What Happened to Steve “Patch” Johnson on Days of Our Lives

Steven Earl “Patch” Johnson has been a character on Days of Our Lives for decades, so it’s understandable if some fans might need a refresher on his wild history in Salem. Stephen Nichols first introduced the character of Patch to viewers back in 1985, and became such a fan favorite that his supporters are always happy to see him back in Salem. His initial run took him through October 1990, and Nichols returned to DAYS from June 2006 through February 2009 and again from August 2015 to August 2018. His most recent run began with his return in November 2019 and continues to this day.

Steve’s nickname, “Patch,” came after he lost his eye during a knife fight with Bo Brady back when they were in the Merchant Marines and fought over a woman. Steve arrived in Salem to work for Victor Kiriakis, but when he was ordered to get a piece of film from Kimberly Brady, both men were arrested. Thankfully, Victor blackmailed someone else into taking the blame for them. Steve soon fell in love with Kayla Brady, but distanced himself from her when he began having disturbing memories. He discovered that his sister, Adrienne Johnson, had killed their father in self-defense and took the blame to protect her, though she confessed before he could be sentenced.

Steve planned to help Harper Deveraux fake his death, but Victor switched the blanks with real bullets, and Steve went on the run with Kayla until he could be cleared of attempted murder charges. When they returned to Salem, Steve learned that Jack Deveraux was his long-lost brother, but kept the truth secret because he was dying. Jack fell madly in love with Kayla, so Steve pushed her towards the ailing Jack so he could be happy. Jack and Kayla were married, but Steve discovered Harper was poisoning Kayla, so he kidnapped her for her own protection, and they began an affair. When Jack found out about it, he raped Kayla Steve pushed him off a roof. Jack’s injuries were so severe that he required a kidney transplant, and Steve was guilted into donating one of his.

Harper kidnapped Kayla, and while Steve saved her, she was injured and suffered from deafness and loss of speech. After a successful surgery, Steve proposed, and Kayla got her speech back in time to say “I do.” After their honeymoon in the Orient, danger continued to follow the couple as they tangled with a vengeful Harper and got mixed up with Nick Corelli’s fight to keep Eddie from stealing his fortune. When Eddie was shot in a standoff, Nick gave Steve and Kayla his mansion as a thank you.

Steve joined the ISA and performed dangerous missions, but when Kayla became pregnant, he focused his attention back on her. Steve’s presumed-dead wife, Marina Toscano, showed up to ask for Steve’s help, and when she turned up dead, a jealous Kayla was convicted. She gave Steve their newborn daughter, Stephanie Johnson, to raise, but the nanny he hired turned out to be crazy, and Kayla escaped from prison to help Steve rescue their baby. Thankfully, they were successful, and as a bonus, the charges against Kayla were dropped! Steve joined the police force, but after he was injured in a boat explosion, Lawrence Alamain had Steve’s IV poisoned, and after he died, stole the body!

After 16 years, Steve returned to Salem suffering from amnesia and calling himself Nick. Kayla tried to help him remember his past, and he struggled to reclaim his life. While Steve and Kayla eventually reunited, he came to realize that during his absence, he had been tortured and brainwashed by the DiMeras. EJ DiMera controlled Steve and forced him to kidnap John Black and try to kill Shawn Douglas. Thankfully, Kayla’s love managed to finally break through the brainwashing.

Ava Vitali showed up in Salem hoping to resume her relationship with “Patch” and held Hope, Steve, Bo, and Kayla hostage until Steve agreed to come back to her. After Roman and Abe rescued them, it was revealed that Ava had been drugged into acting crazy, and after she recovered, she left them alone. That same year, Kayla gave birth to her and Steve’s second child, Joey. The family left Salem in 2009 to make a fresh start elsewhere.

Steve returned to Salem in 2015, a few years after Kayla, with their now-teenaged son in tow. He was determined to put their family back together, but Ava plotted to use Joey to torture Kayla and have Steve for herself. She claimed to have given birth to Steve’s baby years ago, but they were later told that the infant had died. When Joey took revenge and smothered Ava to death with a pillow, Steve took the blame for the crime. After Kayla and Steve reconciled, he resigned from the ISA and started a private investigation firm with John Black. The couple tied the knot again on Valentine’s Day, 2017.

After learning that his child with Ava was really alive, Steve went in search of his son and brought Tripp Dalton back to Salem. Tripp’s curiosity about his mother’s death led to Joey finally confessing to the crime and going to prison. Steve began suffering from vision problems and dizziness and was diagnosed with an incurable illness. But in reality, John had been forced to poison his best friend! While a stop was put to it before Steve was killed, the poison caused him to lose his eyesight. Stefan DiMera was able to offer a miracle cure via a bionic eye, though Kayla had to go behind her husband’s back to get it.

Unfortunately, Steve was arrested for leaking government secrets after Stefan used Steve’s electronic eye to record the secure documents he was looking at. He left Salem to clear his name, and after a year went by, Kayla had moved on with Justin, and when Steve came home, he wasn’t himself. Literally — Stefano DiMera had transplanted his consciousness into Steve’s body!

Working together with Hope Brady, who had been brainwashed into becoming Princess Gina again, they plotted to split up John and Marlena to have them for themselves. That didn’t quite work out, but “Stevano” was determined to regain control of the DiMera empire and used a trigger word to brainwash Chad into doing his bidding. He had Marlena abducted and Dr. Rolf implanted a chip to make her more pliable to his will so she would forget about John and marry him. Thankfully, his evil scheme was thwarted before it was too late.

“Stevano” was brought to the hospital, where Kayla was forced to attempt to remove the brainwashing chip herself after Dr. Rolf refused to help. Fearing she might damage Steve’s brain, Kayla attempted to abort the surgery, but when the chip threatened to self-destruct, she had no choice but to remove it! Although Steve woke up with amnesia, he very quickly remembered his “Sweetness” and was horrified to find out what he’d done while Stefano was in control of his body. He was also upset to find out that Kayla thought he’d left her and was planning to marry Justin! After bringing Orpheus to justice, Steve urged Kayla to stay with Justin, though everyone pressured him to tell her how he truly felt. Ultimately, Justin left Kayla at the altar and told her to talk to Steve, so the exes were finally able to reunite. 

Steve and Kayla found themselves on opposite sides when Tripp returned to Salem and found himself accused of raping Allie Horton. Steve’s attempt to prove his son’s innocence backfired when the DNA evidence implicated him further, but he soon suspected that a relative of Tripp’s could have been the guilty party and they soon learned Charlie Dale was also Ava’s son and was the real rapist.

In February 2021, Steve and Kayla got married again. He didn’t approve of Justin’s new relationship with Bonnie Lockhart, but he eventually came around and agreed to be his best man at their wedding. Steve also accepted Ava’s apologies for her past misdeeds and that she had changed. When John went missing, Steve went in search of him and ran afoul of the devil, who was once again possessing Marlena. He and Kayla also went undercover at a convent to track down Kristen, but she turned the tables on them, and the pair found themselves being held captive by her on an island!

Thankfully, Steve and Kayla, as well as Sarah, were able to escape Kristen’s clutches and return to Salem. They were heartbroken when Tripp died trying to save Allie from the devil, but relieved when he revived and came back to them. Though they did have to say goodbye when Tripp decided to leave town. Steve went into defensive mode when Orpheus was released from prison and threatened his kids. He wanted to take care of the villain once and for all, but both John and Kayla urged him not to do anything rash. When Orpheus kidnapped Kayla, Kate, and Marlena, Steve teamed up with John and Roman to rescue their wives. Unfortunately, the women all fell ill and they nearly died before Kristen offered an antidote that saved their lives.

Unfortunately, as 2023 began, all three women suddenly fell ill again and died, leaving their grieving husbands ready to kill Orpheus. But when John and Steve were about to murder the villain, he pointed them in the direction of the real killer, Megan Hathaway! Searching for the DiMera in Greece, Steve and John encountered Hope and Harris Michaels regained his memories to help them find Megan’s lair, where she had kept the women alive in cryogenic stasis. However, they only found Marlena, as Kate and Kayla had gone missing. Steve tried to track down Kayla, which led him to Bo, whom Megan had brought back to life! Bo kidnapped Steve and reunited him with Kayla. Once free, Steve watched Shawn shoot Bo just as his father was emerging from Megan’s brainwashing. 

Steve reluctantly agreed to work with Harris to locate and bring Kate home, and with Chad, they found her on Dimitri Von Leuschner’s ship. Unfortunately, Dimitri and Megan brokered an immunity deal that also included Kristen. When Abe disappeared, Steve and John helped search for their friend and were ultimately able to help rescue him. But as Abe was still suffering from amnesia and didn’t remember his wife, Paulina, he moved in with Steve and Kayla until he was ready to resume his life. Steve was immediately suspicious when Konstantin Meleounis ingratiated himself into Maggie’s life and home. 

In early 2024, Steve was forced to back off his threats to make Konstantin leave Salem as the guy knew all about John being The Pawn and Steve being his handler back in the day. Konstantin wanted revenge on John for killing his wife, Catharina, as The Pawn. In the middle of all this, Steve and John also teamed up to help Ava rescue Tripp, who had been kidnapped again! With Konstantin’s true motives exposed, Maggie joined Steve and John in plotting to bring him down at their wedding. But when it all went down, a cornered Konstantin shot Steve! 

Steve accepted a plea deal for helping Clyde escape prison as part of the plan to help rescue Tripp. After flying to Greece in search of John, Steve reported to Marlena that he could find no trace of her husband, but it turned out he’d been abducted and was in Missouri, where Jack and Chad found him! Thankfully, Catharina was revealed to be alive, relieving John and Steve of their guilt. Unfortunately, as 2025 kicked off, John was on a mysterious assignment, and Steve wasn’t able to interrupt the mission to pass along the good news.

Steve helped Brady find a kidnapped Ava, then went with Marlena to visit Shane for information about John, who had gone missing. They followed the lead to Estonia and got more information out of Orpheus, but the ISA insisted they back off and let the professionals handle it. When Bo was on the verge of death, Steve worked with Shawn to steal the experimental drug that could save his life. John returned to Salem to help but was caught in an explosion and later died of his injuries, though the medicine he retrieved helped save Bo. With John gone, Steve wanted to close Black Patch and retire, but Bo suggested he and Hope could step in and he agreed to think about it.