Days Of Our Lives
DAYS Alison Sweeney Delivers Emotional Tearjerker As Sami Says Goodbye To Will, Marlena, and John!
Courtesy/NBC
Over the past few months, Days of our Lives viewers have witnessed one of the most well-written, and well-played story arcs of the character of Sami Brady DiMera, and one of our favorite all-time performances by her portrayer, Alison Sweeney.
Throughout her return visit, which took Sami to Salem and Memphis and back to find her believed-to-be-dead son, Will, there were plenty of story turns, including: Sami kidnapping Ben (Ben Weston) and getting him to re-enact strangling Will (Chandler Massey) in an attempt to get her son to remember his life, sleeping with her ex Rafe (Galen Gering), and so much more.
But the emotional heart of the story came to its full conclusion on Wednesday’s episode, when Sami decided it was time to leave Salem, but before she goes she tries to reconcile with her son. In story, Sami says there are some of Will’s belongings in her car, so he steps out to get them, while Sami has an emotional moment with her mother, Marlena (Deidre Hall). Sami thanks her mother and tells her how much she loves her. Next, it’s John’s (Drake Hogestyn) turn, who Sami has not always had the best relationship with.
An overcome Sami, tries to thank John for all he did in tracking Will down in Memphis. An emotional John hugs Sami, and says to her: “I’ve always been on your side.” Now it’s time to grab some more hankies when Sami tells Will that she is excited to see what’s to come for him in his life, and how proud she has always been of him. Sami is struggling with having to walk out the door and leave her son behind, since Will has never hugged her or shown much emotion where Sami is concerned since he returned, and especially what she did to him. But as Sami heads out the front door, Will finally goes to hug her. Sami hugs her son back, and is reduced to tears of joy as John and Marlena look on.
And then, you need to grab some more hankies when Will says, “Bye Mom” as Sami replies, “Bye, sweetheart.” That moment was played to perfection by Chandler Massey and Alison Sweeney, and rang true as any mother saying goodbye to her son and having to leave him behind.
Alison Sweeney finishes her run as Sami on tomorrow’s episode of DAYS, but we will always remember this visit as one of the best of the best, and those goodbyes scenes as good as they come on the soaps.
So, what did you think of Sami and Will’s goodbye? Alison Sweeney’s performance during this story arc? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
Beyond the Gates
53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Nominations Announced: ‘The Young and the Restless’ Tops With 18, ‘Beyond the Gates’ With 16
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) today announced the full list of nominees for the upcoming 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, and it was CBS daytime’s The Young and the Restless and broadcast television newest soap opera, Beyond the Gates that racked up the most nominations with 18 and 16, respectively.
The full reveal on Tuesday follows the announcement of several major categories including Lead Actor and Actress on Monday via Extra and Entertainment Tonight and The View today revealing Daytime Drama Series and more.
The 53rd Annual Daytime Emmys ceremony is set to take place on Friday, October 30 at the historic Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California.
Photo: CBS
In a statement, Adam Sharp, President and CEO of NATAS expressed, “We’re proud to honor the extraordinary talent and creative teams whose work continues to define and elevate daytime television, As the Daytime landscape evolves and new forms of storytelling emerge, we remain committed to recognizing the innovation happening across the industry.”
“Each year, the Daytime Emmy Awards celebrate the creativity, passion, and dedication that drive this vibrant community of storytellers,” said Rachel Schwartz, Head of the Daytime Emmy Awards. “Congratulations to this year’s nominees, whose work continues to entertain, inspire and connect with audiences every day. We look forward to celebrating their remarkable achievements in Hollywood this October.”
The Daytime Emmy Awards have recognized outstanding achievement in television programming and crafts since 1974, honoring work in a variety of genres, including daytime dramas, talk series, entertainment news, culinary, adventure, instructional and legal/courtroom programming.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Honoree, Gold & Silver Circle Inductees, and ceremony host will be announced at a later date.
Now below, check out the nominees in the daytime drama, talk show, entertainment news series and creative arts categories and congratulations to all!
Photo: JPI
Outstanding Daytime Drama Series
Beyond the Gates
Days of Our Lives
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama Series
Stacy Haiduk (as Kristen DiMera), Days of Our Lives
Karla Mosley (as Dani Dupree), Beyond the Gates
Michelle Stafford (as Phyllis Summers), The Young and the Restless
Heather Tom (as Katie Logan), The Bold and the Beautiful
Tamara Tunie (as Anita Williams Dupree), Beyond the Gates
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
Eric Braeden (as Victor Newman), The Young and the Restless
Steve Burton (as Jason Morgan), General Hospital
Scott Clifton (as Liam Spencer), The Bold and the Beautiful
Thorsten Kaye (as Ridge Forrester), The Bold and the Beautiful
Christian Jules Le Blanc (as Michael Baldwin), The Young and the Restless
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Daytime Drama Series
Linsey Godfrey (as Sarah Horton), Days of Our Lives
Camryn Grimes (as Mariah Copeland), The Young and the Restless
Beth Maitland (as Traci Abbott), The Young and the Restless
Trisha Mann-Grant (as Leslie Thomas), Beyond the Gates
Amanda Setton (as Brook Lynn Quartermaine), General Hospital
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
Sean Dominic (as Nate Hastings), The Young and the Restless
Timon Kyle Durrett (as Bill Hamilton), Beyond the Gates
Michael Graziadei (as Daniel Romalotti), The Young and the Restless
Roger Howarth (as Matt Clark), The Young and the Restless
Mike Manning (as Bradley “Smitty” Smith), Beyond the Gates
Lawrence Saint-Victor (as Carter Walton), The Bold and the Beautiful
Outstanding Emerging Talent in a Daytime Drama Series
Braedyn Bruner (as Emma Scorpio-Drake), General Hospital
Al Calderon (as Javier Hernandez), Days of Our Lives
Alice Halsey (as Rachel Black), Days of Our Lives
Giovanni Mazza (as Gio Palmieri), General Hospital
Ambyr Michelle (as Eva Thomas), Beyond the Gates
Arielle Prepetit (as Naomi Hamilton Hawthorne), Beyond the Gates
Outstanding Guest Performance in a Daytime Drama Series
Jasmine Burke (as June Hughes), Beyond the Gates
Jeff Kober (as Cyrus Renault), General Hospital
Eva LaRue (as Natalia Rogers-Ramirez), General Hospital
Christopher Sean (as Paul Narita), Days of Our Lives
Ray Wise (as Ian Ward), The Young and the Restless
Outstanding Writing Team for a Daytime Drama Series
Beyond the Gates
The Bold and the Beautiful
Days of Our Lives
General Hospital
Outstanding Directing Team for a Daytime Drama Series
Days of Our Lives
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless
Outstanding Casting for a Daytime Program
Beyond the Gates
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless
Outstanding Daytime Talk Series
3rd Hour of TODAY
The Drew Barrymore Show
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Live With Kelly and Mark
TODAY With Jenna & Friends
The View
Outstanding Daytime Talk Series Host
Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin & Ana Navarro, The View
Kelly Clarkson, The Kelly Clarkson Show
Tamron Hall, Tamron Hall
Jennifer Hudson, The Jennifer Hudson Show
Sherri Shepherd, Sherri
Outstanding Entertainment News Series
Access Hollywood
Entertainment Tonight
Extra
Outstanding Daytime Personality (Daily)
Mona Kosar Abdi, Derek Hough & Terri Seymour, Extra
Cassie DiLaura, Denny Directo, Kevin Frazier, Rachel Smith & Nischelle Turner, Entertainment Tonight
Scott Evans, Zuri Hall, Kit Hoover & Mario Lopez, Access Hollywood
Star Jones & Corey Jovan, Divorce Court
Outstanding Arts and Popular Culture Program
Beyond the Gates: Welcome to the Neighborhood — An Entertainment Tonight Special
Off Script With The Hollywood Reporter
Variety & CNN Actors on Actors
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Working In the Theatre
Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Daytime
Beyond the Gates, Episode 103
Have Guitar Will Travel World
The Kelly Clarkson Show Episode 5033
Let Frankie Cook,” Getting the Band Back Together
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Outstanding Technical Direction and Video for a Daytime Program
Beyond the Gates, Episode 104
The Bold and the Beautiful,” Episode 9511
Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade”
The Jennifer Hudson Show, ” Episode 4041
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade”
Outstanding Hairstyling and Makeup for a Daytime Program
Beyond the Gates, Episode 103
General Hospital, Episode 15719
The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Episode 5033
The Young and the Restless,” Episode 13273
So, what do you think of the 53rd annual Daytime Emmy nominations? Who are you happy to see receive a nomination and who do you think was snubbed? Weigh-in via the comment section.
Monday on Entertainment Tonight, the second set of nominations for the 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced which included the highly-coveted Outstanding Lead Performance in a Daytime Drama Series – Actress and Outstanding Daytime Talk Series.
ET followed suit after Extra announced the nominees, as previously reported, in the Outstanding Lead Performance in a Daytime Drama Series – Actor and Outstanding Daytime Talk Host.
Now, five leading ladies of the soaps are vying for the gold for Lead Actress and the category marked the first-ever nominations for CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates when two actresses made the final cut. Only General Hospital is not represented among the actresses this year after Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis) took home the trophy last year.
Photo: NATAS
THE FIVE LEADING LADIES OF THE SOAPS ARE …
The 2026 Lead Actress nominees are: Stacy Haiduk (Kristen DiMera), Days of Our Lives, Karla Mosley (Dani Dupree), Beyond the Gates, Michelle Stafford (Phyllis Summers), The Young and the Restless, Heather Tom (Katie Logan), The Bold and the Beautiful, and Tamara Tunie (Anita Dupree), Beyond the Gates.
This marks the first Daytime Emmy nominations for Karla Mosley and Tamara Tunie. In addition, this marks the first-time in her career that Stacy Haiduk had received a Lead Actress nod after two Supporting Actress nominations.
Meanwhile, Michelle Stafford had previously won 3 Emmys – 2 for Lead Actress and 1 for Supporting, but this recognition makes it her 11th overall nomination.
Heather Tom currently is tied for the most all-time Daytime Emmy wins with One Life to Live alum and General Hospital guest star, Erika Slezak. The B&B star has 19 nominations throughout her career.
Photo: ABC
DAYTIME TALK SERIES
In the Outstanding Daytime Talk Series category, the nominees are: 3rd Hour of Today, The Drew Barrymore Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Live with Kelly and Mark, Today with Jenna and Friends and The View.
“We’re proud to honor the extraordinary talent and creative teams whose work continues to define and elevate daytime television,” NATAS president and CEO Adam Sharp said in a statement on the nominations. “As the Daytime landscape evolves and new forms of storytelling emerge, we remain committed to recognizing the innovation happening across the industry.”
The rest of the nominations will be revealed tomorrow on Tuesday July 14 starting on The View and then the full list of nominees in both the main and creative arts will be released by NATAS. The 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards are slated for October 30th in Hollywood, California.
So, what do you think about the women who are vying for the Lead Actress Daytime Emmy? Happy with who got in? Who do you feel got snubbed? What do you think of the nominees for Daytime Talk Series? Weigh-in via the comment section.
It’s Daytime Emmy nomination week, and as previously reported things kick-off on Monday, July 13 when Entertainment Tonight (7pm ET) will announce the nominees for Lead Actress category and Daytime Talk Series for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards. In addition on Monday, Extra (7pm ET) will reveal the nominees for Lead Actor and Daytime Talk Host.
On Tuesday, The View (11am ET) starts things off with their announcement of Daytime Drama, Entertainment News program and Outstanding Daytime Personality-Daily. That is followed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) full reveal of all the categories beginning at 12noon ET/9am PT on their website and their official social handles on X and Instagram.
Then, Tuesday night at 8pm ET/5pm PT join Michael Fairman as he hosts his 12th annual Daytime Emmy Nominations Special 2026 live on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel where he will chat with some of the just announced nominees as we celebrate the hard work of the men and women in front of the camera who will be going for gold.
WHEN ARE THE DAYTIME EMMYS?
This year, the 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be handed out on October 30 in ceremonies in Hollywood, California (Venue yet to be revealed). At that time, as like last year, both the major categories and creative arts will be presented. There is no word yet on a broadcast partner for the annual celebration of daytime programming, or if it will soley be streamed on NATAS’ watch.theemmys.tv and various apps and platforms.
WHO WILL BE APPEARING ON THE DAYTIME EMMY NOMINATIONS SPECIAL 2026?
Throughout Tuesday, keep an eye on Michael Fairman TV’s social media handles on X, Facebook and Instagram, for updates of who will be expected to appear on our live show.
If you have a question or comment for one of the nominees, or on the nominations, we can encourage you to join us in the live chat on Tuesday night.
So, who are you hoping lands a nomination from Beyond the Gates, General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, The Bay, The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless? Let us know via the comment section. More Tuesday!
53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Nominations Announced: ‘The Young and the Restless’ Tops With 18, ‘Beyond the Gates’ With 16
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First i loved Sami’s goodbyes to Will, Marlena and even John and mostly i liked Sami’s goodbye to Will.Plus i’m wondering if some real life emotions surfaced between anything could happen in the future and this might have been the last time Alison Sweeney would be on Days or at least for a very long time.So just in case the show may have wanted to give Alison Sweeney some goodbye scenes in that while Sami is saying goodbye to the characters she is saying goodbye to the actors.
I don’t want her leave. Loved it when Will said, “Bye Mom.”
Their is only one Samantha Brady. Both Villian and Hero. Ron wrote her Beautifully and Alison is amazing as always. Cried at those scenes and had to watch them twice. You will be so missed Alison but I know that Ron will bring you back again with another great Arc and I can’t wait.
She shouldnt have left the show. I love on the show she brings it to life.
this completely took me by surprise – this is high yield drama for return
Sami leaves knowing her son is “home and safe” and even with no memories…
this is just that much more down the road for Sami to REEL
PLUS – she’ll return with Rafe baby.
i’m 6 epi behind AND DARNED IT ALL – of course I cried, just reading about Sami and Will
i’m gobsmacked… all the REELING going on in Salem –
from the time Sami came back from Memphis… she’s been the highlight
watching her flit to and fro… reign herself in … catching a fair shake ? woah
Ali Sweeney has done it… the one thing she voiced an opinion about.
made me cry… because she got her son back…no matter the cost to her
like Will, Sami has a connection to the whole canvas
have to do a stand out… Martha Madison , sisterhood Belle and Sami
as Sami berates Belle for “giving” the DiMera 1/2 the money back. and Belle questioning Sami motherhood with Will. it was on the mark what you expect from sisters.. and Belle was given the boot .. but she held her own.
chutzpah , no?
I wouldn’t mind seeing Bele back on the show… since Claire of ALL the SORAS teen set has taken… it’d be nice to see more interaction with Marlena, Belle, and Claire. Martha Madison’ Belle would make a GREAT biatch
EVERY STORY in and around Sami… startling show.
which is further proof.. that after Sami leaves… the show has all it’s legs full throttle… ie: ED came and went.. and we all want her back. Ali as well.
thee – NEW – and MUCH improved Ciera Alice Brady – IS – a HIT
wow she has an attitude that is nothing like Hope.. and that means something
she is so natural and fits right in with : Claire, Tripp, Theo… NICE
the younger set is moving right along
Ciera has so much too much energy in and around
i missed the episode…
NBC.com is a good place to catch it, Jimmy! Traffic to their website is a plus for DAYS!
I forgot i get it On Demand too…and thanks about NBC.com-i will catch it there too!!!
My gripe is that since we know for sure EJ is alive thanks to Kristen’s appearance, just how long could Sami stay gone? We have to have some kind of closure to that part of her story if she won’t come back to continue the character’s journey.
My guess is when the show brings EJ back he might have amnesia too and has been brainwashed by Kristen into thinking he’s someone else.So that could mean when we see a new male character it could really be a brainwashed EJ but maybe we won’t know it for awhile.Plus EJ having amnesia and brainwashed into thinking he’s someone else might be the only way to have him on the show without Sami at least for the time being.
What was the ending about her wearing the wedding ring all about? Was it to signify that she is going back on the hunt for EJ? I like the idea of another Sami adventure out of Salem to track him down from Kristen’s clutches and then returning with a Rafe baby in tow.
But “alive” doesn’t necessarily mean in the same form, James. The character returning could be EJ…or rather, have EJ’s brain.
Maybe May sweeps or the summer. Crossing fingers!!
I will miss as/sami love her and lucas
Come back soon, Sami. Salem just ain’t as unholy without you!
I really enjoyed Sami’s visit. Everything Ron wrote for Sami and the others was an amazing umbrella story. Sami sure knows how to bring fire to the show.
I am sad to see her go.Come back soon Sami. It is a shame that they wont let her move back to Salem.I feel like she is a very important part of the show.Now everyone here have a very Merry Christmas,happy holidays to all of you and to Days God Bless and happy holidays to you too.