Days of our Lives enduring favorite, Suzanne Rogers (Maggie Simmons Horton Kiriakis), recently chatted on some of the high points and low points throughout her journey, as she looked back on 50 years on the long-running soap opera.

Rogers was interviewed by Michael Fairman on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel during a virtual discussion, which covered a lot of ground including: her debut as a young farm girl who couldn’t walk and on crutches, to becoming a Horton, to more recently, losing her beloved husband, Victor Kiriakis (the late John Aniston), and everything in between.

Suzanne first aired on Days of our Lives back on August 20th, 1973. Throughout her time, she has been “killed-off” the show, only to ultimately return nine months later, after it was revealed her on-screen ‘death’ was part of an overall PR stunt and story arc.

Photo: JPI

Rogers has also had her real-life chronic autoimmune neuromuscular condition, myasthenia gravis, written it to the show, even though she was originally against it.  She has been married on-screen to two of the more complex men in the history of the show, John Clarke (ex-Mickey) and John Aniston (ex-Victor). As well, through the years, Maggie learned that she had more children that she thought! In addition, Maggie is an alcoholic, who has been known to have her battles with the bottle throughout the years.  It was her performance in Maggie’s original bout with alcoholism that won her the very first Daytime Emmy in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category back in 1979.

Here are just a few of Suzanne’s comments on some key subjects throughout her five decades on DAYS.

Photo: JPI

On filming the recently aired scenes, where Maggie learns Victor has perished in a plane crash, and how it brought back emotions of John Aniston’s passing: “It was hard. I think right back to the memorial service (for John Aniston). That was a hard day. All I kept thinking in my mind is he’s not in any pain anymore. I kept saying that. So, I had to play the scenes. It was all surreal. It really was surreal. The fact that he was no longer gonna be there. There’s a tribute to him on the set. I just look at that all the time and I’m right there with him.”

When addressing her fears and concerns about being seen with myasthenia gravis, and being asked to come back to the show: “The producers, Al Rabin and Wes Kenny, said, ‘We would like for you to come back to the show.’ I said, ‘I think you ought to see me first.’ I just didn’t want to shock anybody. We met at Du Pars (coffee shop). It didn’t register on their face that I looked any different, but I did. I really did. They said, ‘We’ll work around you, whatever you need. If you need to come in at noon, that’s fine. We’ll put a sofa in your dressing room so you can lie down.’ (Fast-forward) Then, the audience started seeing me on camera.  The first day I saw myself on camera, I turned off the TV, and I started crying. I thought, ‘Well, I guess God wants to see me, see myself like this. So, I put it back on and I forced myself to watch … and it didn’t look like me, to me. Then the audience, of course, got a hold of it, and they said, ‘What’s the matter with her? Is she drinking? What is wrong?’ So, they figured they had to write it (myasthenia gravis) into the show. I said, “Only if it has a happy ending, because I plan on beating this. That was the criteria that we went with – that they would write it in the show, but they had to have a happy ending.”

Photo: NBC

When recalling being killed-off the show in 2003, after Marlena clubbed Maggie over the head with a whiskey bottle, only for Suzanne to return to the show months later: “I thought I was gone and then to see yourself 10 feet tall. I mean, it was at least 7 feet tall that (movie) screen. It was more than I could handle. I really thought that was the end. I thought, ‘Well, this is a big sendoff.’  Marlena hit her with a bottle and smashed her in. I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness gracious’. It wasn’t a pretty scene.  And no, I didn’t know (I was coming back). I had brought my mother out here, and I had added on to my house, and I thought, ‘I’m going to lose this house.’ It wasn’t a joke, you know?  But then, we were all brought back on April the first. Hello!”

On the audience reaction to Maggie becoming an alcoholic: “Well, I think the first time, I knew the audience right off the bat, hated it. They didn’t like the Maggie character getting soiled in any way. But it led to the Emmy!”

Photo: NBC

On her working relationship with John Clarke (ex-Mickey): “Susan Flannery (ex-Laura) told me the very first day that I was on the show, ‘He’s (John) got to fall in love with you, or he can’t work with you.’ I said, ‘Oh, my.’  So, I remembered that in my mind. So, when we were off-stage, he would say, ‘Let’s go out to dinner.’  I said, ‘no’, because I knew Patty, his wife, and all of his kids. I just don’t mix business with pleasure. You just don’t.  That’s just not a good thing. I thought, ‘Let’s just keep the two separate, and that’s what I tried to do.”‘

Make sure to check out watch our full conversation with Suzanne below.

Now let us know, what has been your favorite storyline of Maggie’s through the years? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

If you caught Tuesday’s night anniversary celebration for Greg Rikaart (Leo, DAYS, Kevin Y&R), who is celebrating his 20th year on soaps this month, and Elizabeth Hendrickson (Chloe, Y&R, ex-Frankie/Maggie, AMC, ex-Margaux, GH) who is celebrating her 15th year on Y&R and 22nd in daytime, you know that several of their co-stars, past and present, popped in throughout the livestream event on You Tube’s Michael Farman Channel.

Sharing stories and offering their ‘congrats’ to their friends and colleagues were: Rebecca Budig (ex-Greenlee, AMC, ex-Hayden GH), Tamara Braun (ex-Reese, AMC, ex-Carly, GH, ex-Kim, GH and Ex-Ava, Days), Peter Porte (Dimitri, DAYS, ex-Ricky, Y&R), Kate Linder (Esther, Y&R), Zach Tinker (Sonny, DAYS, Fen, Y&R) and Judith Chapman (Gloria, Y&R and ex-Natalie, ATWT, ex-Ginny, GH ex-Charlotte, Ryan’s Hope and ex-Angelica, DAYS).

However, that was not all! Several of Greg and Liz’s co-stars, then and now, who could not make the livestream due to travel schedules, sent along heartfelt messages to share with Rikaart and Hendrickson. During the show, Michael Fairman read along these notes from: Eden Riegel (ex-Bianca, AMC, ex-Heather, Y&R), Emily O’Brien (Gwen, DAYS, ex-Jana, Y&R, and Billy Flynn (Chad, DAYS).

Photos: ABC. CBS, Peacock

Throughout the hour+ event, Greg and Liz reminisced about on: how they fought to have Kevin and Chloe wind up together on Y&R, including both naming their same favorite scene together, how both have played gay characters in their daytime careers, and how playing an LGBTQ+ character on the soaps has evolved since back in Liz’s All My Children days in 2001 and Frankie and then Maggie’s on-screen coupling with Bianca, to how Greg as Leo Stark and DAYS have had more freedom and been able to modernize their approach some 22 years later.

You can watch the livestream celebration with Greg and Liz below; as all of their ‘special guests’ offered up insight and praise on these two talented and beloved performers and more.

Share your congrats to Liz and Greg on a job well-done, and let us know your favorite moment from the celebration in the comment section.

Last night on a special livestream conversation on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel, Days of our Lives stars: James Reynolds (Abe), Kim Coles (Whitley) and Terrell Ransom Jr. (Jerry and ex-Theo) participated in a lively hour+ deep dive into their current storyline.

Fans watching the Peacock streaming soap opera have really had to follow along and look for the clues at this complex storyline that is at once … a mix of camp, an amnesia storyline told with a twist, a soap within a soap, and has some major stunt casting.

In story, Nurse Whitley King kidnapped Abe and has been keeping him in an “Annie Wilkes in the movie ‘Misery” type of setting. As her lies keep catching up with her, she has been sedating and drugging Abe, once he starts to get a sense that something is wrong with this woman who says she is his wife, Paulina.

Meanwhile, viewers have sensed that Whitley’s problem stems from a backstory with Paulina.  Add to the mix, Whitley blackmailing actor Jerry Prentiss to pretend to be Abe’s son, Theo Carver, and things become even more complicated.  However, now Jerry feels bad for what he has done and informs Abe’s adopted daughter, Lani (Sal Stowers) of the situation, and the action picks up on Thursday and Friday’s episode of DAYS.

During the livestream, Kim teased what could be causing Whitley’s behavior and her motives: “I can’t tell you yet, but she’s not a bad person, in fact, there’s a whole scene where Eli (Lamon Archey) goes, ‘She’s got a good record, she’s a good nurse and well-liked.’ There’s a psychotic break. There’s something that happened that caused her to have this ‘break’ and she saw this opportunity when this wonderful, sweet man that she already admires, looked at her and said, “You’re my wife, Paulina.” And she goes, “Yes!, I am your wife. Come, come with me.” I don’t think she is bad person, but she had this ‘break’ and she wanted to protect him.”

Photo: Peacoc

When finding out the role he would be playing on his return to Days of our Lives, since he played the childhood Theo from 2008-2015, Terrell Ransom Jr. shared, “I was told there’s this character Jerry. He’s in a soap opera and he’s also going to be ‘playing’ Theo.  Now, I’m like, ‘I’m confused, but I’m ready. I’m ready for this.’ I get one of the scripts and I’m reading through it and I’m like, ‘Wow! This is going to be fun.’ It was so confusing, and up until I got to set I still didn’t know what was really going on, but I had a little inkling. So,it was really fun to see the story unravel before my eyes.”

The soap within a soap is the kitschy Body and Soul which Abe had now become addicted to in order to keep him company and to pass the time while he is locked up by Whitley. Reynolds said of Abe’s feelings on the show:  “Watching the soap opera becomes life to him and Whitley has locked him in her place. He can’t walk very well, but he can walk a little bit. As with so many fans, this is his lifeline. He doesn’t want it in the beginning, but Whitley just pursues him to watch this show and he enjoys it.”

Courtesy/Peacock

Check out more of what James, Kim, and Terrell revealed on this outlandish storyline and more in their interview below.

Now, let us know, have you been enjoying the performances of Kim, Terrell and James? What do you think happened to Whitley to cause her psychotic break? Share your thoughts in the comment section.