Soap Opera Digest October 24, 2022

Making his debut as Joey Johnson on the Peacock special BEYOND SALEM: CHAPTER 2 ahead of joining DAYS was a major blessing for Tanner Stine. “One of my best friends is Carson Boatman [Johnny],” begins the actor. “We’ve been friends for 10, 11 years. He would always tell me about how many pages he would have per day. One day, he had, like, 64 pages of shooting. I was like, ‘Man, I hope they don’t throw me into the mix that quickly.’ Luckily, with Peacock, I didn’t have too much material. I had five-to-10 pages a day. So it was an easy introduction to being on the show.” Stine nabbed the DAYS role after submitting a self-tape audition. “I did it at Carson’s house with Carson,” he explains. “We used his self-tape…

Robert Scorpio is in for the best kind of shock when he reunites with his back-from-the-dead ex-wife, Holly. “I didn’t think it would happen, given her health,” admits Tristan Rogers (Robert) of the return of leading lady Emma Samms, whose Holly comeback was postponed indefinitely back in 2020 when the actress began her protracted battle with Long Covid. “I thought, ‘There’s just too many things going against it.’” But the actor never gave up hope that the show would one day be able to pick up the dangling thread of the Robert/Holly storyline. “Long-distance relationships do not work on television, and that’s what we’ve had,” he points out. “I said to Frank [Valentini, executive producer], ‘We’ve got to come up with some resolution to this,’ and he just kind of looked…

Desperate to help Marlena, Brady makes a deal with Kristen for the serum that could potentially save his stepmother’s life. After Rex administers the drug to Marlena, John sits by his wife’s bedside, while Brady begrudgingly prepares to meet Kristen’s demands and break up with Chloe. “Just when you think Kristen’s gone too far, she goes even further in typical Kristen fashion,” observes Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe). “She’s been trying to sabotage Chloe and Brady’s relationship for months. She’s just been creating nonsense. Up until this point, there’s been no fear that it’s going to escalate into something that’s going to break Chloe and Brady apart.” Meanwhile, a clueless Chloe tries to get Kristen to call a truce. “She’s like, ‘Can you stop it with this? You’re not making it pleasant for anyone,’”…

Carter is devastated by Quinn’s sudden exit from Los Angeles. “Carter got hit with a ton of bricks, man,” sighs Lawrence Saint-Victor (Carter). “One day, it was everything he dreamed of and in one instance, it’s done. It’s over. Quinn is gone and he doesn’t know why. He’s trying to wrap his brain around it and deal with this huge amount of heartbreak and pain.” And the disappointment of once again finding himself solo. “It almost feels familiar,” the actor notes. “I’m thinking about what is it like to imagine being married to someone and it doesn’t happen? He has done this before, with Maya and Zoe…. What happens when your pain is more familiar than your joy? He has had these tiny moments of happiness but it always ends up…

Tucker’s presence in Genoa City is causing a big headache for Diane. Although no one is wise to their affiliation in Los Angeles, a lot of people suspect there’s a connection. “Diane never expected Tucker to not only return to Genoa City, but not honor their alliance,” says Co-Executive Producer/Head Writer Josh Griffith. “Diane has worked very hard to get back in Jack and Kyle’s good graces and was making real progress until Tucker returned to town. Diane has felt she has the upper hand against Phyllis with Jack, so she decides to use this to her advantage to minimize Phyllis’s latest accusations against her.” Diane visits Jack in his office and asks if because of Phyllis, he still has any lingering doubts about her secret life with Tucker. “Diane does…

with Sean Kanan (Deacon, B&B) What was your reaction to finding out you’d be working again with Y&R’s Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki)? “I was really excited because we’ve always had a terrific working relationship. They had to re-educate me about the storyline because it happened 10 years ago but I knew the broad strokes.” Did it seem like old times? “It did. You would think we’d see each other often given the proximity of Y&R and B&B [their studios are across the hall], but I haven’t seen Mel in a long time, so we went outside on the balcony of CBS and were running our lines and dishing and just catching up, and I was just struck with how down-to-earth she is and how smart she is and how damn funny she…