On the latest episode of NBC’s Inside Salem: Days of our Lives Podcast, long-running star, Melissa Reeves (Jennifer) sits down to chat with host Michael Fairman about the shocking return of Jack Deveraux (Matt Ashford) to Salem, and how Jennifer is trying to cope with the believed-to-be-dead love-of-her-life who has come to town with no memory of her … or his past!

Reeves chats on: how she found out Matt Ashford was coming back to DAYS, how important those New Year’s Eve scenes were, her on-screen and off-screen relationship with Salem arch-rival, Kassie DePaiva (Eve), and a look back at Jack and Jenn’s memorable wedding and their vows decades ago.  Missy also talks about the love of her life, Scott Reeves (Ex-Ryan, Y&R, Ex-Steve, GH Ex-Jake, DAYS), and their new coffee business in Nashville. Missy also takes tie to remember the late Frances Reid and MacDonald Carey as her on-screen grandparents, Tom and Alice Horton, and the importance of carrying on the tradition of the Horton family to this day on-air.

Later, Paul Telfer (Xander) and Greg Rikaart (Leo) talk with Fairman all about last Friday’s cliffhanger, where Leo jumps on Xander for sex in exchange for providing information to Xander on Sonny and Will, so Xander can become CEO of Titan.  But will Xander go through with it?  The two talk about playing these opportunistic, bad boy characters.

Photo:NBC

Then, in a fun game, Paul and Greg are presented with some of the hilarious dialog from head writer, Ron Carlivati and his team from recent airshows, where the podcast tests their muscle memory to see ig they recall which was the correct line of dialog said by Leo, Xander, or Victor!

The podcast is currently streaming live on NBC.com here, and is available starting today for download via iTunes and all major pod platforms, so you can listen anytime, anywhere.

Photo: Jen Strauss/NBC

Now, what do you hope happens between Xander and Leo next?  Are you rooting for Jennifer to get through to Jack so his memory comes back?  Share your thoughts on the storyline, and the interviews contained in the podcast via the comment section below.

Exciting news DAYS fans, those rumblings were true! Judith Chapman will be playing the trouble-making Leo Stark’s (Greg Rikaart) mother on Days of our Lives.  And that reunites Chapman with Rikaart as mother and son.

As soap fans know, they played Gloria and Kevin Fisher on The Young and the Restless for many years together.  Now they will be playing a new mother/son dynamic duo in Salem. But, just what kind of twisted relationship might they have, since Leo has given clues that she was a bad mom?

Soap Opera Digest revealed that Judith will play Diana.   Her first airdate will be on January 29th.  DAYS fans know Judith from her time as Angelica Deveraux from 1989-1991, and most recently when she returned to the show for the 2018 Halloween episode doing a guest-turn as Angelica AKA Satan in Hattie’s (Deidre Hall) nightmare.

Chapman confirmed her arrival on the Salem scene in a tweet today, stating “And I don’t have to keep the secret either Mitch Sandusky! What a GREAT way to start 2019… More articles to come in TV Guide Magazine and Soap Opera Digest… and to be reunited with my TV son.

Diana will have a past with John Black (Drake Hogestyn), which could cause trouble for John and Marlena’s wedded bliss.

So, excited to know Judith will once again tear up the soap-screen, but this time back on DAYS? Comment below.

Christmas in Salem came bearing gifts to Days of our Lives, as the audience was tuning-in to see what happened to Julie, Gabi, Abigail and a host of other Salemites.  In the latest ratings for the week of December 24-28th, which was the last full week of 2018 for television, DAYS moved on up in several key ratings categories.

First, DAYS overtook GH to gain the number three position in total viewers gaining (+196,000) from the previous week.  In addition, DAYS moved into the number two slot in the key 18-49 female demo, ahead of both The Bold and the Beautiful and GH.

The long-running NBC soap opera also landed at number three in the 18-34 demo, while ending up in the number two slot in the 25-54 female demo, as well.

The Young and the Restless also bounced back from an abyssal week, prior.  Y&R gained the most total viewers for the week netting +344,000, and did pick up viewers in all key demos.  The Bold and the Beautiful also fared well for the week in total viewers; adding +196,000, the same amount as DAYS.

General Hospital garnered +2,000 additional viewers for the week, and also added viewers for the week in demos 18-49 and 25-54, but found itself in fourth in total overall viewers.

Of note: repeats and episodes that did not count in the ratings system did weigh-in to final figures for the week from Nielsen.  To see the entire ratings picture via SON click here.

(Compared to Last Week/Compared to Last Year)

Total Viewers
1. Y&R 4,314,000 (+344,000/-487,000)
2. B&B 3,379,000 (+196,000/-414,000)
3. DAYS 2,412,000 (+196,000/-85,000)
4. GH 2,318,000 (+2,000/-436,000)

Women 18-49 Viewers
1. Y&R 442,000 (+42,000/-67,000)
2. DAYS 404,000 (+76,000/+40,000)
3. GH 364,000 (+33,000/-52,000)
4. B&B 347,000 (+18,000/-51,000)

So, what did you think of the ratings performance of DAYS? Which soap opera is delivering the best drama for you right now? Which is not? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section below.