News
Kristoff St. John And Y&R Celebrate His 25 Year Milestone As Neil Winters!
Courtesy/CBS
Last Friday, cast, crew, press, executives, and family (including Kristoff’s beloved dog Brando) gathered together on the set of the Genoa City Athletic Club at CBS Television City to celebrate the 25 year milestone of Kristoff St. John (Neil Winters) with The Young and the Restless.
Throughout the celebration honoring the powerhouse actor, several speeches were made all illustrating Kristoff’s unwavering commitment to the material, bringing Neil Winters to life day in and day out, and touching upon Kristoff’s inner-strength in facing the unimaginable for any parent, the tragic death of their child.
It was day of emotions, tears, and laughter for one of the finest actors working in our genre including; Kristoff reading a heartfelt congratulatory note from his father, acclaimed actor and director, Christopher St. John. On-Air On-Soaps was on hand to listen to the speeches and share in the festivities. Immediately following, we were able to chat with the guest of honor, up close and personal, for some closing thoughts on this special day. Here are some of the highlights below:
Photo Credit: MF Soaps Inc
Y&R’s executive producer Jill Farren Phelps kicked off the celebration with these words: “In the course of his 25 year journey as Neil Winters, Kristoff has won 2 Daytime Emmy Awards and 8 NAACP Image Awards. In watching the material that you submitted this year for the Emmy’s, I was reminded of what we all know; you are an extraordinary actor. Neil Winters has been married 5 times, raised Devon and Lily (and Moses too!), and just in the 4 years since I’ve been here, he’s lost and regained his sight in a sensitive and gripping performance while giving us the haunting and heartbreaking portrayal of a man battling his darkest demons in the bottom of a bottle . . . Bravo Kristoff. You’re a fierce actor. You’re your own man. You’ve shown remarkable courage and heart against all odds. And you are a valuable member of our Y&R family. AND you have the cutest dog! Thanks Kristoff. Congratulations and much love. ”
Courtesy/CBS
Next, Joshua Morrow (Nick Newman) took to the podium and offered up to his co-star: “You are an incredibly talented actor, and I have enjoyed watching your work. You can tell the true measure of a man in how he handles adversity, and brother, I have seen you slay dragons and stare down demons. I have seen you rise up and show everyone what you are made of. It has to be some of the strongest stuff the world has ever seen.”
Bryton James (Devon) in an emotional, and off the cuff speech told Kristoff: “You set this standard of commitment and excellence of every scene I have seen you in, and every scene I have been in with you, and it’s taught me. You have shown me and guided me every step of the way. You showed me not only how to go about being an actor, but how you go about being yourself in life, too.”
Courtesy/CBS
Christel Khalil delivered a short speech which included: “It’s so easy to work with Kristoff. If I have to cry in a scene all I have do is look at him, and I just start bawling. We just have that connection. ”
When it was finally Kristoff’s turn to address his Y&R family he noted, “This is very humbling to hear these words you have said, my family.” He then told how his life in Genoa City began: “Bill Bell (co-creator and former head writer, Y&R) said, ‘How would you like to work on this show? I said, ‘Of course I would.’ I had come from the last place show. I knew Y&R, because I had watched it while I was in my dressing room at Generations at NBC. The biggest difference between Generations and Y&R was not the writing, but the look of the show. It was the seasoned actors that are on this show. It was unlike anything I had every watched before. So when I got here I was in awe. The first person I met was Victoria Rowell (Ex-Drucilla), and the second person I met was Eric Braeden (Victor), and the other men on the show, such as Peter Bergman who is the ultimate professional. The difference between he and I is Peter will come out to the stage on a two-scene stand by, while Kristoff is just getting in the shower!” (Laughs)
Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com
Following the presentation, On-Air On-Soaps asked Kristoff some questions about his journey at Y&R, beginning with the ups and downs of being on a soap for an amazing 25-year run: “Nothing is easy, but when you have a family near and far, it can be rather dysfunctional, and in that dysfunction, you have a happy balance of acceptance and dislike. So when you do come together for a joyous occasion, it’s all about the joy, and on the set it’s all about the joy. Drama off the set is a whole other thing, even when people at times here haven’t brought the joy. I was going to say one thing in my speech about one person who told me once; “You don’t have a story. And you want to be careful, because you want them to make note of you. You want to get out in front of them, and you need to remind them. I have a lot of story and I guarantee you that I am the new breed, and you need to make sure you become that.” I felt like knocking his block off, but what does that service? That was a family moment between someone that was here, and someone who is no longer here, who thought he would be here forever. ”
Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com
Kristoff on reflecting on his on-screen children; Bryton James and Christel Khalil, and the sentiments they shared: “Like they said about me, I value them like my real family, my personal family. They have been surrogate children for me. Everything I do on stage with them, and acting as their father is a piece of me that I have been able to learn from my children: Paris, Lola, and Julian, and how to be a better man and how to be a better father. But those two have put me in my place a number of times, and stopped me from going off the deep end as a man. Christel and Bryton have been the glue here for me at the Y&R stages.”
Kristoff on if being at Y&R helped pull him through the most heartbreaking of personal tragedy following the death of his son, Julian: “The show didn’t really factor in until I looked out over Julian’s funeral and I saw a sea of my peers and they were all there. That meant everything to me. I don’t know if everyone realizes that. I wanted to say things up there today about it, but I knew I would fall apart, and I couldn’t have gone on. I was able to come to work a couple of weeks after being off, and man, it was during that part of the storyline that deserved a personal experience that came from the depths, and unfortunately it was through that experience of the death of my son, that I was able to parlay good performances with people that I love and respect here.”
Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com
Kristoff reflects on his 25 years of storylines; when Neil has languished on the back-burner, or has been front and center, and how he has kept that in perspective, as well as his thoughts on his current storyline: “I had a lot of great stories. I also had to mention Victoria Rowell in my speech. I had to. But when you have real meaty story it becomes the show for a period of time, it does. It’s months on end, whereas I have always felt somewhere in the middle. It’s not back-burner, and then we go to the front, and then we go in the back, and we are relegated to what I like to call, ‘Winters Wednesdays’. (Laughs) But this past year has been fantastic! For some reason, this storyline with Bryton and Hilary (Mishael Morgan) has been dragged on longer than any storyline I have been a part of. I am not sure why other than I believe Bryton and Hilary’s characters became extremely popular, and so the fight has to be for Neil rescuing the relationship, and realizing he can’t, and then going off on a tangent to force it to happen, but I have been the villain. I like playing the villain, too.”
Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com
Kristoff on after hearing the accolades that he is a ‘great actor’, and if he views himself that way: “When you are good at something you can tell people about it. When you are great at something than other people will tell you about that. How do I dare accept when someone uses the word ‘great’, when there are so many beautiful actors out there in the real world? I am but one of many, many, many. Interpretation is everything. Acting is reacting, and I somehow am able to bring realism to the work that I do. I don’t know how great that is, but I know how natural it feels. I think part of that is because I started as a child, and by the time I reached my adult years I was able to draw on stuff. Luckily, I have had a great character to play.”
Share you congratulations to Kristoff on his 25 years with Y&R in the comment section below! And let us know, what did you think of the thoughts he conveyed and the admiration and respect shown by his co-workers and friends? What has been your favorite moment in the life and times of Neil Winters?
Days Of Our Lives
‘Brilliant Minds’ Officially Canceled After 2 Seasons at NBC; DAYS Alum Al Calderon, OLTL Alum Teddy Sears and Zachary Quinto Among the Cast
After languishing on the bubble for months, on Friday, NBC handed down the decision and canceled the medical drama Brilliant Minds after two seasons.
Brilliant Minds stars Zachary Quinto as neurology physician Oliver Wolf, who’s character and the series is inspired by the life and books of neurologist. Oliver Sacks. The series focuses on the medical mysteries of the mind, as Wolf a larger-than-life neurologist and his team of interns explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
The final six episodes of what will now be the end of its second and final season were already set to air beginning on May 27, after being pulled off the network schedule in February as viewership saw a steep decline. Brilliant Minds second season became the lowest-rated drama on linear TV viewing, which didn’t bode well fo a network renewal, although it had its hard core fan base.
Photo: NBC
There are some exceptional notables in the cast along with the talented Quinto that includes Days of Our Lives alum, Al Calderon (ex-Javi Hernandez) who joined the series in its second season as Nurse Nico Silva, and One Life to Live alum, Teddy Sears (ex-Chad Bennett) who plays Wolf’s love interest and fellow physician, Dr. Josh Nichols.
The rest of the talented cast includes: Tamberla Perry, Ashleigh LaThrop, Alex MacNicoll, Aury Krebs, Spence Moore II, Donna Murphy, John Clarence Stewart, and Brian Altemus.
In an ironic twist of fate on Thursday, April 30, Days of Our Lives finally revealed the actor who was Al Calderon’s successor in the role of Javi, when they announced that actor Jacob Martinez had now stepped into the role. Since DAYS tapes ten months ahead of streaming new episode, Calderon left in the spring of 2025, but will be seen in the part for the final part this month, and then on June 20, Martinez debuts as Salem’s new Javi.
Taking to his Instagram with a sorrowful and heartfelt post on the Brilliant Minds cancellation was Teddy Sears who wrote, “Thank you, Brilliant Minds. I got the call today and I didn’t want to hear, but I knew that it would come, You have to be a particular vintage to quote Don Henley from memory, but that’s the line that came to mind earlier today after I got off the phone with our inimitable showrunner Michael Grassi who delivered the news that NBC has cancelled the series”.
Photo: NBC
Sears continued, “To say that I feel sad to be moving on from these stories, this character, and this cast and crew just doesn’t paint the entire picture. I’m sad, sure. But I’m also deeply grateful that I got hired to play this part, so proud of the stories we told, and the other actors I got to play alongside. I’m excited to see what comes next, what adventures await, and terrified to be without a professional home. A quick and heartfelt thank you to everyone, all over the globe, who found us and found themselves in us, in our characters and in our stories. We wouldn’t have been able to tell them without you. And we still have 6 fresh episodes yet to air, and I do hope you tune in enjoy the remainder of the series. They’re the best we’ve done.”
As he wrapped up his sentiments, Sears signed off with, “The more I know, the less I understand. All the things I figured out I have to learn again. I’ve been trying to get down to the heart of the matter. But everything changes…Thank you, Brilliant Minds.”
The medical drama was created and executive produced by Michael Grassi alongside Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Leigh London Redman, Lee Toland Krieger, DeMane Davis, Jasmine Russ, Henrik Bastin, Jonathan Cavendish, Andy Serkis and Shefali Malhoutra.
So, what do you think of NBC’s decision to cancel Brilliant Minds after two seasons? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Jonathan Bennett Receives 3 ‘Critics Choice Real TV Awards’ Nominations for Hallmark Series, ‘Finding Mr. Christmas’
Many things are coming up roses for Jonathan Bennett! On the heels of the news that he is set to debut this month in the role of Joe Fitzpatrick on General Hospital, who is rumored to be a new love interest for Lucas Jones (Van Hansis), comes the news that Bennett’s reality series, Finding Mr. Christmas has received 3 nomination for the Critics Choice Real TV Awards.
Bennett’s Hallmark Channel series finds itself in tough competition alongside fellow nominees: RuPaul’s Drag Race (MTV), Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix), Survivor 50 (CBS), Top Chef (Bravo) and The Traitors (Peacock). In addition, Jonathan himself is nominated for Best Show Host and the series participants as the Best Ensemble Cast in an Unscripted Series.
The Critics Choice Association (CCA) revealed the nominees for the eighth annual Critics Choice Real TV Awards on Thursday, which recognize excellence in nonfiction, unscripted and reality programming across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. Winners will be announced online at CriticsChoice.com on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at 9:00am PT/12:00pm ET.
Photo: Hallmark
Taking to his Instagram to celebrate the nominations, GH’s Bennett, enthused, “3 Critic Choice Nominations! I’m so proud of the FINDING MR CHRISTMAS and to be in the company of all the legends in all these categories is so surreal! Congrats to Hallmark Channel and to our nominated cast and nominated show and everyone who made this magical show possible. This is crazy! This gives FMC 6 Critics Choice nominations in 2 years. Not bad for a little show on Hallmark Channel. What are your thoughts on our show?” Jumping first into the comment thread was one of his new GH co-stars, Dominic Zamprogna (Dante) who expressed, “Yeah buddy!!!🔥🔥”
In the series, Bennett, the host and co-creator spends eight weeks guiding 10 aspiring actors through a series of “festive face-offs” and acting challenges alongside actors like soap opera notables, Hunter King (ex-Summer, Y&R) and Alison Sweeney (Sami, DAYS). Along the way, they develop their skills and a bond with one another. The show, which is available on Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Plus, highlights LGBTQ+ representation with openly gay contestants vying to be the next Hallmark star.
It should be noted that Traitors received the most Critics Choice Real TV Award nominations with 6 nods, followed by Dancing with the Stars with 4.
Bennett is very familiar to daytime fans having started his career as JR Chandler on All My Children in 2000-2001, before landing the part of Aaron Samuels in the motion picture, Mean Girls in 2004 starring Lindsay Lohan, which would become his breakout performance.
You can check out the full list of Critics Choice Real TV Award nominations here.
So, excited for Jonathan Bennett’s General Hospital debut this month? Have you ever watched Finding Mr. Christmas on Hallmark? Let us know via the comment section below.
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General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Kelly Thiebaud on Britt and Cassius Sibling Drama, But Who Will Ultimately Blow His Cover?
On the April 30 episode of General Hospital, Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) had some choice words and warning for her brother Cassius Faison (Ryan Paevey) who has been masquerading as his twin, the very dead, Nathan West.
As the story has unfolded, viewers learned that Britt knew all along that when “Nathan” showed up in Port Charles seemingly resurrected with a missing 7 years of his life unexplained, that Cassius was taking his place.
Now in developments on today’s GH, Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy) is figuring out that this guy pretending to be Nathan is someone else, and Cassius learns from Britt, that Joss is not just a ditzy sorority girl as he claimed, but a WSB agent! The moment stuns Cassius. Are the walls about to close in on him and his charade?
Courtesy/ABC
Daytime Emmy winner, Kelly Thiebaud spoke to Soap Opera Digest, about the story point and getting the opportunity this time back at GH to work with Ryan Paevey, when she hadn’t had the chance to before.
BROTHERLY LOVE?
Thiebaud expressed on sharing scenes with Ryan Paevey, “It’s just been so wonderful to have him back and to actually work with him! When he first came onto the show (as Nathan at the end of 2013) I was kind of heading out — it was right towards the end of my contract, so we didn’t actually work together a ton. It’s been really refreshing and so much fun to really spend time together and get to know each other and work together. I think we have really great on-camera chemistry and banter with each other. I really enjoy working with him.”
With the stakes at an all-time, Thiebaud explained how she views her on-screen alter-ego’s involvement with her more hot-to-temper sibling and why Britt revealed the truth about Josslyn to him. “People finding out about Cassius would expose what she’s involved in and what she agreed to do,” explains Kelly “And now Josslyn is digging around, and she’s connected to Carly (Laura Wright) to Jason (Steve Burton) and that whole dynamic! It’s messy!”
BRITT’S MURKY FUTURE
Britt has currently also reached her breaking point with Jason being carted away by the WSB, Rocco (Finn Carr), the child she gave birth to, shooting Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) to protect her and Jason, Marco (Adrian Anchondo) being killed after trying to help her, and Cullum holding over her head getting her Huntington’s disease medication to control her symptoms, while blackmailing her into finishing the research on her father, Cesar Faison’s, final project. Thiebaud summed it up best for Britt right now, sharing, “It’s been a really tough time for her.”
So, who do you think will be the person to blow Cassius’ cover? Will it be Britt herself? Josslyn? Liesl? Brennan? Nina? Lulu? Rocco, Maxie, Cullum or someone else? Let us know your pick in the comment section.
‘Brilliant Minds’ Officially Canceled After 2 Seasons at NBC; DAYS Alum Al Calderon, OLTL Alum Teddy Sears and Zachary Quinto Among the Cast
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So happy for him! Congrats Kristoff!
I love Kristoff and am still praying for him as he now lives life with such a heartbreaking loss.
It’s ashame they can’t write something better for him to do then fall off the wagon for the hundred time.
Aw, he has a Shiba Inu. I love them. They look like foxes.
I was impressed by the speech from Joshua Morrow. It was very eloquent. Too bad his dialogue on Y&R is not as good as that.
I would really like to see Neil Winters moved away from this whole Hilary and Devon mess, Lily’s problems with Cane, and get a new romance. I bet Kristoff and Gina Tognoni could be smoking together. Jack is a bore and I KNOW that Gina has more passion than what she has had to stifle with Peter Bergman’s Jack. They are mismatched and each needs a new costar.
Class act. Sadly correct about Winters Wednesdays. I hope he gets a great storyline because he can bring the goods.
Kristof St. John : Neil Winters
“Bravo” and kudos to his person…for affecting; his, profession and character, being
“I had a lot of great stories. I also had to mention Victoria Rowell in my speech. I had to ”
Nice
I’m still going to mention… one thing came to mind… and it’s CBS / Sony / Y&R PROBLEM…
the Neil Winters Clan will always have an asterisk… what, coulda would SHOULDa been
rehire her
so much of the show would take care of itself… and this means diversity … and you’re welcome from the audience
i’ll say it again… Lily and Devon… are complete snore
Congratulations Kristoff!
Congratulations!
Love my baby Neil winters!!!!
The measure of a man is his compassion and kindness. Kristoff exudes both in his professional and personal life. In my very limited contact with him on Twitter, he has proven to have humility, strength beyond understanding with the loss of his son, appreciation for others caring about his profound loss. Will always wish him well both on YR and in life. His goodness shines.
Personally I always felt the love story between Neil and Dru was one of the shows best, in fact one of the best in daytime. Unfortunately when you are one half of an amazing couple and the other half leaves the show, most times the remaining half languishes in no man’s land.
The fact Neil has stayed relevant to the show even after VR left says a lot to his talent. Winter’s Wednesday may not get you the cover of the soap magazines too much, but he has been a stable of the show for years.
I am not a fan of the story line the character has right now. One minute he wants Hilary, then he doesn’t, then he does– and Hilary is no better hopping between Devon and Neil without breaking a sweat– for me the only way to redeem this story is have Hilary be the bitch she was when she first came to town– find out she is playing both of them–
but that is a different topic, congrats on the milestone, not many actors can get a gig that lasts that long.
Very well said!
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S K R I S T O F F!!!!!!!!!!
I remember Kristoff from when he was a kid doing ‘Bad News Bears’. I even told him that I remembered him from that show one time on twitter when I had a twitter account. He was so surprised that anyone would remember him from that period. He’s an exemplary actor and so professional too. He’s had his share of controversies over the years (including his getting suspended from the show for speaking out about the lack of diversity on the show). But in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter today. What matters is that he’s still a fantastic actor who continues to bring it day in and day out.
Congrats on 25 years Kristoff!