Days of our Lives icon Deidre Hall spoke with TV Guide Canada's Nelson Branco about the passing of Frances Reid in this week's Suds Report, sharing her memories.

"Frances, although the consummate actor’s actor, was far from the doughnut-baking, apron-clad wife of Tom Horton that most of America knew and loved. She was a saucy, wildly outspoken and politically incorrect woman. Frances was never shy about speaking her mind openly and passionately — even as we counted down to tape. She called it like she saw it, whether she was taking on the [actor’s] union, or critiquing your hairstyle. Mincing her words was never an option [or her style].

Hall continued, sharing her sense of loss. READ MORE

TV Guide Canada's Nelson Branco has a revealing new interview up with former Days of Our Lives leading man Drake Hogestyn, who among many juicy tidbits, reveals he offered to return to his 1986 salary to stay with the sudser!

TVGuide.ca: Yeah, but you’re not just anyone. You’re Drake Hogestyn — the male lead of the show.

DH: You can’t assume that — even if people tell you that you’ll be on the show until the cows come home. When you look at the show from a fiscal standpoint … listen, we all knew there were budget problems. When NBC cancelled a show [Passions] that they owned outright, we all immediately knew that DAYS was on the chopping block next because NBC doesn’t own our show. Looking at my character, even one as popular as John Black, the cost/benefit wasn’t worth it, obviously. And I can see why they made the decision to fire Dee and me despite the fact that I offered to go back to my 1986 salary.

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In a blockbuster interview with TV Guide Canada's Nelson Branco, ousted Days of Our Lives legend Deidre Hall (ex-Marlena) finally speaks out on her exit from the series she helped keep on the air for decades. Hall also addressed those pesky rumors of a feud between herself and Crystal Chappell (Carly), which have followed both actresses since Chappell originally left DAYS in 1993.

TVG: Speaking of relationships, in a recent interview with Crystal Chappell [Ed. Note: click here for the interview], I asked her about the reported feud between you both. She said, “If there were issues with Deidre, I didn’t know about them. I would guess that she didn’t like me very much, but I could be wrong about that. I was a troubled young person. I was overworked. I made a lot of problems for myself. I was suicidal. I was in a very, very bad place. I left, not because I thought I’d be a big star; I left because I needed to get my health back. As for the rifts, I don’t know. I was very miserable to be around at that time. I spent most of time in between DAYS and One Life in therapy.” Do you have a reaction?
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Former Days of our Lives star Roark Critchlow (ex-Mike) chatted with TV Guide Magazine about his appearance on ABC's new smash hit V, and the subject of his old alma mater came up. The actor gave his thoughts on the ousting of DAYS fan favorites Drake Hogestyn and Deidre Hall .His answer may surprise you!

But were you shocked that Days dumped Deidre Hall (Marlena) and Drake Hogestyn (John)?

I try to look at things from a production standpoint, and if they have created a core of younger cast members with a loyal following who does not care about John and Marlena that it sort of makes sense. Do they want to continue serving the older audience? People are passing away so you’ve got to let the show grow.
 

Photo by PR Photos

Deidre Hall, Leslie Smith, Marla Maples and J.R. Martinez

Deidre Hall, All My Children's J.R. Martinez and  Dr. Phil McGraw were just a few of celebrities who came out for Iraq Star 2009 "A Night of Honour", a benefit to raise money for surgeries that help veterans "gain back their pre-war lives, to assist them in holding their heads high, and help them return to their homes and careers." For more information on the benefit and how you can support our veterans visit Iraq Star. View more photos from the benefit after the jump. READ MORE

Memo to Days of Our Lives' publicity team. Put a muzzle on your figure head. Althought DAYS has been getting better these last few months— thanks, we hear, to the vision of  co-excutive producer Gary Tomlin, along with co-head writer Chris Whitesell's ability to make up for Dena Hackley's shortcomings—every single time Corday opens his yap to insult his own show's fans it only confirms what a complete and utter tool Corday really is. Here's what the Soap Opera Slayer had to say to disgruntled fans of the two most popular couples in DAYS history— John and Marlena and Patch and Kayla— in this week's Soap Opera Digest:

"For the ardent John and Marlena and Patch and Kayla fans, great, you can still see them at their luncheons,. That was then, this is now." READ MORE

You know the saying, "You learn something new every day"? Well, I learned something new today reading Seriously? OMG! WTF?. I would have never known that Heroes star Jack Coleman (Noah Bennet aka HRG) was Jake "The Salem Strangler" Kositchek on Days of Our Lives.  Isn't it ironic that he went from being a strangler to hunting down Sylar on Heroes? Watching this clip really made me wish for better days on Days of Our Lives. Hopefully some day thing will improve.

Anna Stuart

Deidre Hall

Jane Elliot

Linda Dano

Victoria Wyndham

Someone Else (Put in comments)

Days of Our Lives fired Thaao Penghlis, Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans and the unexpected news brought Luke, Mike, Jamey and Jillian together for a second Days of Our Lives emergency episode in the past six months.

They discuss the impact the firings of these veteran actors will have on the show. They talk about what this means for the remaining actors over forty still on the show and speculate who Ken Corday might axe next. They answer a reader's question of which is worse, to watch vets like Nichols and Evans get fired and keep the Days of Our Lives sets or have the show end up with a production model like Guiding Light. Luke asks if these latest firings could all be apart of Corday's scheme to get Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn back later in the year. Mike, Jamey and Jillian weigh in on if they think it is a realist possibility.

Fans of Patch and Kayla call in with their reaction to the surprising firings and vent their frustrations at the decisions by NBC, Corday, Dena Higley and the other executives at the show.

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Deidre Hall on November 20, 2008

Mary Beth Evans on February 03, 2009