DAYS actors who fell in love at work

Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes (Doug and Julie) When Bill Hayes, a divorced father of five, debuted on DAYS in 1970, he wasn’t looking for a relationship — but fate had other plans when he crossed paths with Susan Seaforth. “I remember looking at Bill across a crowded room and it taking my breath away,” the actress revealed to Digest in 2018. She was smitten, but Hayes told Digest in the same interview, “I was hesitant. I was just divorced and did not want a relationship.” But as their alter egos rose to super-couple status, the pair’s real-life bond solidified, and they became Mr. and Mrs. on October 12, 1974 in an intimate ceremony in their living room. “I am grateful every day for [the] sweet years Susan and I have shared,” he beamed to Digest in 2019.”

Lisa Trusel and David Wallace (ex-Melissa and ex-Tod) Wallace and Trusel met in 1985 when he joined the DAYS cast that she’d been part of since 1983. Originally friends, the pair’s relationship took a turn when they attended a personal appearance in Toronto and wound up dancing and holding hands. Wallace admitted to Digest in 1988 that he’d been “fighting feelings” for Trusel even before the event, but after, their courtship progressed quickly, and they said, “I do” on November 1, 1986, once Trusel turned 18. “The first couple of years, our marriage was a little rocky,” Trusel shared with Digest in 2013. But they weathered those early challenges, and the still-married duo became parents of four (Ryan Elizabeth was born in 1989, followed by Benjamin in 1991, Emma in 1993 and Joseph in 1997), and in 2012, they welcomed their first grandchild.

Melissa Reeves and Scott Reeves (ex-Jennifer and ex-Jake) It took just one date (in 1988) with Scott Reeves for the former Melissa Brennan to fall hard for her DAYS co-star. “It was that quick. He was so different [from other men],” the actress told Digest in 1994. “He wasn’t in love with himself. I just knew he’d always be that way.” They wed on March 23, 1990. The duo, who always wanted to be young parents, welcomed daughter Emily on June 23, 1992 and son Lawrence on August 4, 1997. In turn, they became young grandparents to their four grandsons. “It’s an incredible time in our lives,” Melissa shared with Digest in 2013, when her first kids left the nest. “We get to hang out like we did when we were first dating. When you’re up all night with babies who are sick, and you’re doing your life with them young, you think, ‘I’m never going to get another night alone with my husband.’ And then, all of a sudden, they’re grown. Scott and I have this whole life starting over with just the two of us.”

Crystal Chappell and Michael Sabatino (ex-Carly and ex-Lawrence) Chappell was instantly charmed by Sabatino when they met in the makeup room at DAYS in 1990. She recalled to Digest in 2001, “I extended my hand to shake his, and he stood up and kissed my hand ... It was so romantic.” They fell in love and left the show together in 1993. On January 6, 1997, they tied the knot at a New York City courthouse and went on to welcome sons Jacob (born May 11, 2000) and Dylan (born September 2, 2003); they became first-time grandparents in September 2021 with the birth of Jake’s son, Zeke. “He is a good man and a good dad,” Chappell summed up to Digest in 2004.

Casey Moss and True O’Brien (ex-JJ and ex-Paige) Life imitated art for O’Brien, who was cast as Moss’s love interest in 2014. As their on-screen relationship blossomed, so, too, did the duo’s off- screen one, but they chose to keep their romance low-profile at work. “We did a really nice job of keeping it separate,” mused Moss in a 2017 Digest interview, adding, “It was amazing falling in love. I never expected it.” He predicted that O’Brien was “going to be in my life for a long time” and he certainly seemed to be accurate: In June 2022, he proposed to O’Brien, who accepted.