Five Things That Happened On May 24 In Soap History

In 1982 on Days of Our Lives, Deidre Hall's character, Marlena Evans, was presumed dead at the hands of the Salem Strangler (Jake Kositchek), setting off massive protests among fans. The true victim turned out to be Marlena’s twin, Samantha, who was played by Hall's real-life twin, Andrea. In 2020, when Deidre Hall appeared as a guest on Soap Opera Digest's podcast, Dishing With Digest, she admitted that the show's decision to kill off Samantha "was especially painful for me because it means, ‘Guess what? You’re going to kill my sister,’ and I just thought, ‘Can’t we be triplets?’ ”

In 2001 on Bold and Beautiful, Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan) and Bridget Forrester (Jennifer Finnigan) tied the knot in Las Vegas. Deacon had only set his sights on Bridget in an effort to make waves in ex Amber's relationship with Bridget's brother, Rick. Smitten Bridget was clueless about the bad boy's ulterior motives and after Amber married Rick, Deacon easily sweet-talked her into eloping.

In 2004, General Hospital’s Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) volunteered to pose as the father of the baby Samantha (Kelly Monaco) was expecting with Sonny Corinthos. Sam initially balked at the idea, but she softened and agreed to take it into consideration after Jason opened up to her about his love for Michael, AJ and Carly's biological son (Jason had posed as that child's father, as well). This was a major development in the unfolding relationship of Jason and Sam, who ultimately fell in love and achieved supercouple status with fans.

In 2005, Nick (Joshua Morrow) and Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) were devastated when their beloved daughter, Cassie (Camryn Grimes), died on Young and Restless. Reflecting on the experience of her character's demise in an interview with Soap Opera Digest in 2023, Grimes said, "It was a crazy period of time... I don’t think I could understand how formative and truly important it would not only be for myself personally, but in my career and in my whole identity as a person and as an actor. It was almost like I went through a midlife crisis at 15. I had just signed a new contract, so I thought there was more to come and a few months later, my family came to me and they were crying, and they were like, ‘Cassie is gonna die.’ This was a job and a family and a place and a routine that I had known for almost 10 years, and I didn’t know what it was to be without it. Furthermore, everybody is treating you like you’re about to die. It’s a very strange sensation at 15 to walk around and everybody is looking at you with glistening eyes and you really feel like you’re not about to live after this."

In 2023, Kate Mansi, who won a Daytime Emmy for her work as Abigail DiMera on Days of Our Lives, assumed the role of Kristina on General Hospital. She succeeded another Daytime Emmy winner, Lexi Ainsworth, who had begun playing Kristina in 2009. Mansi told Soap Opera Digest that on her first day on the job, "I didn’t feel nervous. You know, I told Frank [Valentini, executive producer], 'This is maybe the fastest I have ever signed on for a role.' I felt this overall sort of peace about it.... Any doubts I had about coming on for this, he really put to rest with his unwavering confidence [in me]."