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Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI (2), Paul Skipper/JPI

Everything changed for Sami, and Salem, when Stefano’s son hit town on May 30, 2006.

Even in the world of Days of Our Lives where brain chips can implant whole personalities, masks are so real that they can even impersonate someone’s voice, and a mad doctor has a magical serum that can bring people back from the dead, EJ’s birth was downright weird. Sorry, Little Elvis’ birth was weird!

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The product of a fling between Susan Banks and Stefano while he was disguised as Elvis Presley, EJ was supposed to be Kristen‘s daughter to raise. (Yeah, Stefano slept with his adopted daughter’s lookalike.) Instead, Susan ran off with the baby, only for him to be snatched by Stefano and raised in secret.

He returned nine years later on May 30, 2006 as a strapping young 20-something, aged not by some concoction of Stefano’s pet mad scientist, Dr. Rolf, but through the magic of SORASing (Soap-Opera Rapid-Aging Syndrome)! At first, James Scott’s character went by the name EJ Wells, a mysterious, handsome man whose chemistry with neighbor Sami practically blew up our televisions. But folks soon learned that he was Stefano’s not-so-forgotten son, sent to Salem to put a bullet in John!

He did just that — only for John to survive, of course — and went on the run, beginning a long career of scheming and romancing his way around Salem. From Kate to Sami to Nicole to Sami again and again, EJ was never boring — or alone. Despite the bad things he’s done, EJ tries to be a better man from time to time, and he makes a serious attempt to be a good family man. It’s just that sometimes (OK, a lot of times) it’s hard for him to keep his DiMera nature tamped down.

Dan Feuerriegel, Arianne Zucker, Alison Sweeney sami nicole ej jpi days

Whenever EJ’s around, things tend to get… heated!

Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI

Then there’s EJ’s relationship with Sami. Problematic doesn’t even begin to describe it, and despite their deeply troubling start — EJ forced Sami to sleep with him in exchange for saving Lucas’ life — “EJami” were never separated for long. It seemed like his 2014 death at the hands of Clyde’s henchmen would be the end of the troubled DiMera offspring, but it was Sami who never gave up on finding him.

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When Aussie actor Dan Feurriegel brought him back in 2021, we thought maybe EJ’s near-death and long convalescence might have changed him for the better. Nope! He still tries to be a decent human being and occasionally do the right thing, but at this point, he is what he is: the DiMera family’s charming rogue!

And we wouldn’t have it any other way. Though maybe he could have a healthier relationship with women… Especially Sami! Just a thought.

Take a peek at all of EJ’s seemingly endless misdeeds, fierce loves and DiMera family squabbles in our expanded photo gallery of his (semi) charmed life!