Days Of Our Lives
Tamara Braun Returns To DAYS and Shares, “Well, Well, Well! Looks Like The Cat Is Out of the Bag”
Look who’s coming back to Days of our Lives! Two-time Daytime Emmy-winner Tamara Braun is returning to Salem to cause trouble in her role of Ava Vitali.
Ava had been presumed dead and her return to the canvas will usher in her on-screen son’s return when Tripp (Lucas Adams) is back starting next week.
Braun shared on the news via her Instagram: “Well, well, well!! Looks like the cat is out of the bag! Ava and I are excited to return to Salem @nbcdays . Hope you come along for the ride to see where the adventure take us!”
DAYS EP Ken Corday told Soap Opera Digest on the news:”Tamara Braun is coming back and that’s important, not only for Steve and Kayla, but for her son, Tripp, and others to be determined.”
Back in June, Braun won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her work as Dr. Kim Nero on General Hospital. She previously won in this category for DAYS’ Ava back in 2009.
At this time, no first airdate back has been revealed.
So, excited to learn Tamara is back on DAYS? Share your thoughts below.
Awesome, she is one of my favorite actresses! So glad she is back. Might that mean Joey is on the way as well? If he didn’t kill her.
That’s right! He’s in prison for killing her.
Goddamn it… another escape from Hell? Is somebody drugging Cerberus again? It’s not easy to knock out a dog with three heads, you know?
Fantastic news! Love Tamara Braun and this gives Steve and Kayla story alongside Tripp. Time to release Joey from prison, too and bring him into the Johnson fold. And, also bring back Theo finally, too. (Abe needs his son home). So so so so pleased that Tamara is back at DAYS. Looking forward to Ava causing lots of trouble. Pair her up with Jake for a whirl, that would be interesting..
JAKE AND AVA,I LOVE THIS. STEVE AND KAYLA WILL BE GLAD TO HAVE JOEY BACK WITH THEM. OH YES BRING THEO BACK.HE WILL FIT RIGHT IN FOR HELPING TO SAVE JULIE AND HIS SISTER SAMI IS NO MATCH FOR AVA.IF THAT IS TRIPP BABY, SAMI WILL NOT BE GETTING THE BABY, EVEN IF THE JUDGE RULES IN HER FAVOR. I WOULD LIKE AND LOVE IT IF BELLE GAVE THE JUDGE A CALL. AND RULE IN FAVOR OF NICOLE UNTIL AVA AND TRIPP SHOWS UP.
Someone dies on a soap is no longer shocking-that wore off years ago!
WHY NOT BRING BO BRADY,HALEY AND STEFANO BACK.HALEY CAN ALSO BE A TWIN. J.J. NEEDS TO COME BACK AND BE HAPPY AGAIN.EVE SHOULD THINK ABOUT HOW SHE HURT HEY VERY ON DAUGHTER BY SLEEPING WITH J.J. IT IS TIME FOR GABI TO GET WHAT SHE SO RICHLY DESERVES.HOW CAN SHE BE IN LOVE WITH HER HUSBAND? POINT BEING IF SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN EXPOSED,SHE WOULD BE MARRIED TO ELI RIGHT NOW. SHE PRETENDS TO LOVE HER DAUGHTER, AND DO NOT WANT TO LOOSE HER, BUT SHE NEVER SPEND ANY TIME WITH HER. TRUTHFULLY SPEAKING,ALL GABI WANT, SEX, POWER.AND MONEY.SHE ESCAPED GOING BACK TO PRISON TWICE, ABIGAIL DID NOT WANT HER TO LEAVE HER DAUGHTER. IF THEY WOULD HAVE SENT HER TO PRISON,SHE WAS READING TO LET A LITTLE BABY DIE. SHE SHOULD NOT EVEN BE BITTER AND HATEFUL RIGHT, AS THE WHOLE TOWN HAVE GONE OUT THE WAY TO SHOW THEIR TENDER LOVE AND CARE,AS WELL AS FORGIVENESS.PLEASE DO NOT LET HER BE HAVING A BABY FOR JAKE. IF ANYONE IS WITH CHILD, LET IT BE GWEN OR CHLOE.CHLOE AND STEFAN WOULD HAVE BEEN TOGETHER IF IT WOULD NOT BEEN FOR GABI MAKING IT HER PERSONAL BUSINESS TO HAVE CHLOE CATCH THEM IN BE. WHEN JAKE SEE CHLOE,HOW MUCH HE LOVED HER WHEN HE WERE STEFAN WILL ALL COME BACK. LET CHLOE WALK IN THE DOOR HOLDING HIS BABY
Nothing against Tamra, fabulous, but why oh why is there no originality in Days of Our Lives anymore? Yet another return from the dead…please …should have made her a different character.
They already tried that. She played Nicole’s sister for a while.
And even that was a mis(re)cast when Natalia Livingston fit much better in the role; the reasons for replacing Livingston with Braun were B.S. and I have always said that the role of Jordan easily could have just been the re-introduction of Taylor Walker.
I love Tamara in anything she does. She’s one of those actresses you can count on to deliver every time!!!
ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO SHOWING AND TELLING SAMI WHAT FOR ABOUT HER SON TRIPP BABY. SAMI IS NO MATCH FOR AVA. UNTIL AVA AND TRIPP ARRIVE, I HOPE AND PRAY THAT BELL WILL HAVE A LITTLE TALK WITH THE JUDGE ABOUT SAMI AND JAN.SHE TALKING ABOUT THE LOOK ON NICOLE FACE,I WANT TO SEE THE LOOK ON HER FACE WHEN THE JUDGE RULE IN NICOLE FAVOR. I ALSO HOPE AND PRAY THAT BELLE TELL THE JUDGE ABOUT WHAT SAMI DONE TO HER DAD. WHAT SHE SAID TO JOHN BROKE HIS HEART, AND MARLENA KNOW THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED.
Does Joey get out of prison then????
Seriously! If there was ever a character/actor I would like to see come back, it’s him. I’m yawning at the prospect of seeing another back-from-the-dead character. Didn’t like her the first time around. (No shade at Tamara.)
Does Ron C. just ask for old tapes of PSYCHOPATHS …. and with glee, just start writing for them? It is just exhuasting and unpleasant to watch a show filled with such dark, angry, villainous people, and I include Gabi in that! As far as Im concerned, she oughta be locked up for life! Her crocodile tears about loving her daughter and what a good mother she is are sickening to watch. When exactly is she a good mother? Between drugging and brainwashing pregnant woman, and trying to murder senior citizens (all of whom are related to her daughter)…she hardly has the time to be a mother, let alone a good one! Now another psychotic, delusional female (back from the dead of course), Ava, is coming back. This show REALLY needs a new headwriter. Any writer who would dare bring back Jan Spears is seriously out of touch with the audience!
Johnny
Agree with everything you say. Gabi is supposed to come back soon and am pretty sure she’ll pick up right where she left off, going after Jake and making everyone else miserable! This Jan Spears IAM sure will be another troublemaker. What gets me is these people that have been released with a clean bill of health, sanity wise, still act crazy. They should rename Salem while they’re at it and call it Crazy Town.
PLEASE!
PLE A S E !
!! PLEAsE!
DO NOT – NUT UP – her so quickly… one note
D i m e n s i o n (s)
Ava as a Mother… Tripp is just so FANTASTIC !
Ava as a grandmother … doting and then there’s SOME doting … GOOD STUFF w/Kayla
Ava as an EX LOVER… COME ON ( no man FORGETS GOOD SEX ) NO MAN
Ava as an adversarial… With Mary Beth Evans !!!! ???? tough job but these two “equals”
it’s a plush move plush job plush IMAGINATION PULL !
I present to “YOU” : Mary Beth Evans; Stephan Nichols; Tamara Braun STANDING OVATION
WHO CARES ABOUT SONNY AND CARLY : gh CAN NOSEDIVE
IF YOU CAN; IF YOU DARE; mess with a supercouple fandom… no easy task… w/Ron, Ryan, AND coworker PULL. Tamara already has the job 1/2 done.
tantalizing prospect ???? Justin, Rafe,
cannot wait to see her with on screen son: Lucas Adams; Tripp. I AM SO EXCITED TO SEE Tripp back on the set
this is just tour de force FANtastic !!!!
welcome back Salemite’
I am surprised that no fan have yet to mention that .. in the can thru mid OCTOBER
with back in production , SEPTEMBER 2020. the time span from 8 months dropped to 1 1/2 months
I happy dance for all the TURN
Salute !
Soooo excited!
Days keeps rolling hot returns!!…
JJ, Tripp, Marci millers Abby and now Tamaras Ava!!!
Y n r take note! Viewers fall asleep with nothing happening in genoa city!
Salems on fire!!
Ava Vitali is the best role Tamara Braun has had in daytime, and I genuinely hope this time around that Braun and her character are treated properly. Josh Griffith, Dena Higley and Beth Milstein absolutely destroyed the character, and lost the true dimension of Ava, so I hope that comes back and is re-developed. Now, that being said, I hope this is not a guest return. I hope it is a full-time one and they actually give Ava something to do outside of Kayla and Steve, and maybe develop her as an actual character. Will we be recasting Joey, or will we bring back James Lastovic?Her stint on General Hospital as Kim Nero was a mess from beginning to end, despite some amazing acting work by Braun.
Also, still sad she was not cast as Victoria Newman in 2005; now, that would have been perfect casting.
Hi Scott : ^^^^ “…Josh Griffith, Dena Higley and Beth Milstein absolutely destroyed the character,” ABSOLUTELY ! It was incredulous, the desecration
this is one of those times… when you are just gnawing at the screen
well, LOL… for the LOVE of Tamara Braun, right?
any way…. this truly explains ALL those posts ^^^ back from the dead, and for that evil mindset PSYCHOPATH’
i IMPLORE – AND beg…. Ron/Ryan/all his coworker. let’s stop and smell the coffee with Tamara… she is so loved in this genre. the potential for GOOD work… with GREAT CAST… and immediate touch, with very real feelings… is right in front of us (telee). im so looking forward to her work with Lucas Adams… to flesh her out… heart tug… real feelings right?
look at all the work Tamara had @GH with just Oscar… add in a grandchild? the potential for familial vibe. throw in @DAYS supercouple. which is what i’d like to try and explain… @DAYS had so much magic… with EVERY child of Shaun and Caroline Brady… that it was difficult to even think about new love interests. look how often Kristian Alfonso tried… altho she had it with Aiden… NEW WRITERS MUCK THINGS UP SO OFT. of that one year leap… i voted the worst story was with Justin and Kayla.. altho i loved how the show… actually had the man cut off ties and letting kayla go. that was upstart. how about Ava working for Victor, and Justin is the allure
any way.. when you have someone with the calibur and finesse like Tamara.. AND despite how cruel her last run… she had immediate chemistry with Stephen Nichols.. and the writing never was; with Mary Beth Evans… so this is all just waiting in the wings.. for top shelf feature
so excited to see the fallout with just Patch and Kayla…FINALLY at last having a child of their own… seeing Kayla love and accept Tripp WITH GRANDCHILD… with Sami and Lucas daughter.. Ali…. !!!! this just bites with excitement.
ta-da
Ron Carlivati… you love this genre as much as we do. take good care of how good she is at this genre. @GH mucked this up… she emmied for her work. let’s give her another one.
I very much believe if Ron Carlivati and the team at Days of Our Lives write Ava Vitali as a flawed human being with a compassionate, relatable side, much like how Eileen Davidson portrayed Kristen DiMera when she returned in 2012.
The character can be deceitful and devious, but there needs to be some kind of humanity to them that allows us to forgive them and relate to them, and why they are doing the things that they are doing. That was missing from Tamara Braun’s 2015 return to the role.
Given how Lucas Adams (Tripp) and Braun interacted at the Daytime Emmy Awards some years ago, I have a feeling that the chemistry between Ava and Tripp is going to be quite accomplished, and hope that Carlivati and his team do good work, and make this return worth while!
She’s a good actress, though I would rather it not be another return from the dead (all this writer likes to do is that and triangles)…if we have to have her can we at least not make another triangle w/Kayla/Steve & her..just let her cause trouble and find someone else..maybe Rafe. She could make him interesting..lol. In the end, Marlena has Stefano & Orpheous, so I guess Kayla will have nut job Ava as an adversary.
Maybe the triangle is NOT with Steve?
You may remember that the first time Ava was in Salem, she hooked up with RoboJohn, who at the time thought he was Stefano’s brother and was embracing his supposed DiMera darkside a great deal.
Just by coincidence, John is rumored to be “not himself” when he finally wakes up from his recent aneurysm. What if he reverts to the RoboJohn mentality, right around the same time Ava shows up??
When Tamara Braun was Taylor Walker and she was [briefly] in scenes with Galen Gering (Rafe), I did enjoy that potential; same thing with Christie Clark (ex-Carrie), and while I would enjoy seeing both Ava and Rafe single for more than a few seconds, I would welcome an eventual pairing, especially if it meant upsetting Sami (Alison Sweeney). Or maybe they could go for a Carly/Johnny re-pairing, with Braun paired up with Brandon Barash (Jake, ex-Stefan).
Tamara Braun wasn’t playing Carly when Johnny Zucchini was in Port Charles. That was all during the Laura Wright era. Though ironically the first Carly, Sarah Brown, came back to play Johnny’s sister (who actually turned out to be his mommy).
On the other horn, this un-named “Philly mob” that Jake was mixed up with before he arrived in Salem, it’s not much of a stretch to think that could have been the Vitali family. So it’s possibly they DO know each other… though presumably Ava hasn’t been doing a lot of family business, as she was supposed to be dead for the last several years.
Should be interesting. If Tripp is Allie’s baby daddy, scenes between Ava and Sami should be fun!!!!! Days is the best soap on TV!
I was hoping she’d retake her crown as Carly Corinthos, but this is welcome news. Please Days, don’t screw it up this time. The last time you tagged her with the “R” word. Not nice.
Why oh why bring back such an irrelevant character from the dead?? This show is beyond losing any type of realm of normalcy. I saw Corday’s interview in SOD & I do not see how you can redeem that crazy nut they created in 2015..to bring in a character to create angst for a third time for a 30+ year super couple more than shows these writers have no creativity about them whatsoever. The two actors that play Steve and Kayla are two of the best in the business and should have angst via a medical issue, children, etc They don’t need a played out psycho coming back from the dead. This viewer will gladly flip onto other streaming shows.
Oh, gee—Joey’s comin’ home?
OMG ,this is ludicrous! I love Tamara Braun BUT the woman was killed. They look like idiots as it is with bringing all these dead people back. Hopefully her appearance will only be in flashbacks and dreams, etc.
I stand by my comment above and agree 100% with Pudge!
How do you redeem a character as vile as Ava?? Please stop…the using sexual manipulation on underage Joey was sickening. She tried to kill Kayla & forced Steve (form of rape) to sleep w her to save Kayla’s life..that was last run alone. She should be burned at the stake in Horton Square no redeemed.
The sexual manipulation of Joey was bad enough.. but now he’s been in prison for several years (Hell only knows how long it’s supposedly been, given all the time jumps & SORAsing) for killing her.
I’d say after that, Joey deserves to kill her for real. Why not, he’s already done the time for it.
Let’s see how many more viewers lose with Ava coming back. She was an obsessed nut job with no redeeming qualities. Show has Kristen & Jan who are over the top obsessed with characters. Don’t need Ava & her crazy obsession with Steve again besides the dude has to be at least 20 years older than her. Leave her dead or have her obsess over someone her own age. It’s sad they keep bringing irrelevant characters back from the dead.
Days Of Our Lives
Brandon Butler, Who Once Played Zack Brady, Returns to ‘Days of Our Lives’ in New Role
Days of Our Lives has revealed another addition to the cast of the Peacock streaming soap opera; only this time his face is familiar to fans of the soap opera. Brandon Butler is taking on the new role of Mason Whitfield, but he previously played Bo (Peter Reckell) and Hope’s (Kristian Alfonso) deceased son, Zack Brady for a stint back in 2025!
In a post on Thursday, August 27 on the official DAYS Instagram account, they shared a video of Butler telling 5 interesting things about himself caption with, “Get to know Brandon Butler, who will be playing Mason Whitfield! Here are five fun facts about the newest addition to the Days of our Lives cast before his first episode on September 1.”
That means that viewers will see Butler’s debut as Mason next Tuesday! When Brandon named his fifth fun fact, he shared, “Last but definitely not least for me: Days of Our Lives was my late mother’s favorite show. So this one’s for you, Mom. Love you.”
Photos: Peacock
Previously on DAYS, Butler took over the role of Zack Brady from Scott Shilstone, who last played the adult version of Bo and Hope’s son back in 2022 during the Peacock limited series, Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem Chapter Two. Fast-forward to the June 2, 2025 episode on Days of Our Lives.
In story, as Bo Brady finally comes out of his coma after receiving the critical dose of Versavix, thanks to the late John Black (Drake Hogestyn), he is visited by his deceased son, Zack in heaven and he helps push his dad to return to the land of the living.
Brandon’s previous TV credits include roles on: 13 Reasons Why, Hysteria!, Trinkets, and Seal Team, to name but a few. He also appeared on General Hospital back in 2016 for one episode.
It should be noted that also heading to Salem on-screen in September is actress Sydney Malakeh who as previously reported is starting her run in a ‘mystery role.’ Malakeh’s first airdate is September 9. Does this mean that Butler’s Mason will cross paths with Malakeh’s Salem alter-ego? Stay tuned.
So, intrigued to see Brandon Butler back on DAYS in the new role of Mason Whitfield? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section.
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More casting news from Days of Our Lives, and for now, the soap opera seems to be breaking their new additions to Salem via their Instagram account. Now comes word and picture on August 24, that General Hospital and The Young and the Restless alum Brytni Sarpy has joined DAYS!
The Peacock soap opera’s Instagram account, showed a photo of Sarpy standing in front of her dressing room in the hallways of Days of Our Lives’ studios. The caption read, “Someone new is checking into Salem… Welcome Brytni Sarpy to the Days of our Lives family! Stay tuned.”
The casting of Sarpy comes on the heels of the announcement of Sydney Malakeh coming to the show in September, and earlier this year General Hospital favorite, Sofia Mattsson (ex-Sasha Gilmore, GH) joining the show in a mystery role when she began taping back around the end of March of this year. Now Sarpy is the “mystery role” category too!
In addition, the Days of Our Lives social team dropped a video ditty of the cast spoofing Love Island, where Sarpy appears as the new “bombshell” of the villa. Other cast members such as Rob Scott Wilson (Alex), Abigail Klein (Abigail), Casey Moss (JJ), Sal Stowers (Lani), Paul Telfer (Xander) and Linsey Godfrey (Sarah) pop-up in it too, among others.
Photo: JPI
SOAP HOPPING
Soap fans first met Sarpy when she played Valerie Spencer, the niece of Luke (Anthony Geary) and Bobbie Spencer (Jackie Zeman) on General Hospital back in 2015. She made her final appearance on the series back in 2019 to join the cast of The Young and the Restless in the role of Elena Dawson.
Elena was introduced as a love interest for Devon Winters (Bryton James). She later cheated on him with his cousin Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic). Elena began to be back-burned by 2023 with Sarpy’s last on-screen appearance in Genoa City in November of 2024.
Due to Days of Our Lives nearly year in advance tape schedule, viewers will have to wait till sometime in the early summer of 2027 to see Brytni’s arrival in Salem.
So, happy to see Brytni Sarpy has landed another soap role? Now that she is at DAYS, who you think she might be playing and paired with? Put on your casting director hats and let us know via the comment section.
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Days Of Our Lives
Sydney Malakeh Joins the Cast of ‘Days of Our Lives’ in Mystery Role: Who Do You Think She’s Playing?
There’s a new gal coming to Salem, or is she new and a recast? That’s what inquiring minds from Days of Our Lives fans have been trying to figure out since the Peacock soap opera dropped an Instagram video heralding actress‘ Sydney Malakeh‘s arrival in Salem.
The soap did confirm that viewers will first see Malakeh on the September 9 episode. In the video, Malakeh is seen going set to set from her dressing room and in to the halls of Days of Our Lives studios.
What we do know id that Sydney has been acting professionally for 6 years and had appeared on Grey’s Anatomy, Apple TV’s Shrinking and the HBO Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Plenty of Malakeh’s DAYS castmates jumped into the comment thread with positive emojis symbols or written excitement including: Paul Telfer (Xander), Linsey Godfrey (Sarah), Sal Stowers (Lani), Conner Floyd (Chad), Eric Martsolf (Brady) and Christie Clark (Carrie) and more now that fans will finally see her on-air. Since Days of Our Lives tapes 10-11 months in advance, Sydney would have started taping the show sometime back in 2025.
DAYS fans think perhaps because the actress’ name is Sydney that she might be playing the grown-up daughter of Sami and EJ. That character hasn’t bee on the canvas since 2021.
So, who do you think Sydney Malakeh might be playing on Days of Our Lives? Drop your casting director thoughts via the comment section below.
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