Days Of Our Lives
Chandler Massey DONE at DAYS! Daytime Emmy Winner Let Out Of Contract Three Months Early!
Photo Credit: Adam Campbell
While were many were hoping that come December, somehow Days of our Lives and Chandler Massey(Will Horton) might somehow work out a deal for him to extend his contract, that appears to be dead in the water. The two-time Daytime Emmy winner, who had made be known he was going to leave come December to go to school and pursue other acting opportunities has done so, but early!
According to the story that broke this evening from Greg Hernandez of the Gay Star News, “Chandler Massey officially finished with the role of Will Horton on NBC’s Days of Our Lives today on Friday, August 23rd.” The 22-year-old actor revealed that NBC has agreed to let him out of his four-year contract more than three months early so he can focus on school and pursue some other acting opportunities.
Massey will continue to appear in episodes of Days of our Lives through the end of December because DAYS is filmed so ahead of their airdates. On-Air On-Soaps also this evening confirmed the news through Chandler’s personal publicist, Jeff Ballard. According to the star, who has become beloved for the role of Will Horton, the role will be recast!
So soap fans, what do you think about Chandler departing DAYS early? Are you glad the show will recast? Are you devastated the Chandler is off the show as of today? Weigh-in on this breaking story!
I don’t mind recasts, but I generally like a bit of time if possible between the different actors so the transition is less jarring. In this case the character is very central to many stories so I understand the need to recast especially since he is leaving earlier than expected, but ideally would have preferred a month or two between them. However, they obviously have someone line up otherwise they wouldn’t have let him go— do we know who is replacing him?
Recast…no longer bothers me…If C.M. wants to quit to do other things its his decision but the show still needs Will Horton so i say lets see what a different actor can do in the role…i remember back in the early 70s when Denise Alexander left her popular role as Susan Martin on this same show and her replacement(4get name at the moment)…imo…did a fine job taking over the role…
I DO NOT LIKE IT ONE BIT!!! IUNDERSTAND THAT CHANDLER WANTS TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL, BUT COULDN’T SOMETHING BE WORKED PUT WHERE HE COULD BE RECURRING AND STILL GO TO BACK TO SCHOOL??? i REALLY HATE TO SEE HIM LEAVE DDOL’s…:(
Boo!
Miss him already.
I hate to see him go but I understand its time to move on for him. He’ll show up again and we’ll say, “I remember him when he was on Days.”
Supposedly they already have a recast so I’m curious as to who this will be.
I would like to see Drew Garrett a.k.a Michael Corinthos from General Hospital or Kevin Schdimt a.ka. Noah Newman from Y&R.
kevin Schmidt is an excellent choice.
Good thinking Jerome. Either would be great choices!
I absolutely hate the idea of a recast. I don’t watch soaps really, got no experience with recasts. I’m only watching for the storyline and for both Freddie Smith and Chandler Massey. Top-notch! I totally understand that Chandler wants to move on but I had actually hoped that he’d reconsider and stay a few months longer (jjust so to let them have the story wrap up nicely and then get a new love-interest for Sonny (even though that scenario sucks too..) and not leave EARLIER!..
This is going to be difficult! Feeling sad for Freddie!.. Wishing Chandler tons of success though of course with everything that’s ahead of him (school, life and career)!
There is no doubt Chandler Massey is a fine actor and I am sure we will see more of him in movies and television if that is the direction he wants to go into. As for the character of “Will”, don’t you think it’s time they could hire an established gay actor for the role, if the character of Will is to continue being gay?
Perhaps another reason for the departure in the back of Massey’s mind is he doesn’t want to act gay and do the kissing scenes anymore. My point being, perhaps a serious gay actor would be more comfortable in the role of “Will”.
Talk about a homophobic comment. MANY STRAIGHT actors EARN their accolades and success by playing “GAY” characters. Are you psychic?
Glad for Chandler.
It’s just sad that Corday/DAYS thought that Chandler was waffling on his choice to move on.
I just hope that all the viewers will give the new guy, cast to portray Will Horton a chance.
I will miss Chandler, but the role of Will Horton is too important to be written off of the show. There are so few gay characters on Soaps (much less ones that are part of an extremely popular couple).
Recasts are not always a bad thing. Chandler, himself, was a recast. Since Will is such an iconic (& award-winning) character, it’s going to be a much sought-after role. That always brings out the best talent.
For folks who can remember when recasts were introduced in all sorts of ways: check out this clip from Santa Barbara.
I will miss him as Will, but wish him nothing but success in whatever he does in the future. He brought such wonderful qualities to the character of Will and for that, I will forever be grateful.
Didn’t b&b do the same for jacob young when he still was a young actor? Then he hopped from gh to amc and back to b&b.
I will miss him so much but wish him well.
I wish him well and encourage him to pursue his education. I hope the replacement can do at least half as well as he did.
Sucks! Maybe he wanted to leave now so he can start the fall semester at college. Will miss him. Who is the recast?
Recast it so we don’t lose a major gay character on daytime TV.
Remember on OLTL when the guys slept together then vanished shortly after…
If he will be shown till December-this means that the scenes we are watching today were taped, what 4 mos. ago, in April or something? Why (& how) does Days tape so far ahead? Does every soap? I used to think it was a 2 week lag-like what we seeing was taped 2 wks. ago-not 4 months!
Days is the only show that does the advance taping. They do it to save money
This is actually a soap first, yes, recasting a gay character? That’s actually kinda cool. They’re approaching it like any other character. Will’s got too many ties with the core families to just disappear. The show could have used this as an opportunity to drop Will AND Sonny (by having them ride off into the sunset together), but didn’t.
Yes! I thought the same thing! Will is so integral to the canvas the show didn’t just allow him to leave with the actor. I think that’s awesome that they’re not abandoning the character, and such a testament to a) NBC/Sony supporting gay characters on their show, b) the stellar work CM has done in bringing the character to life, c) the outstanding writing they’re giving the character and d) the amazing reception from the critics (soap and non-soap) and audiences.
More casting news from Days of Our Lives, and for now, the soap opera seems to be breaking their new additions to Salem via their Instagram account. Now comes word and picture on August 24, that General Hospital and The Young and the Restless alum Brytni Sarpy has joined DAYS!
The Peacock soap opera’s Instagram account, showed a photo of Sarpy standing in front of her dressing room in the hallways of Days of Our Lives’ studios. The caption read, “Someone new is checking into Salem… Welcome Brytni Sarpy to the Days of our Lives family! Stay tuned.”
The casting of Sarpy comes on the heels of the announcement of Sydney Malakeh coming to the show in September, and earlier this year General Hospital favorite, Sofia Mattsson (ex-Sasha Gilmore, GH) joining the show in a mystery role when she began taping back around the end of March of this year. Now Sarpy is the “mystery role” category too!
In addition, the Days of Our Lives social team dropped a video ditty of the cast spoofing Love Island, where Sarpy appears as the new “bombshell” of the villa. Other cast members such as Rob Scott Wilson (Alex), Abigail Klein (Abigail), Casey Moss (JJ), Sal Stowers (Lani), Paul Telfer (Xander) and Linsey Godfrey (Sarah) pop-up in it too, among others.
Photo: JPI
SOAP HOPPING
Soap fans first met Sarpy when she played Valerie Spencer, the niece of Luke (Anthony Geary) and Bobbie Spencer (Jackie Zeman) on General Hospital back in 2015. She made her final appearance on the series back in 2019 to join the cast of The Young and the Restless in the role of Elena Dawson.
Elena was introduced as a love interest for Devon Winters (Bryton James). She later cheated on him with his cousin Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic). Elena began to be back-burned by 2023 with Sarpy’s last on-screen appearance in Genoa City in November of 2024.
Due to Days of Our Lives nearly year in advance tape schedule, viewers will have to wait till sometime in the early summer of 2027 to see Brytni’s arrival in Salem.
So, happy to see Brytni Sarpy has landed another soap role? Now that she is at DAYS, who you think she might be playing and paired with? Put on your casting director hats and let us know via the comment section.
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Days Of Our Lives
Sydney Malakeh Joins the Cast of ‘Days of Our Lives’ in Mystery Role: Who Do You Think She’s Playing?
There’s a new gal coming to Salem, or is she new and a recast? That’s what inquiring minds from Days of Our Lives fans have been trying to figure out since the Peacock soap opera dropped an Instagram video heralding actress‘ Sydney Malakeh‘s arrival in Salem.
The soap did confirm that viewers will first see Malakeh on the September 9 episode. In the video, Malakeh is seen going set to set from her dressing room and in to the halls of Days of Our Lives studios.
What we do know id that Sydney has been acting professionally for 6 years and had appeared on Grey’s Anatomy, Apple TV’s Shrinking and the HBO Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Plenty of Malakeh’s DAYS castmates jumped into the comment thread with positive emojis symbols or written excitement including: Paul Telfer (Xander), Linsey Godfrey (Sarah), Sal Stowers (Lani), Conner Floyd (Chad), Eric Martsolf (Brady) and Christie Clark (Carrie) and more now that fans will finally see her on-air. Since Days of Our Lives tapes 10-11 months in advance, Sydney would have started taping the show sometime back in 2025.
DAYS fans think perhaps because the actress’ name is Sydney that she might be playing the grown-up daughter of Sami and EJ. That character hasn’t bee on the canvas since 2021.
So, who do you think Sydney Malakeh might be playing on Days of Our Lives? Drop your casting director thoughts via the comment section below.
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Days Of Our Lives
Peacock Hikes Subscription Rates for Fourth Time in Four Years; ‘Days of Our Lives’ Fans Sound Off
While recently the streaming service Peacock reported turning a profit for its first time since its infancy, now comes word that the company is raising their prices for all customers, and in some cases it stared today on August 18.
The news of the subscription rate increases marks the fourth time the NBCUniversal streaming platform has done so in four years. So, on August 18, Peacock is increasing the prices for new or returning subscribers and customers, while current subscribers will see the rate increase on or after September 17 depending on their billing cycle when they initially signed up.
Here is the new pricing to follow along: Peacock Premium (which includes ads) will be $12.99/month, up two dollars from $10.99; Peacock Premium Plus will be $19.99/month, up three dollars increase from $16.99; and the Peacock Select tier (which includes current and past seasons of NBC and Bravo shows but excludes movies, live sports and Peacock originals) will increase a dollar from $7.99 to $8.99/month.
Photo: JPI
SUBSCRIBERS CONTINUE TO PAY MORE ACROSS THE STREAMER LANDSCAPE
It was back in June that the streamer reported that aid subscribers were up to 48 million adding a 2 million net gain during Q2 in of 2026. The subscription price hikes are rampant now in the entertainment streaming industry where over the last two years for example, Netflix, HBO Max, Apple TV, Paramount+ have all raised their fees to consumers.
Peacock’s tier-levels feature not only Days of Our Lives, but reality hits such as The Traitors and Love Island USA, Bravo series, and a vault of Saturday Night Live, Law & Order, The Real Housewives franchise, and Below Deck episodes as well. Pecock Premium and Premium Plus subscribers have access to sports and live events, as well.
DAYS OF OUR LIVES SUBSCRIBERS HAD A FEW CHOICE WORDS FOR PEACOCK
As Days of Our Lives fans know, the soap opera moved from NBC to the streamer back in September of 2022 after 57 years on broadcast television. When the news hit X on the price increase, DAYS fans had a lot to say about it. Here are just a few of the comments below:
“I can’t believe Peacock and can’t come to a deal with Cordya to air old episodes of #Days. That alone would bring a ton of subscribers,” to If Peacock actually cared about #Days of Our Lives, gave the show the budget it needs for better sets, cameras, background actors and enough time to tell proper stories, I wouldn’t mind paying more. If the money actually showed on screen, the higher price would be worth it,” to “I will continue to pay for a Peacock subscription as long as #Days is on it, but did we know there was another price increase coming?” and more.
So, what do you think of the new price hike increase to watch Days of Our Lives and your other favorite shows and events on Peacock? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
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