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‘Y&R,’ ‘B&B’ & ‘DAYS’ Stars Reveal Their Soap Characters’ Greatest Loves
There’s something in romance called “OTP,” aka “One True Pairing.” Who is that one person who is your greatest love? Think Romeo and Juliet, Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart), Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey), and Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston). With some soap opera characters, the answer is pretty clear. In other cases, situationships are more nebulous.
In daytime drama, many couples are each other’s OTPs. Those duos include Victor (Eric Braeden) and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) on The Young and the Restless. Patch (Stephen Nichols) and Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) on Days of Our Lives, and General Hospital‘s Sonny (Maurice Benard) and…well, actually, this one can vary, although many fans say that the mobster’s OTP is either Carly (Laura Wright), the seldom-seen Brenda (Vanessa Marcil), or even Nina (Cynthia Watros).
Swooon chatted with some daytime actors on the red carpet at The 52nd Annual Daytime Emmys to get their thoughts on who their onscreen greatest love is! Read on to get romantic musings from Scott Clifton (Liam, The Bold and the Beautiful), Days of Our Lives actors Robert Scott Wilson (Alexander) and Abigail Klein (Stephanie), and Y&R’s Melissa Claire Egan (Chelsea), Sharon Case (Sharon), and Courtney Hope (Sally).
Who is Liam Spencer’s greatest love?
“Himself, clearly!” quipped Clifton, who has vacillated over the years between Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Hope (Annika Noelle), and let’s not forget about his romance with Ivy (Ashleigh Brewer).
“Every time that I try to answer that question, either in an interview or for myself, I recall a conversation I had with Mr. [Brad] Bell [B&B’s executive producer/head writer]. I asked him, ‘Is the endgame Hope or Steffy?’ He smiled and said, ‘There is no endgame! It goes on and on forever.’ So, that’s what we do! If you think about characters as magnetic poles, you’re going to have characters, like Ridge [Thorsten Kaye] and Brooke [Katherine Kelly Lang], who always get pulled back together.” That’s happening now with Hope and Liam. “But that doesn’t mean that those characters can’t find happiness or be in healthy relationships with other people, other characters.”
Who is Sharon Newman’s greatest love?
This would be the $200 question on Jeopardy! if Y&R romance was a category. “It’s Nicholas, of course!” Case told Swooon. Three years after the star-crossed teens met, they were married and had welcomed their first child, a son, Noah (Lucas Adams). The couple survived many adversities, but their daughter Cassie’s (Camryn Grimes) death in 2005 ended their marriage. The two have reunited many times over the year, but they haven’t been able to make it last – yet. Last summer, the couple shared a kiss in France when Nick was gravely injured. Currently, they’re reliving a nightmare as Noah’s been in a car accident in Los Angeles.
“Everyone loved Nick and Sharon’s love story,” Case said. “And they’re still on that journey. We’re still living it. The story hasn’t ended. We’re looking for the next day, the next chapter. Everyone wants to know what will happen ‘in the end,’ but there is no end. We enjoy the ride.”
Who is Sally Spectra’s great love?
“I think about this often,” Hope said, who began her career as Y&R’s Sally on sister soap B&B, where she was involved with Thomas (then, Pierson Fodé), Wyatt (Darin Brooks), and, briefly, Liam (Clifton). When she moved to Genoa City, she began dating again and is currently involved with Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson), a man who is sometimes his own worst enemy.
“Each man in her life has meant so much to her,” Hope continued. “Wyatt was her greatest love when they were involved. There was Nick [Joshua Morrow], and Adam [Mark Grossman] was her great love. Now, something is developing with Billy that I don’t think she’s ever experienced before. He’s got elements of [many of the other men] in Sally’s life. There was Thomas, too. He was Sally’s first love. She had come to Los Angeles and was all, ‘I don’t need a man! I’m here to work.’ Then, Thomas came along. He set the bar.”
Who are Alexander Kiriakis and Stephanie Johnson’s great loves?
Alexander and Stephanie’s respective portrayers said that the other is their character’s great love. “They say you can meet the right person at the wrong time, and the wrong person at the right time,” Klein mused. “But I think Alex is the right person at the right time.” Wilson agreed. “I would have to say Alex’s great love is Stephanie. She’s been his main squeeze ever since he laid eyes on her, and he’s trying to do right by her,” he said.
The couple’s relationship stands to be complicated by the return of Jeremy Horton (Michael Roark). Sure, he’s a fifth grade school teacher now, but 18 years ago when he was last on the show, Jeremy (then played by Trevor Donovan), held Stephanie’s head under water in a hot tub after being unable to tell her that he loved her. (Dude, try saying it with flowers next time if you can’t find the words!) Klein wasn’t playing Abigail back then, but she has incorporated that terrifying moment into her performances. “That scene was disturbing,” she said. “Fans remember all that.”
Who is Chelsea Lawson’s greatest love?
“I love all of them!” Egan declared, who has seen her con artist character, Chelsea Lawson, have romances with Billy, Nick, and Adam since coming to Genoa City. Despite her past, or perhaps because of it, Adam and Chelsea understood and accepted each other for who they were early on.
Easygoing Nick brought something truly special to Chelsea’s life – zero drama. Alas, she walked away from Nick after a desire to play a con got the better of her. Later, Billy literally saved her life when she contemplated suicide. The duo split after she gave into her passion for Adam.
“Obviously, the ‘Chadam’ (Chelsea and Adam’s ‘smush’ name) thing is a big deal,” Egan said with a smile. “They both came in as being the outcasts and people not understanding them. That truly bonded them from the beginning. She’s been very lucky. Adam’s always been her ride or die.”
