2024 Daytime Emmys Winners’ Circle

“I don’t know that I believe it,” Thorsten Kaye (Ridge, B&B) told Digest of the Academy’s decision to bestow Outstanding Lead Actor honors on him for the second consecutive year. He declared that having daughter McKenna as his date was “the absolute best. It was really cool.” Kaye’s victory means that he is now tied with wife Susan Haskell (ex-Marty, One Life To Live), also a double winner (she took home the Supporting Actress honors in 1994 and the Lead Actress trophy in 2009). “What we’re gonna do is put hers in storage and make a big shelf just for mine,” he teased.

Lead Actress winner Michelle Stafford (Phyllis, Y&R) was visibly emotion when accepting her Emmy, her third overall (she was named Outstanding Supporting Actress in 1997 and won in the Lead Actress category for the first time in 2004). In her speech, she gave a shot-out to sister nominee FInola Hughes (Anna, GH), saying, "You are the best actress in this room and you are the greatest friend." She said, "I want to share this with all of you, the crew and the cast at Young and the Restless. Every single one of you should have one of these. I love you guys so much. You cannot know how much you mean to me."

Robert Gossett won in the Supporting Actor category for the second time in a row for his work as GH's Marshall. "I got a pair!" he marveled to Digest. "I'm so overwhelmed, I'm almost emotional." He shared that he planned to display the duo "in an alcove in the living room. I have some theater awards, as well, that live there. It's kind of like my narcissistic corner!"

Moments after her victory, Supporting Actress winner Courtney Hope (Sally, Y&R) told Digest, "I'm still shaking!" She reported, "I was in shock when I heard my name and then I was laser-focused on the stairs, thinking, 'Please, God, don't let me fall on national TV!' "

Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki, Y&R) and her husband, Ed Scott, a B&B producer and former producer of Y&R, were honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award — presented to them by Eric Braeden (Victor, Y&R) and Lauralee Bell (Christine, Y&R) — in one of the most moving elements of the night. "Of course, it's very special to me," she told Digest. "I look at it more as an endurance award, you know?" Giving a speech after the poignant tribute package that preceded it "was hard for me because I didn't know they had all these clips of our children and our castmates [speaking about us]," she admitted. "That's starting and I was like [imitates herself getting weepy]. So by the time I got on stage, I could barely speak because I was so emotional over that. It was very sweet."

Dick Van Dyke made history by winning the Outstanding Guest Performer trophy for his work as Days's Timothy Robicheaux: At 98 years old, he is the oldest performer to win a Daytime Emmy. In his speech, Van Dyke exclaimed, "I don't believe this! I feel like a spy from nighttime television [laughs]." The actor teased, "If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself" and praised the DAYS cast and crew, who "took me in and treated me so nicely. I had a wonderful time."