Valerie Spencer is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network, portrayed by Brytni Sarpy.

Upon losing her mother, Valerie relocates to Port Charles and moves in with her cousin, Lulu Spencer (Emme Rylan), and bonds with her husband Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna).

They struggle over his gun and Luke escapes leaving Valerie unconscious and she is discovered by Lulu and her husband Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna).

Valerie reveals that Pat is alive and living in a nursing home because she suffers from Multiple sclerosis and Luke has gone after her.

He advises her to devote her attention to someone else and Valerie turns to Dillon who quickly calls her out on using him to cover her feelings for Dante.

The next morning, Lulu, who has decided to patch things up with her husband, shows up at the loft to find a fully clothed Dante and a towel-clad Valerie.

On their next date, Valerie and Curtis bond over losing their mothers and later team up to win the Crimson magazine contest and split the $1000 cash prize.

[4] In January 2015 the series put out a casting call for a "beautiful," "dynamic", and "charismatic" African American actress in her 20s for a contract role due begin taping in late February.

She then screen tested the following Monday and within "a week and a half," Sarpy had booked the role making General Hospital the actress's first major professional gig.

[12][13] On March 28, 2019, it was announced that Paulina Bugembe had been cast in the role of Valerie, and had already had her first day on-set;[14] she made her first appearance on April 23, 2019.

Valerie is her mother's caretaker during her battle with Multiple sclerosis while Sarpy's father Mel suffers from Parkinson's disease.

"[9] Legendary anti-hero Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) has suffered a severe breakdown which his family has linked to his childhood which he never discusses.

The Spencer family goes seeking out Luke's estranged older sister Pat Spencer—and instead find her daughter, Valerie—who is immediately thrust into the middle of the drama.

[16] Upon her introduction, Valerie struggles to find her place in Port Charles and in her family because it is all so unfamiliar to her and she doesn't have Pat by her side.

Still suffering through the trauma of losing her mother, Valerie struggles to find her place in town and in the ranks of her iconic family because it is all so unfamiliar to her.

[9][16] After losing her mother, Valerie develops an immediate connection with Dante Falconeri (Zamprogna), who is married to her cousin Lulu (Rylan).

[19] The two eventually have a one-night stand and Sarpy said it "adds layers to her character" and makes for great drama.

Because Valerie's life has been about her mother, "she's green to a lot of things" and she is bound to "make some mistakes" as she tries to develop new relationships.

[8] Sarpy credited Zamprogna with making her feel comfortable during the usually awkward filming process for the love scenes.

"[20] "Singlehandedly, this soap newcomer has achieved the impossible by turning her footnote of a character — probably thrown in to usher Luke out as harmlessly as possible — into a leading contender on the crumbs of an established supercouple, Lante..."[21] Sarpy received mostly negative feedback from fans on social media.

[8] Carol Banks Weber of SoapHub initially disapproved of the writing for the biracial Valerie believing the writers had refused to tap into the character's full potential though Valerie was "clearly loaded with baggage" and could be "outrageous fodder in the hands of a creative, careful head scribe."

Instead, Weber had come to see Valerie as an annoyance because the writing hadn't provided a real reason for viewers to invest in the character.

She further praised the actress and said Sarpy "infuses Valerie, a Lante third wheel we're supposed to reflexively hate, with breathtaking, accessible, empathetic humanity."

Weber continued, "There's a sad haunted quality to her character..."[21] Sarpy made her debut on the TV Source Magazine's fan poll of the Top Soap Actresses in September 2015.

[27] Kendall Joseph of Soap Happenings congratulated and applauded Sarpy for "doing a good job at having fans love and hate" her character, described the portrayal as "spot on" and said many agreed with the sentiment.

Joseph also praised Sarpy's chemistry with Robert Palmer Watkins and but said "a love connection isn't really believable.

[29] Miller observed that while the plot had its detractors, Valerie's relationship with Dante made her a fan favorite practically "overnight.

"[31] Soap Opera Spy also released a feature interview with Sarpy commemorating her one-year anniversary on the series.