Five Things That Happened On December 8 In Soap History

In 1981, Wayne Northrop made his Days of Our Lives debut as Roman Brady. The actor recalled to Soap Opera Digest in 2015, "I tested with Dee [Deidre Hall, Marlena], and then they said, ‘We want you!’ They ended up creating a whole family around the character, which was a special thing.” Northrop's on-screen pairing opposite Deidre Hall (Marlena) was a hit. Northrop reflected in 2015, "Dee and I just hit it off and we’re still friends. There was a natural flow between us that just kept going and going. Our characters were diametrically opposed individuals that fell in love and the audience really bought into it. So, kudos to us and to the writers!”

In 1999, General Hospital's Stefan Cassadine (Stephen Nichols) and Nikolas Cassadine (Tyler Christopher) were crushed when they got proof that they were not father and son, and that Nikolas was, in fact, the biological son of Stavros Cassadine. As it turned out, Stefan's devious mother, Helena Cassadine, had paid off the doctor who delivered Nikolas to fudge the truth about his paternity.

In 2010, Tristan Rogers made his Young and Restless debut as Colin Atkinson, father of Cane Ashby. The star, best known as General Hospital's Robert Scorpio, played the role until 2012, returning from 2014-17, and last popped up in 2019. Rogers told Soap Opera Digest in 2023 of his time on the show, “I loved working with Jess [Walton, Jill]. I think my favorite moment was just after Colin and Jill started sleeping together. It was romantic but when I got up, I put on her fluffy dressing gown and pranced around the bedroom and she was on the floor laughing through the whole thing. They weren’t used to that sort of thing so I think it took some people aback. There was another scene where she had him tied up, so that was a great sequence. The great thing about working with Jess was she was so great with that sort of thing. When I came along, she said we were going to have fun together, and we sure did.”

In 2014, Kelly Thiebaud ended her first stint as General Hospital's Britt Westbourne, which had kicked off in 2012. At the time, she told Soap Opera Digest that the job "as my first big gig. It was really incredible. I got a taste of what being a working actor is all about. It definitely made me a better actress. To say I was on General Hospital makes me proud. I can’t wait to brag about that to my grandkids." However, she noted, "Honestly, I knew my time there would be short. I looked at it as a stepping stone to the next big thing." Thiebaud did end up returning, and ultimately won a Daytime Emmy for her work as Britt as Outstanding Supporting Actress, before exiting (seemingly permanently, since Britt was killed off) in 2023.

In 2015, Ben (Robert Scott Wilson), who was in prison for murder on Days of Our Lives, refused to tell a desperate Abigail what he had done with "their" newborn baby (the child, Thomas DiMera, was believed to be Ben's biological son at the time, but was actually Chad's).