Soap Opera Digest February 20, 2023

Blake Berris was thrilled when DAYS contacted him to once again reprise the role of the late Nick Fallon. “I had done the Christmas special [A VERY SALEM CHRISTMAS on Peacock] and the zombie thing on the Halloween episode [in 2021] and I had such a good time doing it,” he recalls. “Albert [Alarr, co-executive producer] asked me if I was up for more and I was like, ‘Yes, 100 percent; I’m loving it.’” Berris was unaware at first what this latest visit would bring. “I’m so interested every time they call because my character is dead,” he points out. “Then I started reading the script and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is bonkers,’ but I just loved the writing of it so much. After the initial shock of,…

Portia’s idyllic wedding day is marred by the increasing possibility that her subterfuge about Trina’s paternity will blow up in her face. Begins Brook Kerr (Portia), “I think this whole time, she’s kind of been white-knuckling it. She wants to believe, ‘This is going to be great!’ She’s had the distraction of planning the wedding, she’s had Trina to deal with, and to her, it seems like everything has been rolling on just fine. But that doesn’t take away her fear or her nervousness. And, of course, the more people are their normal, sweet wedding selves, the more awful she feels!” Portia’s efforts to keep her anxiety at bay take a nosedive when Jordan, who Portia knows suspects her of lying to both Curtis and Taggert, comes to see her before the…

EJ and Stefan return home from a meeting where EJ wasn’t at his best. “EJ has been a bit forgetful. He says the wrong thing and is just not on the ball,” explains Dan Feuerriegel (EJ). “Other people have to step in, take over, and fix what he says.” At this point, EJ has no clue that Stefan has been drugging him. “He’s not suspicious yet,” says Feuerriegel. “He isn’t thinking anything of that nature. He is wondering, ‘What the hell is going on? I’ve been feeling a bit terrible lately.’ All the kind of things you would think of first.” Later, EJ invites Nicole out to dinner, as their relationship slowly progresses. “It’s early days,” notes the actor, describing the status of things between the couple. “EJ is starting to see…

Ashley comes home from Paris and the first person to greet her in the Abbott manse is Diane. Ash doesn’t hide her disdain and hopes Diane is just leaving after a visit with Harrison, but Ms. Jenkins announces that she’s sticking around. Enter Jack, who’s surprised that his sister has come home earlier than expected. “I know Jack recently said that he should call Ashley in Paris to give her a heads-up about Diane moving in so she could let out all of her anger before returning to Genoa City,” chuckles Peter Bergman (Jack). “Unfortunately, he forgot to do that. Damn it. So Ashley comes home and is immediately, ‘Wait, what? Diane is spending the night here?’” Jack confirms it’s more than that, and that he and Diane are together now.…

with Peter Bergman (Jack, Y&R) How do you view Jack’s reconnection with Diane? “He’s now in the middle of a growing relationship with somebody who Jack was attracted to a lifetime ago. And she comes from the world that Jack comes from. Her dad was a very successful businessman. Her dad was part of the club. Her dad was somebody Jack knew. Here he is with Diane Jenkins again? It’s a pretty wild thing. There’s also this extra element involved, because divorce is just so tough on children, no matter how old they are, and so way back when, when Jack found out about Kyle and thought, ‘Maybe we could make this work,’ and it didn’t work, Jack thought, ‘God, I have just screwed Kyle over for life. My mother walked…

After Hope rejected Thomas’s plea to help reinstate him at Forrester Creations, he retaliates by petitioning the court regarding custody of their son, who currently resides with his adoptive mother. Vowing not to be vindictive, Thomas claims that it’s time for Douglas to decide who he wants to live with. The move, once again, pits the Forresters against the Logans. “Douglas assures Liam and Hope the night before that he wants to live with them,” says Annika Noelle (Hope). “This gives Hope the courage to agree to Thomas’s idea and go to court. She feels confident that Douglas considers the cabin his home and will want to live with them. She is at peace with this, as it will hopefully bring a more permanent solution to the ongoing back-and-forth, and…