The 53rd Annual Daytime Emmys are just a day away, and one of the more hotly-contested contests is which of your favorite leading men will walk away with the gold statuette for Outstanding Lead Actor?

The 5 actors who are going for gold each have had quite the history with the Daytime Emmys with several already having racked up several wins. Let’s take a look and the take our Michael Fairman TV poll at the bottom of the post and vote for who you think most deserves this year’s Lead Actor Emmy.

The nominees are: Eric Braeden (Victor Newman, The Young and the Restless), Steve Burton (Jason Morgan, General Hospital), Scott Clifton (Liam Spencer, The Bold and the Beautiful), Thorsten Kaye (Ridge Forrester, The Bold and the Beautiful) and Christian Jules Le Blanc (Michael Baldwin, The Young and the Restless).

Photo: JPI

FIVE ACTORS HAVE ALL PREVIOUSLY WON GOLD

As far as the actors Emmy resumes: Eric Braeden has been nominated nine times for Lead Actor and won once in 1998. Steve Burton is a two-time Daytime Emmy winner, both in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category for GH as Jason Morgan and Y&R as Dylan McAvoy. This nomination makes it Steve’s 10th overall, and his third time in the the Lead Actor category.

Scott Clifton has won three times previously in 2011, 2013 and 2017 and has the distinction of being the only actor to win in Younger Actor, Supporting and Lead. This is his 8th nomination Thorsten Kaye is a two-time Lead Actor winner in 2023 and 2024, while Christian LeBlanc has also won three times as Lead Actor in 2005, 2007 and 2009 and this is his first nod in over a decade.

The 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards are set to be handed out in a ceremony on Friday night, October 30 beginning at 8pm ET/5pm PT at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California. And while there is no network television broadcast partner this year, fans can watch the ceremonies livestreamed on the NATAS/Daytime Emmys You Tube Channel.

Now below, cast your vote for who you think should win Outstanding Lead Actor tomorrow night, and then in the comment section let us know who you are rooting for on Emmy night.

Leave it to General Hospital’s Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis) to throw an intimate get together in her own style! That’s exactly what the two-time Daytime Emmy winner did to keep the tradition of last year’s Lead Actress winner throwing a party for this year’s nominees.

But as has been tradition, where the ladies gathered for their annual nominee lunch, this year on October 28, Grahn decided to make it a dinner party and she cooked all the food instead of venturing to a Los Angeles hotspot.

The Lead Actress lunch has been a tradition started by four-time Daytime Emmy winner, Susan Flannery (ex-Stephanie Forrester, The Bold and the Beautiful and ex-Laura Horton, Days of our Lives) back in 2005. Now, here we are 21 years later and its still going strong.

GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER?

Joining Grahn for for the Lead Actress dinner were 2026 nominees: Heather Tom (Katie Logan Spencer, The Bold and the Beautiful) and Michelle Stafford (Phyllis Summers, The Young and the Restless), Karla Mosley (Dani Dupree, Beyond the Gates), Tamara Tunie (Anita Dupree, Beyond the Gates), and Stacy Haiduk (Kristen DiMera, Days of our Lives).

This year, Karla Mosley and Tamara Tunie became first-time Lead Actress nominees, while Stacy Haiduk, also earned her first Lead Actress nomination, although she had been previously nominated in the Supporting Actress category.  Currently, going in to Emmy night, Heather Tom is tied with Erika Slezak (ex-Viki, One Life to Live) for the most Daytime Emmys won by an actress with 6, while Michelle Stafford had racked up three, two for Lead and 1 for Supporting.

HEARTFELT THANK YOU’S FROM LEAD ACTRESS NOMINEES

Taking to her Instagram, Michelle Stafford posted some snaps and shared, “This is SO special. A beautiful night with truly beautiful, extraordinary women. What an incredible tradition that Susan Flannery started. Instead of women competing against each other. Here we have five women who have become friends, lifting each other up and supporting each other. We walk into Friday night with a true gift of friendship. Thank you Nancy Lee Grahn for opening up your beautiful home and catering this incredible dinner. Thank you Dylan for being a good girl for the picture! 🐶”

Meanwhile, Nancy Lee Grahn shared a video on her Instagram of the actresses chatting it up around the dinner table, while explaining she cooked the dinner for all the gals! (You can see it below).

So, what do you think about Nancy serving up the annual Lead Actress gathering with dinner at her house? Excited to see all the nominees together before tomorrow night? Weigh-in via the comment section.

 

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A post shared by Nancy Lee Grahn (@nancyleegrahn)

 

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A post shared by Michelle Stafford (@therealstafford)

Several famous couples met on All My Children; one of which is Justin Bruening (ex-Jamie Martin) and Alexa Havins (ex-Babe Carey, now Lulu Spencer, GH). The two met on the soap and married back in 2005 and share four children together. Fast forward to 2026 and Havins, who is currently in the middle of Lulu’s legal battle with Willow (Katelyn MacMullen), received a visit from her hubby on the set of the ABC soap opera.

Bruening took to his Instagram to share his visit to Port Charles with a series of very cute photos of the couple, which then lead fans to hope that a Justin sighting could potentially lead to a role on the show!

Taking to his social media, the first photo was captioned, “I’m lost….Can someone point me in the direction of a good hospital?” Next, Justin selected a pic with himself and his wife, sharing, “Oh! Here’s someone! Lulu, you say? Hmmm….That’s weird…you look familiar. Have we met?” In a follow-up photo, Bruening commented, “You’re cute….. What are you going to do with the rest of your life? I’m thinking……… 4 kids? House in the burbs? 1,001 pets?”

Photo: JPI

FROM PINE VALLEY TO PORT CHARLES

Then, Bruening included a photo of himself in front of the photo of his former on-screen brother, Michael E. Knight (ex-Tad, AMC) who now plays Martin Grey on General Hospital.

Taking to the comment thread was Alexa Havins’ on-screen son, Finn Carr (Rocco Falconeri) who shared, “This is amazing!” In addition to many fans who now hope that Justin might one day soon join the cast of GH.

“Does this mean you’re coming on GH or just visiting your beautiful wife,”expressed one fan. Another wrote, “Ooh, any chance we’re getting a cameo? Tell Alexa she’s my fave on the show.” Another had a casting idea, “Make Justin Bruening a Dillon Quartermaine recast!”

Alexa Havins played Babe from 2003-2007 on the beloved ABC soap opera, while Bruening played Jamie from on and off from 2003-2011 when the series was canceled by ABC.

Since his days in Pine Valley, Bruening has appeared on primetime in series including, Ravenswood, Grey’s Anatomy, and Sweet Magnolias.

Justin recently wrapped The Other Side of the Window, a thriller where the loglines share: “CEO Elise Dufoe must work with unconventional allies to clear her name after her husband dies mysteriously and she is framed for financial crimes.” The feature is said to be in post-production.

So, did you love seeing Justin and Alexa together in the new pics? Would you like to see Justin land a role on GH? If so, who should he be cast as? Weigh-in via the comment section.