News
Victoria Rowell on her version of "Spit take" and Dru recast!
Oh, where do begin in this doozy of an interview with Victoria Rowell! Out today, part two of TV Guide Canada’s, Nelson Branco chitchat with the author of the new scandalous and hilarious novel, Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva, which hit the bookstores yesterday! In part two, Rowell answers the highly anticipated response, or flip-side to Branco’s recent interview with Rowell’s former co-star, Michelle Stafford, in regards to Michelle’s statement on the now notorious “spit-take” that occured during a scene a few years back between on-screen nemesis’s Drucilla and Phyllis on Y&R.
You can see their are two very different views of what went down. Also, Rowell gives her feelings on the recasting of Drucilla in a casting breakdown that went out from the series several weeks ago. Below are some excerpts!
Rowell on the spit-take: “During the scene, as Dru is about to tell Phyllis she’s her boss, Michelle elected to freely pick up the mug, fill her mouth with water, and spew the contents therein on me. You could hear a pin drop on the set. No one moved. Dead silence. Michelle began laughing hysterically and couldn’t stop. In fact, Michelle ruined the tag of the scene because it was supposed to end on her but she couldn’t refrain from laughing. Finally, the director said, “Stop tape!” I looked into the blackness of the theatre and the stage and asked if anyone had a blow dryer because let’s not forget we still had additional scenes to film. No one had a blow dryer. Had the “spit take” been cleared with anyone, don’t you think there would have been something to dry me off with? So, I had to excuse myself from the set to dry myself off. Michelle screamed at me, “You have to stay wet for continuity.” I continued to climb the stairs and finally dried myself off. When I returned, Michelle was gone. When she twirled back on the set, she was hysterically out of control. She wasn’t laughing this time but she was hysterical with [former co-executive producer Ed Scott] following behind her saying, “Just finish the scene, Michelle. Michelle looked at me, and said to me, “You are a freak and no one here likes you.” I responded, “Are you ready to run lines? We have another scene to do.”
Rowell on recasting Drucilla: “From a business angle, I will simply say it’s their prerogative to do Dru on the cheap and introduce a knock-off version. Nothing against the actress. Good for her, she’ll get a gig out of this; I don’t begrudge anyone a job. But given that this is Bill Bell’s legacy, why don’t they just create a new, funky, fabulous character instead? Instead, we’re seeing Y&R trying to regurgitate 17 years of unique hard work that they don’t really creatively own themselves. I will admit I was shocked at how blatant CBS was in describing this Drucilla clone in the breakdown. It was cold and callous to announce they were looking for a cheap Dru version in just one breakdown paragraph. It minimized 17 years of blood, sweat and tears in a breakdown that clearly is describing my character, Drucilla Barber Winters. It’s like taking a painting and taking over that painting by throwing new colours on it. It’s outright plagiarism, but because they own the character, they have the legal right to paint over a masterpiece.”
The Victoria Rowell saga is alot more enthralling than majority if not all of the “best” show emmy reels. Man those were bad. Also, who has spoken out for MS other than Bergman? Braeden’s spoken for Rowell. Yet, those 2 got all Mayweather Mosley in a boxing match on the set, yet they’re both still on Y&R.
The Dru clone comments remind me of when Hunter Tylo complained abt Tricia Quick. She was this brunette psychiatrist character that B&B created rt after Taylor was “killed” by Sheila. Tylo was livid that Bell created a character so similar, and Tricia was introduced to counsel Ridge, much like gynecologist turned psychiatrist Tay counseled Ridge after Caroline died.
Bell even laughed abt it an interview and told the reporter he created Tricia to annoy the audience. Bell even had Ridge imagine Tricia was Tay and have Tylo do those scenes after she was fired. That must have annoyed the heck out of her. They need to off the Barber Winters characters. Create a new black core family. And Rowell shouldn’t go back to that environment.
How could Stafford even laugh after she spit on someone, even as an alleged “mistake”? She obviously planned it. Rowell has displayed a lot of class, self respect, decency, professionalism and above all her primary concern is the quality of the work and Y&R’s audience. Rowell is too smart for soaps.
Right, it seems Stafford is a lot like her portrayed character on Y & R who is VERY annoying. You are right, Rowell is way too smart for these idiots. I hope she starts directing, somewhere, anywhere. God bless her.
Rowell is an obvious egomaniac. Her version of Drucilla was a masterpiece??? She was a shrill one dimensional harpy. She has shown ZERO class in promoting her book and ripping Y&R apart at every interview. Promote your book, nothing wrong with that, it may even be good but enough with the sour grapes. Theres a reason they dont want her back!
I Totally agree! I used to love this “masterpiece” of an actress. Yuck, really? What was I thinking.
Wish I only knew who “Dru” was and not miss rowell
Goodness, didn’t realize Victoria Rowell went through so much drama… I totally hate that as I loved the Dru character and can’t see ANYONE else doing it. I completely understand if she never sets foot on that set again, but I wish they somehow work out their differences because I REALLY MISS DRU and Y&R NEEDS her… whether they realize it or not.
i find it hard to believe that michelle said “You are a freak and no one here likes you.” to victoria rowell, she has a lot of class, so if the person who wrote this interview or victoria rowell is just trying to trash the actress, good luck to that.
The latest ratings are out for the week of October 26-30, 2026 and the big takeaways include: that CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates was separated by only 23,000 viewers behind third place (of the soaps) General Hospital! For the last several weeks, Beyond the Gates has been closing the gap on this year’s winner for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, and continuing to best GH in the key demos.
According to the latest Nielsen ratings breakdown from Soap Opera Network, the final week of October brought Beyond the Gates 1.790 million on average tuning-in and the show set a season high in total viewers. Meanwhile, General Hospital hit a new season low! The long-running ABC soap had 1.813 million for the week, and once again the series did not go over the 2 million mark.
Meanwhile, in the key Women 18-49 demo, Beyond the Gates was firmly ahead of GH with a rating share of 0.21, while General Hospital had 0.17 rating share.Then, in the key Women 25-54 demo, Beyond the Gates was once again ahead of the ABC soap with a ratings share for that demo at 0.30 while GH came in with 0.26.
Photo: CBS
MORE BY THE NUMBERS
In addition and comparatively, Beyond the Gates +22,000 viewers week-to-week, and had the largest gains in viewership year-to-year in daytime TV with +267,000 from this in 2025.. However, General Hospital seems to be going in reverse. The show was down -56,000 viewers week-over-week and down -22,000 year-over-year .
BEYOND THE GATES
Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that had people tuning-in to Beyond the Gates during the ratings week:
Hayley (Marquita Goings) attempted a massive shocker regarding her pregnancy and tried to use it to extract money from Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). Although, Bill saw right through her game, he demanded a paternity test, and made it clear he has no intention of raising the child—planning instead to pay her off to take the baby and leave. Meanwhile, Hayley confided her plan to her cousin Randy (Maurice P. Kerry).
Jacob Hawthorne (Jibre Hordges) and Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) clashed over Jacob’s ongoing investigation into The Impaler, causing significant strain in their marriage. At the same time, Smitty (Mike Manning) considered taking matters into his own hands—including potentially heading to Mexico for evidence—while Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) worried about what comes next.
Photo: ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital for the ratings period, the story served up included:
Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) teamed up to investigate what really happened to Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Later, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) leads them to Jack’s dead body.
Jude (Wil Traval) dropped a bombshell claim to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn); that he is Phoebe’s father, while Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) signed their divorce papers.
Then, Danny caught Rocco (Finn Carr) and Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) sharing a kiss, plus the shocking return of Heather Webber (Alley Mills) capped the week.
Now the questions become; without having much promotional synergy in the ABC day-part to draw more eyeballs it is not helping but hurting General Hospital. It seems Beyond the Gates is also a benefactor of a one-two-three punch of CBS soaps (Y&R, B&B and BTG) and promotion.
However, that still doesn’t take away the fact that Beyond the Gates is close to besting GH in all ratings category as they go head-to-head in some markets across the country.
So, are you excited to see Beyond the Gates climb in the ratings? Are you concerned for General Hospital? Do you think they can stave off Beyond the Gates in total viewers or will the upstart soap overtake them in the next ratings report? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Antonio Sabáto Jr., the former Jagger Cates of General Hospital and GH: Night Shift, and the former Dante Damiano of The Bold and the Beautiful has issued his first public statement since the incident involving his son, Jack’s arrest in Alaska for a fatal hit-and-run.
Jack is the son of Sabáto Jr. and Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, and according to court documents obtained by KTUU Jack, was allegedly driving a white Chevy Tahoe when he hit and killed Carl Simmonds, 42, near an intersection in Anchorage around 5:35 a.m. on Monday, November 9.
The reports indicated that Jack fled the scene — but later decided to called the cops to say he hit “something” that “suddenly appeared in the road” while he was “doing late-night DoorDashing.”
Photo: NBC
Now, Antonio has taken to his Instagram breaking his silence on the situation, sharing, “At this time, my family and I are navigating an extremely sensitive and deeply personal matter.”
He added, “As a father, my love for my children remains unconditional, and my priority is the well-being of my family. We ask that the public and members of the media honor our privacy during this difficult time and keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.”
The soap alum concluded, “I also wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the gentleman who tragically lost his life. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well. We sincerely appreciate your compassion, understanding, and respect for the privacy of everyone affected.”
Jack Sabáto was arraigned in court on Tuesday, November 10 with bail set at $5,000, and a no-driving order and the potential of $5,000 penalty fees if he fails to attend future court appearances.
Antonio is the father to Jack, 34, daughter, Mina Sabato, 24 and son, Antonio Sabáto III, 15.
This is a developing story. You can check out Antonio’s official statement below.
So, let us know your thoughts on this tragic hit-and-run, which claimed the life of another man, and Antonio’s statement, via the comment section below.
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Days of our Lives long-running cast member James Reynolds revealed on the November 10 edition of Entertainment Tonight that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and his character of Abe Carver will now be going through an on-screen Parkinson’s battle as well.
Speaking with ET’s Nischelle Turner, the 80-year-old actor and Daytime Emmy winner shared how he attempted to hide the warning signs dating back to 15-20 years ago when he would have, “What they call the hallucinations. My wife (Lissa) would say, ‘You were hitting me last night in bed,’ and I would say, ‘What?!’ I was having these really horrible dreams.” Reynolds also added that he realized falling out of bed was an early symptom of Parkinson’s too.
Discussing the on-going tremors that have become more noticeable over time especially in hands, James shared that when he finally told the Days of our Lives cast they were nothing but “extraordinarily helpful and supportive.”
Photo: ET
SCREEN LIFE TO MIRROR REAL LIFE
Now with DAYS about to launch into Abe’s Parkinson’s storyline, Reynolds hopes that he can turn his experience into something positive by encouraging others facing the disease to keep fighting. During the sit-down, Reynolds co-star Jackée Harry (Paulina Price) recalls her reaction to learning of Reynolds’ real-life diagnosis and how she has continued to search for new treatments to inform James about.
Although Parkinson’s disease currently has no cure, there are medications and treatments can help those manage symptoms and improve quality of life. The condition progresses at a different pace from individual to individual.
As discussed in his conversation with ET, Reynolds cited Michael J. Fox and Alan Alda as two high-profile celebrities who have brought awareness to the disease.
Photo: JPI
In story on DAYS, Abe in recent weeks had been experiencing tremors which led to seek help and a diagnosis Dr. Kayla Johnson (Mary Beth Evans). Soon Abe and others will find out of his battle with Parkinson’s. Although on the promo for this week’s DAYS, Abe is seen telling Kayla, that he will do something, “when the time is right.”
James Reynolds is one of the most prolific performers, being the longest-running Black Actor in a role on a television series, not to mention his aforementioned Lead Actor Daytime Emmy win in 2018, and being inducted in 2025 into the Daytime Emmy Gold and Silver Society of honorees.
You can check out James’ in-depth conversation on his Parkinson’s diagnosis below.
Share your thoughts for James after learning of his health battle, and what do you think of Days of our Lives incorporating the disease into Abe Carver’s Salem storyline? Let us know in the comment section.
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Katie Kicks Bill to the Curb … for Now
RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ in Total Viewers
B&B’s Sydney Bullock Weighs In on Future of Dylan and Will: ‘I Think She Can Hold on to Him for Awhile’ (Exclusive)
Antonio Sabáto Jr. Breaks Silence on His Son’s Arrest for Fatal Hit-and-Run
DANCING WITH THE STARS: A Shocking Elimination on Grammy Night Leaves Ballroom Silenced
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THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS Preview: Episodes From New Co-Head Writers, Jamey Giddens and Dan O’Connor, Begin to Air
‘General Hospital’ Casts Ayla Bullington as the New Avery Jerome-Corinthos
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THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Katie Kicks Bill to the Curb … for Now
B&B’s Sydney Bullock Weighs In on Future of Dylan and Will: ‘I Think She Can Hold on to Him for Awhile’ (Exclusive)
‘Days of our Lives’ Veteran James Reynolds Reveals Parkinson’s Diagnosis
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