Five Things That Happened On April 7 In Soap History

In 1985, Don Diamont made his Young and Restless debut as Brad Carlton. The actor had previously appeared on Days of Our Lives as Carlo, and recalled to Soap Opera Digest in a 2023 interview, "I was very confident that after the DAYS experience I was going to get another job relatively soon. I envisioned it, manifested it, believed in it, and when it actually happened, it was validation when I got to do that screen test for Y&R." Regarding the early days of Brad, he noted, " I was so young and inexperienced, but I knew that initial foothold you get, and you’re introduced as the new hunk, as the pool boy with the Daisy Dukes or the shirt off the entire summer. I didn’t hide from that. I had the awareness that if I didn’t learn what I was doing and deliver, that could go away as quickly as I got it. I was so happy when the storyline was successful.”

In 1989, Days of Our Lives's Steve and Kayla Johnson (Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans) began reading the Civil War-era diary chronicling the love story of Emily and Gideon. In a 2017 interview with Soap Opera Digest, Evans said, "Over the years, when people ask what was my favorite storyline, I always say that one. It was so fun. We started the story in the studio, when Steve and Kayla moved to this old mansion and found a chest with a diary in it. As they read it, the story came alive and we got to go to Charleston [where Evans and Nichols played Emily and Giden in reenactments of the diary]. We shot at a fort where Gideon was held prisoner. When Gideon was let go, he and Emily ran toward each other down that road that has oak trees on both sides."

In 2006, Lawrence Saint-Victor made his daytime debut as Remy Boudreau, assuming the role from Gavin Houston. The actor remained with GL until its cancellation in 2009, then was tapped to play Carter Walton on Bold and Beautiful in 2013. In a 2016 interview with Soap Opera Digest, Saint-Victor recalled that the show "was very special. I didn’t know what it was like to be on a soap before that show. I didn’t know what the producers were going through at the time I joined, but I guess they had kind of been on the cutting block for awhile, as far as the show could go off the air at any time. I suppose that’s why they came up with the new format [of shooting outdoors in Peapack, NJ], which really created such togetherness among the cast. It was an atmosphere of, ‘No matter what happens, we’re in it together.’ We also got to head down to Mississippi and work together building homes for the homeless and then shot it as an episode. For me, it was an incredible family. We were the underdogs."

In 2015, Nikolas Cassadine (Tyler Christoper) and Hayden Barnes (Rebecca Budig) met for the first time on General Hospital. It was not a traditional meet-cute for the future husband and wife; Nikolas sought out Hayden, who at the time was posing as "Jake Doe's" (really, an amnesiac Drew, who at the time was thought to actually be Jason) to accuse her of being a fraud. Barging into her hotel room, Nikolas told Hayden he knew the man was not really named Jake, but refused to tell Hayden how he knew.

In 2023, the Nurses' Ball included a loving tribute to Nurse Bobbie Spencer, played by Jacklyn Zeman (l.), who was marking her 45th anniversary with the show. That year, Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring), who usually serves as the emcee of the ball, was unable to attend because she was hiding out from Victor Cassadine in a safehouse with Anna Devane and Valentin Cassadine. But Lucy couldn't bear to stay away and made a break for it. She arrived at the Metro Court, with Victor's goons in hot pursuit, and wound up crashing through her own memorial portrait (she was presumed dead at the time!), interrupting Bobbie's speech.