All comings and goings in Days of Our Lives this October 2024

Days of Our Lives is one of the most popular American soap operas that launched on NBC in 1965. Currently, the soap streams on NBC's online platform Peacock, and is one of the longest-running television soaps.

The soap features the fictional town of Salem and its residents. It prominently revolves around the Brady, Horton, Kiriakis, and DiMera families. Days of Our Lives often recasts, brings back, or lets go of many characters as per the storyline.

In October 2024, the soap announced a few character exits that left fans disheartened. However, the showrunners also revealed room for the return of many older characters for cameo appearances in episodes set to release sometime next year.

Days of Our Lives: Brandon Barash and other cast exits from the soap

Brandon Barash as Stefan DiMera

Brandon Barash made his exit as Stefan DiMera on the soap, with his last appearance on Monday, October 28, 2024. Many fans were disheartened by this news, especially since they hoped to see more of the character's storyline with his wife Gabi.

Barash began portraying Stefan in 2019. He briefly played Stefan’s twin brother Jake from 2020 to 2023 as well. The actor mentioned in an interview for Soaps.com on October 25 that the decision to remove Stefan from the story was one that he did not expect.

Greg Vaughan as Eric Brady

On October 28, 2024, Greg Vaughan also left Salem and his character Eric Brady. However, this is only a temporary exit for the character, who is jetting off to Paris to raise his son with Nicole Walker.

Eric had returned to town from Paris after his brother Brady Black was accused and arrested for an accident that injured Sarah Horton. Eric stood by his brother and uncovered the truth about Xander's mother, Fiona, being responsible for the accident, not Brady.

Days of Our Lives: October entrants in the storyline

Louise Sorel as Vivian Alamain

Louise Sorel returned on the soap as Vivian Alamain on October 28, 2024. Sorel first appeared as the villainous Alamain in 1992.

Vivian has mainly been off screen since 2000. She appeared for brief spans between 2009 and 2011, and again from 2017 to 2018. The character has also been portrayed by actress Robin Strasser in 2019.

Ivan G'Vera as Ivan Marias

Ivan G’Vera returned to Days as Ivan Marias on October 28, 2024. Fans of the show know him as a sidekick to Vivian Alamain, and, naturally, he tagged along when she made her re-entry into the storyline.

G’Vera portrayed Vivian’s devoted servant from 1992 to 2000, parallel to her character arc. Ivan made his last appearance on the soap in 2011 and has now finally returned to the screen.

Al Calderon as Javi Hernandez

The Hernandez clan expanded this October with a new family member making his debut. Al Calderon entered the storyline as Javi on October 28, 2024.

Javi is meant to be a cousin of the Hernandez family and is close to Gabi and Rafe. Calderon has also featured on other projects before, including The Dead Girl’s Detective Agency, The Haves and the Have Nots, and The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

Patrika Darbo as Nancy Wesley

Patrika Darbo returned to the soap as Nancy Wesley on October 22, 2024. The actress made her last appearance on the soap in 2020 and is back for a brief short-storyline stint.

Nancy is the mother of Joy Wesley and has brought her daughter to Salem to audition for the in-house production Body and Soul. She reached out to Bonnie after her arrival and secured an audition for Joy.

AlexAnn Hopkins as Joy Wesley

AlexAnn Hopkins made her debut as Joy Wesley on the soap on October 22, 2024. Hopkins had previously worked on projects including The Goldbergs, Criminal Minds, and Chicago PD.

Joy has arrived in Salem with her mother, Nancy, to audition for a role on Body and Soul. During her very first night in town, she had a dalliance with Johnny DiMera, who was looking for a shoulder of support after he assumed that his wife Chanel was cheating on him.

John-Paul Lavoisier as Philip Kiriakis

John-Paul Lavoisier returned as Philip Kiriakis on October 25, 2024. This is his first appearance on the soap after a year of remaining off screen.

Philip is the son of Kate and the late Victor Kiriakis and the brother of Xander Kiriakis. He returned to town just in time to stop Xander from signing over his shares of the family company Titan to gain access to a serum for his wife Sarah.

Casey Moss as JJ Deveraux

Much to fans' delight, Casey Moss returned on screen as JJ Deveraux on October 17, 2024. The actor last appeared on the soap two years ago, in 2022.

JJ is the son of Jack Deveraux and Jennifer Horton, who initially entered the soap in 2013. The character returned for a short arc in Paris, where he officiated Chad DiMera and the imposter "Abigail" Deveraux's wedding. He was one of the reasons the con was unmasked.

James Read as Clyde Weston

James Read returned as Clyde Weston, opposite Jonah Robinson’s character Mark. The actor made this appearance on October 10, 2024.

Clyde was featured speaking about his plan to use "Abigail" to con Chad and gain access to the DiMera fortune. He ordered Mark to kill Chad as soon as "Abigail" broke his defenses, a plan that backfired later in Paris.

Richard Wharton as Dr. Wilhelm Rolf

Richard Wharton returned to the soap as Dr. Wilhelm Rolf on October 2, 2024. He has previously been featured in the storyline as a diabolical scientist and mad minion for the DiMera family.

Dr. Rolf featured in scenes with Stacy Haiduk’s character Kristen DiMera after his last appearance in November 2023. The character was involved in the storyline where Brady Black was accused of being the one who crashed a car into Sarah Horton.

Which cast members will be returning to Days of Our Lives next year?

Here is a full list of the cast members and characters expected to feature in a Days of Our Lives reunion episode sometime next year in 2025:

Kristian Alfonso as Hope Brady
Peter Reckell as Bo Brady
Alison Sweeney as Sami Brady
Matthew Ashford as Jack Deveraux
Christie Clark as Carrie Brady
Leanna Hunley as Anna DiMera
Victoria Konefal as Ciara Weston
Chandler Massey as Will Horton
Thaao Penghlis as Tony DiMera
Melissa Reeves as Jennifer Horton
Charles Shaughnessy as Shane Donovan

Audiences can watch Days of Our Lives streaming online via Peacock. New episodes of the soap are released all weekdays.

Edited by Somava