealed that Nelle had recorded Sonny mentioning that they slept together.

On March 3, it was revealed that Nelle is the daughter of Carly's late adoptive father, Frank Benson.

On March 21, Nina Reeves hired Nelle to be a nanny for her stepdaughter, Charlotte. She meets with Valentin, who promises her that if she does anything to harm Charlotte he will make sure no one will ever find her body. This spooks Nelle with good reason.

It was later revealed that her fiancé at the time, Zachary died of a suspicious canoeing incident that she witnessed. Nelle also spent time in a mental hospital.

On December 7, she revealed that she's pregnant with Michael's child.

Later on, Dr. Kim Nero confirms the pregnancy and that she is six weeks along. They run into Carly afterwards and Nelle gleefully congratulates the expectant grandma. Both Michael and Carly demand a paternity test and Nelle doesn't look happy and makes it clear she doesn't want money. Nelle eventually agrees to a noninvasive paternity test.

On December 22nd, (Christmas on the show), Nelle is seen talking to the baby after finding out Kelly's is closed.

Later on, Nelle showed up at the Corinthos house and fainted in Michael's arms. She comes to on the couch and explains that she was going to get food but nothing was open so she started driving home and came upon a down tree in the road and got out of the car. She states she didn't mean to end up at the Corinthos', but she started walking and felt faint. Sonny brings Nelle some broth to warm her and the baby up.

Michael asks if she's in any pain and Nelle asks if he's worried about the baby even thou he doesn't know if he's the dad yet and Michael says yes. Nelle tells him that they're warming up and they're gonna be just fine. Nelle ends up spending the night at the house.

It was later revealed that Nelle has fainted a lot and it was due to low blood pressure. She was told by a doctor to take it easy.

In 2018, an amniocentesis confirmed that Michael is indeed the father.

On January 22nd, the baby has appeared in a sonogram, which Nelle would later show Michael, after he missed the appointment.

On March 6th, Nelle suffered from Braxton Hicks contractions, while trapped at Jerome Gallery, with Carly during an earthquake.

After learning that her apartment has been destroyed by the earthquake, Nelle was offered by Monica to stay at the Quartermaine mansion.

During her baby shower on May 11th, Nelle fell down a flight of stairs after getting into an argument with Carly over Michael, Morgan and the blanket. When she woke up in the hospital, she accused Carly of pushing her.

On June, Michael proposed to Nelle, to which she happily accepted. Unbeknownst to her, Michael was luring her into a trap to expose her crimes in framing his mother.

On July 16, 2018, Michael and Nelle were supposed to be married in the Metro Court, but due to Nelle having pain with the baby, they said their vows and exchanged rings in Nelle's hospital room.

Crimes Committed

 * Responsible for the death of her ex-fiancée, Zachary Grant [pre-2016; revealed July 27, 2018]
 * Framed Avery Jerome-Corinthos' nanny for theft and in turn the nanny was fired [Aug 22, 2016]
 * Theft; stole money from the Metro Court hotel [Nov 17, 2016]
 * Drugged Sonny Corinthos and tricked him into thinking they slept together [Nov 28, 2016]
 * Invasion of privacy; recorded Sonny without his permission [Nov 28, 2016]
 * Assaulted Carly Corinthos [Feb 2, 2018]
 * Impersonated Morgan Corinthos with a voice recorder by calling Carly [Feb 2018]
 * Broke into Carly's house and made it haunted by making the lights go out with an app on her phone and damaged a photo of Morgan Corinthos [Apr 6, 2018]
 * Obstruction of justice; lied to detective Dante Falconeri that Carly pushed her down a flight of stairs when in fact she fell [May 14, 2018]
 * Blackmailing Ava by threatening to tell Griffin about her taking a photo of Peter August's DNA records if she doesn't cooperate with her plans for Carly [May 2018-present]
 * Plotting to kill her husband, Michael Corinthos [Jul 26, 2018-present]

Health and Vitals

 * Spent a year in a mental hospital [pre-2016; revealed 2017]
 * Had her kidney sold by her father [revealed Aug 9, 2016]
 * Her blood type is B- [revealed Aug 15, 2016]
 * Threatened by Sonny [Feb 14, 2017]
 * Slapped across the face by Carly Corinthos [Mar 3, 2017]
 * Threatened by Valentin Cassadine [Mar 22, 2017]
 * Grabbed from behind, mugged, robbed, then tossed into a wall (her one remaining kidney was bruised as a result) [May 12, 2017]
 * Spent a year in a mental hospital [revealed Oct 24, 2017]
 * Low blood pressure faint while pregnant walking around in the cold [Dec 28, 2017] and [Dec 22, 2017]
 * Assaulted by Carly [Feb 2, 2018]
 * Suffered from Braxton Hicks contractions [Mar 6, 2018]
 * Cut her hand with scissors as part of her plan to make Carly go crazy [Mar 16, 2018]
 * Rendered unconscious after falling down the stairs during an argument with Carly [May 11-14, 2018]
 * Hospitalized after falling down a flight of stairs (suffered a concussion and bruises as a result) [May 14, 2018]
 * Threatened by Sonny [Jun 4, 2018]
 * Threatened by Carly at her wedding [Jul 16, 2018]
 * Cramps at her wedding due to pregnancy [Jul 16, 2018]