The Sydney mystery is solved! On Wednesday, September 2, Days of Our Lives revealed more details on the previous announcement that actress Sydney Malakeh was about to make her debut on the Peacock streaming soap opera on September 9.

However, now comes word via Deadline, that while previously unknown, Malakeh is taking on the role of Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) and EJ DiMera’s (Dan Feuerriegel), grown-up daughter, Sydney DiMera.

The last time anyone saw Sydney she was a pre-teen in the Days of our Lives: A Very Salem Christmas that streamed on Peacock in 2021.

Now the aged-up version is set to have a major storyline, in particular with the news of Brandon Butler showing up in his new role as Mason Whitfield, and especially the other DAYS casting announcement today of Franco LoPresti as Dante Vitali, with whom we last knew about off-screen was engaged to Sydney’s mother, Sami.

WILL HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF?

From the looks of it, perhaps Sydney will be obsessed with Dante, sort of like Sami was obsessed with Austin and tried to get him away from her sister, Carrie (Christie Clark). Might Days be about to do a retread modernized version and this time have Sami on the receiving end of manipulations from her daughter? Time will tell.

As previously reported, Alison Sweeney is not due back on-screen until most likely late spring of 2027 after she taped a series of episodes last month in July.

Those who know the dramatic history of Sydney DiMera recall that back in 2008, Nicole Walker (Arianne Zucker), who was married to EJ at the time, had a miscarriage and lost their baby. To hold on to her marriage, she plotted to steal Sami’s newborn daughter and switch her with another baby named Grace who’s mother was teenager Mia McCormick (Taylor Spreitler). 

A few years later, Grace died, and then Rafe Hernandez (Galen Gering) began to put two and two together. After one of the biggest bitch-slap showdowns on the soaps back in 2009, Nicole admitted what she did to Sami by stealing her biological child and Sami was eventually reunited with Sydney.

The question is, do you think Sydney DiMera is a bad girl or a good girl? Do you think she and Dante Vitali might have a thing going on? Could she be involved with Mason? Weigh-in via the comment section, and just for good measure, here’s ‘The Slap!’ from Sami delivered to Nicole below.

Days of Our Lives is undergoing a major shift on-screen with the additions of several new characters and actors in September, and now comes word that none other than Franco LoPresti, who appeared in the smash hit series, Heated Rivalry, has been cast as Dante Vitali!

As viewers recalled, Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) revealed on her last trip back to Salem in 2o25 that she is engaged to Dante Vitali, who hails from the notorious Vitali mob family. Remember Ava Vitali played by Tamara Braun? Dante is said to be her cousin on her father’s side.

Look for LoPresti to make his DAYS debut next week on the September 14 episode, and when Dante emerges on the scene, he will be Sami-less. However as previously reported, Alison Sweeney jumped back into her signature soap role last month in July, so she will be seen at some point in 2027, since the Peacock streaming soap opera tapes 10-11 months in advance of dropping all-new episodes.

Photo: Almay

WHAT ELSE HAS FRANCO LOPRESTI APPEARED IN?

Heated Rivalry fans will recall that LoPresti played hockey player, Cliff Marleau, who was a friend of one of the series leads Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) and who caused Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) concussion.

The Canadian-born actor has been seen on multiple movies for Hallmark Channel and Lifetime, and appeared in an episode of Tracker starring soap alum Justin Hartley (ex-Passions and The Young and the Restless) back in 2025. He is married to actress Emily Atalalo (pictured above).

What viewers do know of the back-story of Dante through Sami is that, he wanted no part of the crime family who was based in the United States. Dante had been living in Italy. But with Sami’s luck, can her engagement to this guy go any way but completely off course? We shall see!

So, what do you think about the casting of Franco LoPresti as Dante Vitali? Excited to see him hit the screen on Days of Our Lives next week? Did you watch the first season of Heated Rivalry? Comment below.

A familiar face to ABC daytime fans is about to make a return to the broadcast television network, when Alimi Ballard makes his debut as new character William Baines on the Thursday, September 3 episode of General Hospital.

Early in his career, Ballard played Frankie Hubbard, the grown-up son of legendary All My Children super couple, Angie (Debbi Morgan) and Jessie Hubbard (Darnell Williams). Alimi played the part starting on Loving in 1993 which later was rebranded The City in 1995.

The GH casting news came from TV Insider, and while no other casting details were made immediately available about the character of William Baines, he enters the canvas hot on the heels of a murder mystery after Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna) was found dead in the Metro Court pool. Could William Baines be a detective, a WSB agent, or something else? Stay tuned!

If Ballard also looks very familiar to you, he has an impressive list of TV and film credits including: Quizmaster in Sabrina the Teenage Witch and FBI agent David Sinclair on Numb3rs, and starred with Vivica A. Fox (Stephanie, Y&R) on the sitcom, Arsenio, plus roles in numerous episodic dramas including: Criminal Minds, Queen Sugar, Queen of the South, Law & Order and The Rookie. He also appeared in the 1998 film Deep Impact.

Photo: JPI

DEBBI MORGAN HELPED ALIMI BALLARD PREPARE AS AN ACTOR

Alimi took part in a sit-down interview with the Theater Corner in 2020 where he opened up about his beginnings on a soap opera and working with Debbi Morgan. You can see that below. During the conversation Ballard shared, “I got a chance to work along alongside one of the greatest actors I’ve ever seen lace up her boots — Debbi Morgan.”

He added,”She taught me everything I needed to know to get started as an artist — how to prepare you for the level of intensity, the level of dedication required to make these fictional circumstances connect with the audience.”

So, when William Baines hits Port Charles on tomorrow’s Thursday September 3 episode of GH, how do you think the character will fit into the storyline? Looking forward to seeing Alimi Ballard back on the soaps after more than 30 years? Let us know via the comment section.