Earlier this week on the November 2 episode of Days of our Lives, Kyle Pryor made his Salem debut when a key scene at the end of the episode, with Rita sitting in a chair, the long-talked about character of Dominic Marino unmasks himself!

This sets the stage for the new umbrella storyline that long-running soap opera set to turn 61 on November 8 is launching into. What we know thus far is the viewers are led to believe from a birth certificate discovered that the late Stefano DiMera and Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) are the billionaire’s biological parents, but is he? Does Marlena have another son she will come to love?

Ahead of his debut, Michael Fairman TV caught up with Kyle Pryor on the red carpet at the 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards where he teased to us, whether Dominik will be all bad or just misunderstood?

Photo: Peacock

Pryor revealed, “I feel like having a bit of a good side makes it a bit more nuanced, but, we always want to see that sort of character development and not be too predictable. Just keep it a bit of a mystery and sort of surprising.”

Speaking about working with Days of our Lives icon Deidre Hall as his alleged mother on the show, Pryor had nothing but winning things to say about the legend. “Deidre is the absolute OG, amazing,” shared Kyle.”She’s so experienced on the show and her character has been through so many sort of trials and tribulations.”

As to his Days of our Lives father, Stefano DiMera, played by the late Joseph Mascolo, Nick shared he heard plenty of stories from the cast about Joe. “I heard that he was quite sort of method in his approach. as well. That behind the scenes, he would be his sort of usual casual self by the sounds of it. And then as soon as he gets on set, he’s in ii! An absolute sort of legacy … amazing character.”

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In addition, TV Insider spoke to the former Home and Away (ex-Nate Cooper) and Hollyoaks (ex-Laurence “Laurie” Shelby) soap star, where he was in for quite the shock at how far ahead Days of our Lives was taping in advance of streaming new episodes on Peacock.

Kyle expressed, “Every other show that I’ve worked on in the past, it’s been a much faster turnaround, Usually somewhere around five, six weeks, so it’s been really interesting keeping a secret for 10 months. Also, this is the fastest soap that I’ve ever worked on, so you have to become very good at being instinctual, which in a weird way works for me. I’m a bit of an over-thinker, so it’s nice to be just very reactive and in the moment. It’s a lot of dialogue to get across, and Dominic loves a chat, so there’s always a lot to deal with.”

You can check out our quick chat with Kyle Pryor on the red carpet at the 2026 Daytime Emmy Awards below and make sure to check out more video coverage of Emmy night via the Michael Fairman Channel here.

So place your bets! When all is said and done will Dominic Marino be the true biological son of Marlena Evans she never knew she had? Or is someone else his mother? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section below.

Fasten your seat belts Days of our Lives fans, as the mystery of Dominic Marino continues to unravel on all-new episodes of the Peacock streaming soap opera. Last week, Chad DiMera (Conner Floyd) learned that he may have a half-brother, who may be the biological child of his father, the late Stefano DiMera (the late Joseph Mascolo) and Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), giving him great pause, because he knows Stefano had kidnapped Marlena for four years back in the late 80s and early 90s.

Chad has already been hunting down clues with his current girlfriend Belle Black (Martha Madison) in Italy and Salem, which revealed a photo of a young boy with Stefano with the date 1992 on the back of it, hidden inside Stefano’s chess set. So, what’s next?

Conner Floyd chatted on the Michael Fairman Channel in a new virtual interview released on Sunday, October 18, where he spoke on what the new addition to the DiMera family could do to the already dangerous sibling rivalries, the state of Chad’s relationship with Belle and much more.

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DIMERA RIVALRY

After finding out from EJ (Dan Feuerriegel) that Dominic Marino could be the never-before-heard-of child of Stefano and Marlena, Conner Floyd explained, “I think it blows Chad’s mind a little bit. I think there’s a lot of things working there with old Chad. Obviously, bringing in another DiMera could cause some noise and the whole situation with Marlena’s a little awkward as well because he’s dating Belle, so this could cause a little tiff there. I think his head’s spinning and he does not know what to expect, but I also think he kind of expects that from Stefano, for sure.”

As to how this will change and color Chad’s relationship with EJ, Floyd responded, “Chad knows EJ’s not happy about it and I think he’s going to be real upset if this gets in his way of doing what he wants to do with the DiMera legacy and all that. However, for Chad, I think he’s just going to keep a sharp eye, see what this guy’s about, see if he’s here to cause some trouble or here to be a friend and kinda play it by ear.”

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BELLE OF MY HEART

With Chad and Belle already being sleuths, Floyd says, you can look for the duo to continue getting to the truth. “I think Chad and Belle are committed to this. They’re going full National Treasure, Nicolas Cage,” says Conner. “They’re going to follow the clues. They’re going to get some answers.”

Since beginning in the role of Chad in June of 2025 and debuting on-screen back in April of 2026, the former Y&R star (where he played Chance Chancellor), says it was Madison who helped him get comfortable in his new surroundings.

“Martha is phenomenal. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to get tagged up with when I started here, just because she knows everybody,” shares Floyd. “She knows where to go, who to talk to. She’ll get the tea if you want, and so it was kind of cool. Martha took me under her wing, showed me the ropes. She’s a sweetheart.  I love working with her too. She’s a great actress.”

But, is Chad in love with Belle after such a tortured past with his beloved Abigail Deveraux DiMera? Floyd thinks so! “I think he’s into it. They’re such good friends and they have such a rich history. I think he’s in for the ride. You know, it’s one of those things you probably overlook at first and then they reconnected, and it feels easy and they’re going on these fun adventures.”

MAKING CHAD HIS OWN

Conner had the arduous task of being the successor to Billy Flynn in the role of Chad.. Flynn had played the part for 12 years before deciding to exit and head to Y&R. So, how did Conner approach learning the ins and out of Chad? Floyd shared, “I really dove into Chad when I first got this job. I liked that he kind of walks this tightrope of DiMera and not DiMera, you know. He want to so honor his family roots and really do something for the DiMera family, but he doesn’t want to fall into that trap that all the other DiMera have found themselves in. Chad is a DiMera at heart. He’s got those demons, but he’s just trying to keep them contained.”

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ICONIC

When Floyd got to DAYS, it was none other than Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie Williams) who most surprised him in the most delightful way, given that he knew Hayes was a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award winner and the current longest-running cast member on the canvas.

“I love working with Susan Hayes! I love her. She’s a sweetheart. Susan is one of the nicest people there. I just thought she was cool and it’s Susan Hayes, you know?  We’ve had a lot of scenes together, which is nice,” explained Conner.

“We’ll go to her dressing room, we’ll run our scenes, and then we’ll spend about an hour just talking about life and she’ll tell me about a book she’s reading. She’s such a history buff, which blows my mind. She’ll start dropping all these historical facts on me. I learn something new by the time I walk out of her dressing room every time!”

Now below, check out the full conversation with Conner Floyd via the Michael Fairman Channel.

Weigh-in: Do you like Chad and Belle as couple? Do you think Chad will get to the bottom of the Dominic Marino mystery? If so, do you think Dominic is truly Stefano and Marlena’s son … and what about Rita (Maggie Carney) in all this? Let us know your theories in the comment section.

There was not a dry eye in the house when in June of 2025, Paul Narita (Christopher Sean) gets up to eulogize his father, John Black (Drake Hogestyn), after the iconic character passed away and his funeral brought Salem together for one last goodbye.

In real life, Drake Hogestyn had passed away of pancreatic cancer at the age of 70 back on September 28, 2024. When DAYS taped the funeral episode, Drake was still alive and had given his blessing to the series longtime executive producer, Ken Corday, that it was OK with him to kill off his character and to have a memorial. Sadly, shortly after the cast filmed the scenes, Drake died leaving a lasting legacy on DAYS that will never be matched.

Earlier this week on Tuesday, Christopher Sean received the bittersweet news that he had received a Daytime Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Guest Performer category for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards for his performances. Christopher appeared shortly after the news of his nomination on the Michael Fairman Channel’s Daytime Emmy Nominations Special 2026 were he shared his emotional reaction. Here’s part of what he expressed below.

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WHAT DID CHRISTOPHER SEAN SUBMIT?

“I submitted Paul’s lowest moments in his life, and Paul’s highest moments, meaning the eulogy with John Black, his father, and for my hero, Drake Hogestyn, and Paul getting married to Andrew (Colton Little). So it was two very opposite ends of his life. But what a great culmination of 12 years of being on Days of Our Lives it was.”

ALWAYS BEING GRATEFUL TO DRAKE HOGESTYN

“Even talking about it now, I have so much love for Drake. I’ve got him here on my wall and I wake up every day and I try to make him proud. It’s hard to talk about it, but I feel that my life is on the path that I am because of him, because of him being my role model, because of him loving and guiding me, because of everything that he has taught me on and off the set.”

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THE EARLY STRUGGLES WITH PAUL’S EULOGY AND HEARTFELT ADDITIONS TO THE DIALOG

“I had been texting back and forth with Drake and I was actually pretty angry, because I felt that we shouldn’t exploit this, but Drake was so attached to the fan base that when Ken Corday spoke with him and gave him the permission to allow the fans to grieve with us, that’s when I said, ‘OK, if that’s what he wants, then I’m going to go full throttle with it.’ In Paul’s eulogy and monologue I’d read it and without asking the writers, I added a few lines and they allowed me to keep them.”

Christopher continued, “One of the lines was, ‘anytime I see a rainbow in the sky’ and I said, ‘and a baseball up high, or a rainbow in the sky,’ because I wanted to attribute it to baseball and to Drake. It was already perfect the way it was written, but that was my nod to Drake. We all loved him and there’s not a person I know who didn’t love him. Drake lit up any room he was a part of. I would not be here, again, without Drake.”

You can catch Christopher’s conversation on the Daytime Emmy Nominations Special at the 2:14:25 mark below.

The 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be handed in a ceremony on October 30 from the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood California. Current plans are for the event to stream live on the National Academy Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), watch.theemmys.tv and associated apps.

So, will you be rooting for Christopher to take home the gold for his heartbreaking performance of Paul’s grief over losing John and then marrying Andrew? Were you touched by how much Drake Hogestyn had meant to his life and career? Let us know via the comment section below.