Five Things That Happened On January 2 In Soap History

In 1981, Philece Sampler made her DAYS debut as Renee Dumonde, who was ultimately revealed to be Stefano’s (Joseph Mascolo) daughter by Lee Dumonde, who Renee had believed was her sister. Sampler, who passed away in 2021, exited the show in 1983 after a two-year run.

In 2001, Philip Kiriakis (Jay Kenneth Johnson) declared his love for Chloe Lane (Nadia Bjorlin) on Days of Our Lives. She fought back tears and admitted that she'd been having trouble sleeping, which she thought was because of him. She opened up about her fears and he urged her to call him whenever she was afraid, then shared a poem he had written for her. The duo then shared a sweet kiss.

In 2002, General Hospital's Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) left Lucky Spencer (Jacob Young) at the altar. Elizabeth had been gobsmacked when her maid of honor, Gia Taggert, told her that Lucky, who had been brainwashed by Helena Cassadine, didn't love her anymore, and at first, Liz refused to believe it. But during the ceremony, when Liz looked in Lucky's eyes, she could tell that Gia wasn't lying to her and she halted the wedding. In private, when Liz confronted Lucky, he admitted that his feelings for her had never truly come back after his ordeal with Helena.

In 2004, Julian Crane (Ben Masters) reluctantly tied the knot with Rebecca Hotchkiss (Andrea Evans) on Passions. The bride tripped on her way to the altar, courtesy of Endora ("Good job, Endora," cooed a pleased Tabitha). Theresa sneaked in to the Crane mansion to watch the ceremony undetected. Julian took such a long time responding to the minister's prompt that Rebecca barked, "Julian, say it! Say I do!" He fantasized that it was Eve he was marrying instead of Rebecca and said, "I do."

In 2019, General Hospital's Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart) pitched Ava Jerome (Maura West) off the parapet at Wyndemere on the day he was scheduled to marry Nina Reeves. Valentin and Ava had gotten into a heated argument as she refused to hand over the codicil to Mikkos's will, the key to Valentin retaining his inheritance and blocking a back-from-the-dead Nikolas from taking control of the Cassadine fortune. "There's a deal to be made here, Ava, and if you refuse me, I will find alternate methods to get what I want," Valentin warned Ava. When she wouldn't budge, he took dramatic action and threw her into the waters off Spoon Island!