What Happened to EJ DiMera on Days of Our Lives

EJ DiMera on Days of Our Lives, like many residents of Salem, was believed to be dead until he turned up very much alive! He’s got quite the dramatic history, so if you need some blanks filled in, we’re here for you!

Who Plays EJ DiMera?

EJ DiMera was introduced in 1997 and played by a set of triplets as a baby before returning to DAYS as an adult in 2006 in the form of actor James Scott. Although the character was killed off in 2014, a mysterious patient covered in bandages played by Trey Baxter was revealed to be EJ back from the dead in 2018. After leaving town for a while, the character was brought back to the canvas in June 2021, now played by actor Dan Feuerriegel.

Who are EJ DiMera’s parents?

Born Elvis Aaron Banks to Susan Banks and Stefano DiMera, EJ was thought to have been brought up by Susan and her new husband, Edmund Crumb, but he was actually taken by Stefano. Sami Brady encountered the handsome EJ as an adult and was smitten, but then everyone found out about his connection to Stefano. After shooting John Black, EJ used Sami to help escape Salem, and agreed to help save Lucas’ life if she agreed to sleep with him.

Sami wound up pregnant with twins, and it turned out EJ had fathered Johnny DiMera while Lucas had fathered Allie. Blackmailed by Stefano, Sami agreed to marry EJ and the groom was shot at the altar by her son, Will Horton! (Although Lucas took the fall and the truth didn’t come out for a long time.) EJ tried to turn over a new leaf and agreed to help bring down his father, starting by rescuing a kidnapped John from Stefano’s clutches. EJ also tried to keep Sami from annulling their marriage, but she saw through his schemes and they split.

How did EJ and Nicole get together?

EJ got trapped in an elevator with Nicole Walker and they had sex. She didn’t tell anyone when she miscarried and when Nicole learned Sami was also having EJ’s baby, stole another infant to swap with Sami’s. After marrying Nicole, EJ was furious to learn Sami had kept him from his own child when Grace died. He grew cold and ruthless, but in the end, saved Rafe Hernandez’s life. Rafe returned the favor by revealing that Nicole had swapped the babies and EJ and Sami were reunited with Sydney. Learning that Stefano had been behind Nicole’s schemes, EJ severed ties with his father.

Sami and EJ grew closer when Syndey was kidnapped, but it turned out that EJ had teamed up with Anna DiMera to fake the abduction so he could be the big hero when he brought the girl home safe. So as Sami and EJ prepared to remarry, Rafe interrupted the ceremony with proof of his crimes. Fearing that EJ might kidnap her children, Sami went to confront him, but finding him passed out drunk and holding a gun she just shot him in the head!

After EJ recovered, he was determined to find out who had tried to kill him. Arianna Hernandez had proof, but died in a hit-and-run before she could give it to him. Nicole found it and she and EJ got married so they could take custody of the kids away from Sami. Unfortunately, EJ fell hard for Nicole’s sister, Taylor, and they began an affair shortly after the wedding. Nicole found them together and took her revenge by helping expose that EJ and the DiMeras were behind replacing Rafe with an evil look-alike.

Was EJ mayor of Salem?

EJ decided to change his ways again, giving Sami back custody of the twins and running for Mayor of Salem with Nicole managing his campaign. But he used underhanded methods to try and win, framing John for corporate embezzlement. When Sami and EJ feared Johnny had died, they grieved by falling into bed together, but thankfully the boy was fine. Eventually, EJ was elected mayor, but his celebration was short-lived as Rafe revealed he’d slept with Sami and a furious Nicole left him again. 

Nicole wound up pregnant, and had to claim that Rafe was the father, something EJ did not believe. When Stefano was shot, EJ was the prime suspect, but was actually innocent. Sami helped him escape the police and they went on the run where he was nearly killed by the real shooter, Ian McAlister. Although the charges were dropped, EJ was forced to resign as mayor. On the plus side, he and Sami grew closer than ever and began planning a future together.

Things got complicated when Sami shot a guy trying to kill Rafe who turned out to be a (dirty) cop, and EJ had to return the family company to Stefano in order to get the evidence to clear her name. Also when EJ knew about Kristen DiMera drugging and having sex with Sami’s brother, Eric Brady. He wanted to make things right with Sami, but instead started an affair with Abigail Deveraux! However, it ended when they both realized he would always love only Sami. But Sami learned of the affair and secretly plotted to humiliate EJ on the day of their wedding.

How did EJ die and come back?

Sami took over his business, and EJ struggled to win her back. But since she controlled his fortune, EJ was forced to turn to crime to make money and that led him to drug dealer Clyde Weston. While meeting him in the park, EJ was shot by one of his goons and he died in Sami’s arms. However, Kristen visited EJ’s body in the morgue and injected him with an unknown substance, and the ashes in the urn that Sami received were not EJ’s. In 2018, Kristen returned claiming that EJ was still alive, and Sami became determined to find the man she loves. Brady stumbled upon a man in a wheelchair being held by Kristen and Xander Cook who whispered the name “Samantha.” After he was badly burned in the explosion, the mystery patient was brought back to Salem where Sami ran a DNA test and was stunned to learn it was EJ!

With his identity confirmed, Sami left Salem with EJ in the hopes of restoring him to health once more. So far Sami has popped back to Salem a few times (cheating on him with Lucas in her most recent visit!) but EJ has remained in Europe. When EJ eventually arrived in Salem, he and Chad teamed up to run DiMera together and he rekindled things with Sami. However, he soon found out about her affair with Lucas and threw her out. When Johnny came home, EJ wanted his son to join DiMera and didn’t approve of his idea to make movies. EJ also tried dating Nicole again and when Sami resurfaced after being kidnapped, he assured Nic he was over his ex-wife. But he then found himself accused of Sami’s kidnapping and Nicole dumped him! 

Belle Black agreed to represent E.J. in court, but after the devil disguised himself as the DiMera to kiss Abigail, Chad angrily testified against him and E.J. was found guilty of kidnapping. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison where he found himself sharing a cell with Clyde, who he quickly remembered had been responsible for his shooting! Once Belle found evidence that E.J. had been set up, he was set free and they both grew closer as they bonded over their failed relationships with others. As he began regaining power at DiMera, E.J. also began a romance with Belle and when Sami found them in bed together, she washed her hands of the whole thing and left Salem.

When E.J. found out that Chad and Kate had known Lucas was really behind Sami’s kidnapping, he blackmailed them for their DiMera shares and accumulated more power. After Jake was killed, E.J. invited his supposed widow, Ava Vitali, to move into the family mansion, and later tried to blackmail her when he overheard that she’d helped Gwen escape from prison the night Abigail had been murdered.

Why did EJ want to kill Ava?

After catching Johnny and Ava in bed together, EJ threw them both out of the house and later wanted to kill Clyde but ended up just shooting him while he was strangling Chad. After all his scheming, EJ was finally named CEO of DiMera, though nobody much liked him. Susan warned her son of imminent danger, but it was she who wound up kidnapped. Ava demanded ransom from EJ so he kidnapped her son, Tripp, in response! Eventually, he agreed to pay up, but at the meeting, Susan stopped him from shooting Ava. He was then horrified when Ava tried to escape with Susan and the car went over a cliff! 

Blaming himself for his mother’s death, EJ began to suspect that Ava had survived the fiery explosion. Nicole offered him a shoulder to cry on and they rekindled their relationship, sharing a kiss at the end of the year. As 2023 began, Stefan DiMera and EJ were trying to outdo each other, even going so far as trying to poison each other! Nicole held back for a while but eventually, she and EJ began dating again. After Stefan drugged EJ a few times, he and Nicole declared war on him, trying to prove that he and Gabi Hernandez were breaking the fidelity clause in her marriage to Li. 

When Sloan Petersen told EJ that Nicole had slept with Eric, EJ punched his rival and was ordered to take anger management courses. He proposed to Nicole, but she turned him down. When she later learned she was pregnant, they did a DNA test that showed Eric was not the baby’s father (not realizing Sloan tampered with it). After trying to side with Megan Hathaway, EJ realized Stefan and Gabi would make better allies and the brothers formed a truce. In August, EJ and Nicole got engaged but she refused to elope. With Ava in a mental hospital, EJ wanted revenge for his mother, but the assassin he hired failed. He was skeptical that Ava was claiming Susan was really alive, but in October, she was rescued and returned home to her son! 

Who is Jude’s real father?

EJ and Nicole were married on Nov. 3, and the shareholders ousted EJ from DiMera. But he wasn’t unemployed for long as Paulina Price appointed him Salem’s new district attorney. He was delighted to use his new power to send Gabi to prison for Li’s murder. When a pregnant Nicole was in a car crash, EJ rushed to the site, but she’d already given birth. However, when they went to the hospital, they were heartbroken to learn that their baby had died. Later, when Nicole came to believe that Sloan and Eric’s adopted son, Jude, was really hers, he helped her come to grips with reality (or so they thought!).

After ringing in 2024, EJ supported Nicole when Holly overdosed on New Year’s Eve and landed in a coma. When she first awoke, she stuck to her story, but eventually confessed that the drugs were hers and EJ dropped the charges against Tate. After EJ refused to reopen Li’s murder case, Paulina fired him. When Leo Howard revealed that Jude was his son, EJ went to Sloan who confirmed it. He forced her to hand over the baby, and Nicole was stunned when Eric arrived at her door with Jude to explain he’d been raising her child. However, EJ kept mum about the fact that Eric was Jude’s real father! He also helped Sloan skip town and avoid the authorities. But Stefan found out the truth about the infant’s paternity and used it to force EJ to set Gabi free.

EJ had launched an effort to recall Paulina as mayor but agreed to cancel it in exchange for getting his job as D.A. back. He then offered Melinda Trask an immunity deal for evidence to help clear Gabi’s name. Unfortunately, at the press conference announcing her freedom, Gabi exposed EJ’s lies and revealed Eric was Jude’s father! Nicole was understandably furious, and EJ vowed to destroy Gabi and Stefan for ruining his life. Nicole filed for divorce, but EJ refused to sign the papers and tormented the pair for a while before relenting.

How did EJ and Gabi hook up?

EJ and Gabi had a one-night stand to get back at Stefan and Nicole, and he later rescued her from an explosion in the DiMera tunnels. After Gabi’s divorce was finalized, he attempted to comfort her, but she blamed him for the end of her marriage. Learning of Johnny’s affair with Joy Wesley, EJ offered her money to leave town, but she stuck around. He also rekindled his affair with Belle, who just couldn’t resist the bad boy. 

As 2025 began, EJ was trying to get rid of Arnold, who had returned to squeeze more money out of him. After Paulina fired him from his job as DA, EJ returned home to find Arnold had knocked out Rafe, so he stashed the cop in the tunnels, and Arnold began impersonating his doppelganger again. The pair worked together to fabricate evidence that Jada was corrupt and expose the “truth” at the wedding. EJ moved Rafe to the Blake house and found Ava being held prisoner there. Rachel Blake forced EJ to keep quiet about her kidnapping by threatening to expose his. He tried to cover his tracks by administering a drug to erase Rafe’s memories of the kidnapping, but it didn’t quite work.

EJ managed to get rid of Arnold, but Gabi and Jada were furious with him for what he’d done. And their confrontation of EJ cost Johnny and Chanel their shot at adopting a baby. Then, Johnny was horrified to learn that he was the result of EJ raping Sami and cut his father out of his life. EJ threatened to make Kate pay for telling Johnny the truth about his conception, and she threatened him right back. Then Kristen discovered EJ had disposed of her mother so Rachel couldn’t testify against him and grabbed a gun.

With so many people furious with EJ, there were plenty of suspects when the guy was shot in the DiMera living room! Chad was worried his brother might not survive as EJ was put into a medically induced coma.