Camila Banus
That’s right, buddy: Gabi is outta there. Her portrayer told The Wrap that when the soap moved to Peacock, “I kind of just saw that as a sign for me to start the next chapter in my life.”
A Who’s Who of Who’s Left/Is Leaving Days of our Lives [PHOTOS]
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Image Credit: © XJJohnson/jpistudios.com -
Linsey Godfrey
Image Credit: Peacock screenshot We were just as shocked to learn that Linsey Godfrey was truly exiting as Sarah was to learn she was expecting Xander’s baby. But pregnancy or not, she still left for Chicago without a word to her soon-to-be-babydaddy!
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Matthew Ashford and Cady McClain
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI Here, the actors wear pretty much the same expression that we did upon learning that Jack and Jennifer’s loss of The Spectator meant that we’d be losing them. D’oh!
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Lindsay Arnold
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI Here, Chanel wears the same expression that we did when Soap Opera Digest reported that Allie’s portrayer had finished taping as of February 2023. Needless to say, Chanel wears it better than we did.
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Zach Tinker and Chandler Massey
Image Credit: © XJJohnson/jpistudios.com Why so glum? Maybe because “WilSon” was headed out of Salem again, Soap Opera Digest revealed right before Valentine’s Day. At least Tinker had a new role on Fire Country with which he could keep heating up the screen.
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Mary Beth Evans
Image Credit: Peacock screenshot Only on a soap can a character leave this earth and their portrayer not actually leave the show. But such was the case shortly after New Year when Kayla kicked the bucket.
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Lauren Koslow
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI Why is Rex checking for his own pulse? It should have been Kate that he was worried about, as she, too, left… at least this plane of existence.
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Deidre Hall
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI They say that bad things happen in threes, so we suppose we shouldn’t have been surprised when Marlena followed Kayla and Kate into the afterlife. On the plus side, all her portrayer really left was any and all wardrobe that wasn’t white.
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Stacy Haiduk
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI Thankfully, Kristen was still alive and kicking. But in early 2023, it appeared that her portrayer’s other character, kooky Susan, had met her maker. Operative word: appeared.
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Tamara Braun
Image Credit: NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images It was going to be a blue Christmas for fans of the Emmy winner, who revealed only days before Santa loaded up his sleigh that her second stint as Ava was coming to an end. “Thanks,” she Instagrammed to her followers, “for all the love and support you continue to show me.”
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Alison Sweeney
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI If only it had just been a slap. As Sami left Salem once more after learning — on her and Lucas’ wedding day, no less! — that she’d been kidnapped by her fiancé, she seemed to indicate that hell would freeze over before she returned. Her portrayer, of course, was more open to the idea of a short-term comeback.
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William Utay
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI The doctor is out. Recurring as the DiMeras’ go-to mad scientist Rolf since 1997, the veteran actor was replaced in the summer of 2022 by Richard Wharton.
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Victoria Konefal
Image Credit: Evans Vestal Ward/Peacock Ciara later! Days of Our Lives wanted to sign the fan favorite to a contract; she wanted to spread her wings. So at least for a while, she’ll be MIA from Salem’s lot.
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Robert Scott Wilson
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI Though the leading man passed through Days of Our Lives’ revolving door as Ben in the summer of 2022, headwriter Ron Carlivati teased that we hadn’t seen the last of the actor in Salem.
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Sal Stowers
Image Credit: NBC After six years as Lani, the actress took her leave of Salem in the summer of 2022. And making her exit an even bigger blow to fans was the fact that just as she was exiting, so was…
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Lamon Archey
Image Credit: Peacock With the July departure of the Young & Restless vet, Days of Our Lives viewers didn’t just lose Eli and Lani, they also lost — sniffle — “Elani.”
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Marci Miller
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI In June, the love story of Abigail and Chad was put to bed, so to speak, when her portrayer’s unavailability made her the unfortunate star of a murder mystery. (Here’s why the show didn’t bring back Kate Mansi.)
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Lucas Adams
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI Color us… perplexed. Days of Our Lives let Tripp cheat death, only to reveal a few weeks later that it was shipping him out of Salem. (Get all the deets here.)
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William Christian
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI Ushered into Salem via a dead-end street, the All My Children vet was shown the way out as Lani’s biodad TR… well, pretty much the only way the villainous character could have been.
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Kevin Spirtas
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI The doctor is out. After Craig’s eyes were pried open about conniving fiancé Leo, Nancy’s heartbroken ex made tracks out of Salem, Soap Opera Digest reported in April 2022.
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Alison Sweeney
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI Although Sami’s kidnapping in August 2021 marked the end of the Days of Our Lives vet’s latest return engagement, her next one was already beginning. As she told Soap Opera Digest at the time, “I have other scenes that I’m doing right now” — our favorite way of turning “goodbye” into “See ya soon!”
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Greg Vaughan
Image Credit: John Paschal/JPI Studios Fans were excited to learn that Nicole’s husband would be coming home for their anniversary. Unfortunately, even as Greg Vaughan and his handsome alter ego appeared on screen in mid-July of 2021 came news that Eric was only in town long enough for his marriage to be blown out of the water.
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Precious Way
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI Just when we were getting used to the daytime newbie, Days of Our Lives went and, so to speak, changed the Chanel. In June of 2021, it was revealed that Raven Bowens would be assuming the role of Paulina Price’s daughter from the up-and-comer who’d been cast in MC Lyte’s new sitcom.
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Linsey Godfrey
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI So much for a happy ending for “Xarah.” On March 16, Sarah Horton’s portrayer confirmed via Twitter that she was leaving behind her character — “and all 86 of her hairstyles.” Glad we saved the receipt on that toaster we’d gotten the couple.
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Mike Manning
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI Hey, at least maybe we’ll get flashbacks for a few weeks until we find out whodunit. But for all practical purposes, Charlie Dale’s shooting on February 25 brought to an end his well-received portrayer’s run in the role of Ava’s son (bad) and Allie’s rapist (so… much… worse).
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Cady McClain
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI Mirror, mirror, in her hand, sorry, we don’t understand… But in February of 2021, the news broke that the Daytime Emmy-winning soap-hopper had reached the end of her stint as Jennifer Horton. Maybe she’ll find her way back to a former show of hers that’s being rebooted…
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Jaime Lyn Bauer
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI What a way to go. No sooner had Laura Horton returned to Salem in February 2021 with a suitcase full of revelations to unpack than she was sent on a one-way trip to the hereafter. Ah well, we’ll always have The Meadows.
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Heather Lindell
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI If all good things must come to an end, we suppose so must all bat-guano-crazy bad ones. In November 2020, Soap Opera Digest reported that Heather Lindell had wrapped her return engagement as off-kilter Jan Spears.
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Melissa Reeves
Image Credit: John Paschal/JPI Jaws dropped in mid-September when Soap Opera Digest reported that the veteran cast member was leaving her long-running role of Jennifer Horton — temporarily, it’s said — and being replaced by daytime MVP Cady McClain (most recently Kelly on The Young and the Restless).
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Kassie DePaiva
Image Credit: Chris Haston/NBC Few things say “Yeah, I won’t be around for all that long” like a character going so far around the bend that she kidnaps a beloved former serial killer and tries to mess with his mind to the point that he’d even consider making himself a widower. Better luck next time, Eve Donovan?
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A Martinez
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI “Oh!” we exclaimed upon hearing that the iconic Santa Barbara alum would be reprising his role of Eduardo Hernandez on Days of Our Lives. But that enthusiastic “Oh!” quickly got downgraded to a bummed-out “Oh” when we realized that the character was only being brought on for long enough to usher off the canvas his children.
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Camila Banus
Image Credit: Chris Haston/NBC In late July, Days of our Lives fans were dealt yet another blow when it came out that Gabi’s portrayer was exiting stage right after a decade of pot-stirring. Thankfully, it was announced before she’d even left that she would be returning so fast, we’d hardly know she’d been gone.
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Greg Vaughan
Image Credit: John Paschal/JPI Seemingly seconds after Konefal confirmed her exit, this Emmy winner admitted that he, too, was done at Days of our Lives. “It’s with love, laughter and tears of joy I leave you,” wrote the actor, who’d played Eric Brady since 2012.
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Victoria Konefal
Image Credit: XJ Johnson/JPI In late July, Ciara Brady’s portrayer revealed that, although “I would love the opportunity to continue working with my castmates in the future… I will not be returning as a full-time cast member.” Insert shocked gasps here.
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Kristian Alfonso
Image Credit: John Paschal/JPI In July, after confirming that her 37th year as Hope Williams Brady would be her last, the Days of our Lives legend explained that a request to take four or five months off prompted her to walk. “It was,” she told Entertainment Tonight, “the perfect moment to make that decision.”
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Ivan G’Vera and Louise Sorel
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI Yeah, that was pretty much the same expression we wore when we learned this summer just how brief the fan favorites’ returns as Ivan Marais and his madam, Vivian Alamain, were going to be. At least the villainess’ death was as legit as every other one on Days of Our Lives — in other words, not at all — so we can anticipate a comeback at some point.
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Greg Meng
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI It wasn’t just actors’ heads that were rolling; execs’ were being cut off, too. Just before Independence Day, we heard that Meng — a part of the Corday Productions family since 1989! — had been canned. Was it his refusal to use blowup dolls?
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Olivia Rose Keegan
Image Credit: XJ Johnson/JPI In June, just weeks before she became a Daytime Emmy winner, Keegan told Soap Opera Digest that her return as Claire Brady comprised “about two and a half months of shows.” She had a good time — “It was a blast” — but that good time wasn’t meant to last.
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Kate Mansi
Image Credit: Howard Wise/JPI After replacing her replacement, Marci Miller, as Abigail DiMera, Mansi left the show again in May. And if that didn’t make you dizzy in and of itself, get this: The show then tapped Miller to step back in as Abigail. No wonder the character has multiple personalities!
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Galen Gering
Image Credit: John Paschal/JPI Days of our Lives’ Rafe Hernandez since 2008, Gering taped his last episode in February. Only it didn’t turn out to be his last episode at all; he quickly reached a new agreement with the show and went right back to work.
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Freddie Smith
Image Credit: John Paschal/JPI In another exclusive interview with Soaps.com, Massey’s leading man said that he didn’t like to think that he couldn’t come back someday as Sonny Kiriakis with Will in tow. Rather, “I like to look at it as they’re resting our characters.”
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Chandler Massey
Image Credit: John Paschal/JPI After we found out that the Daytime Emmy winner — who’d previously been recast and “killed off” — had been axed as Will Horton, he told Soaps.com in an exclusive interview that he was entertaining the idea of going back to school.
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Casey Moss
Image Credit: XJ Johnson/JPI Following a seven-year run as JJ Deveraux, the son of supercouple Jack and Jennifer, Moss called it a days — er, day — and left right after leading lady Megia. But at least he got a lovely parting gift: his real-life romance with castmate True O’Brien (ex-Paige).
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Thia Megia
Image Credit: XJ Johnson/JPI When Days of our Lives flashed forward by a year during November sweeps, Haley Chen didn’t flash-forward with it. We learned shortly after the time jump that Megia’s character — sadly, never exactly a hit with the audience — had been killed off.
