actress and I love Liz but even if I didn’t, I would never fuck with your fans for fear of my life! [Laughs]
I know! [Laughs] I’m blessed to have the fans that I do. Their loyalty and passion inspire me to go into the studio and do my best work.
Why do fans love Liz so much?
I think people relate to Liz. She doesn’t go around killing people, for starters. She’s a single mom trying to make it work. People can relate — that’s all it is.
I think your talent has something to do with their love and devotion towards you. Fans loved Liz long before she had kids. I fell in love with you from day one — during Liz’s bitchy days which culminated in Liz’s rape. Why do the Spencer guys keep winning Emmys but it’s taken forever for the Spencer girls to win some gold? Is there a bit of misogyny involved?
I don’t know. I don’t know what that’s about.
Do you hope Jackson returns to the show?
Yes.
Do you think Frank Valentini and Ron Carlivati have saved GH creatively?
Creatively? Absolutely, yes!
Are you still surprised you’re still on GH after all these years? I would have bet my bottom dollar you’d have bolted years ago. You’re such a talented actress. Are you here for the long haul?
You know, yes. When I signed my first contract — for one year — I couldn’t believe I had a job for a whole year. I had no idea I would still be here 15 years later.
And you met your hubby, Michael Saucedo….
[Nods] Met my husband and had three kids…
I hope to see you in the press room. If not, Nancy Lee Grahn will be drunk-tweeting!
Thanks for all your support this past year. It meant a lot!
SOAPILEAKS:
This Week’s Hottest News, Gossip, and Reviews!
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, CBS/CTV — KKL: The Lesbian Version? Diamont In The Rough!
• More Incestuous Drama: What really happened between Steffy and Liam in Italy? That’s what B&B fans are dying to know. Critics and viewers are already predicting that the former spouses had sex before Liam wed Hope which will result in a pregnancy. Here’s @MarkHSoap’s prediction: Bill and Katie’s newborn son will need a transplant which will force Steffy to admit her unborn child is Liam’s! If this happens, who will Steffy pass off as her baby daddy in the meantime? Where’s Deacon when you need him? Now that would be a story worth nine months of our time!
• Lesbian From The Valley: If you’ve been following Crystal Chappell and Katherine Kelly Lang on Twitter, you know there may be a possibility that we could see Brooke Logan on Chappell’s new web series this fall, THE GROVE, since the actresses have been discussing it online. However, CBS has strict rules on what part-time parts its contract players can take, so it’s not a done deal yet. But can you imagine KKL in a lesbian role? Sign me up, please! THE GROVE will debut this fall.
• Diamont Ring: It was so nice to run into one of the nicest men in the business, Don Diamont, on the Emmy red carpet last week. After all, Bill Spencer’s the Victor Newman of B&B! (But Diamont is still a big drink of water!)
“He’s just misunderstood,” clarifies Diamont. “I was born to play this role. What’s so great about Bill Spencer is that I could have never known Dollar Bill was waiting for me around the corner at this stage of my career — especially after being fired from Y&R. He’s the greatest character I could ever play. He has so many layers… colours… and we’re just beginning to scratch the surface on what makes him tick.”
Diamont agrees his career is a great life lesson: when one door closes, a wider one opens. “I remind my kids, friends, family of this lesson every day — you never know what life has in store for you even in the darkest of times,” he says, smiling.
Does he miss Brad Carlton? “Honestly?” he laughs. No, I don’t.”
Well, I kind of do.
Now for the million-dollar question: Why is Bill so obsessed with his son Liam’s sex life? I have a theory, which I shared with show-runner Brad Bell. But over to Don, first.
“I don’t think Bill is obsessed with his son’s sex life,” defends Diamont. “He’s obsessed with his son’s life. Liam is an extension of Bill so he’s projecting. It’s funny because Steffy is more like Bill than Liam is. But because Liam’s successes are Bill’s successes, Liam’s failures are Bill’s failures; so Liam’s success in his personal life is very important to Bill.”
Diamont pays close attention when I share my theory of Dollar Bill’s fixation on his son’s penis: I believe, because Bill hurt Steffy so deeply during their emotional affair, the publishing titan thinks he’ll feel absolved if Steffy found happiness with his offspring. Yes, it’s sick and twisted but this is a Bill Bell soap!
“Yes,” he concurs. “I agree that’s a big part of the throughline of this story. It’s two-fold: If Steffy is with Liam, Bill will not touch her, which is good for his marriage to Katie. If she’s with Liam, it’s hands-off for Bill. Also, Bill thinks Steffy will compensate for Liam’s shortcomings. Bill thinks Steffy will make Liam the man he is destined to be — and I believe that is Bill’s largest motivation.”
Diamont finds himself in not one but three engrossing storylines: Liam’s love life, Katie’s dangerous pregnancy, Bill’s sister, Karen’s homosexuality. Does Diamont have more upcoming scenes with two of the most exciting co-stars, Joanna Johnson and Crystal Chappell, he’s worked opposite in years? “Yes,” he says. “And they are incredibly powerful. I can’t say anymore but you won’t want to miss B&B.”
Finally, will Diamont put himself up for Lead Actor next year despite the fact that he was unforgivably snubbed this year?
“Yes, I will keep trying,” he vows.
It worked for Eric Braeden!
DAYS OF OUR LIVES, NBC/GLOBAL — Deidrick, Gering and Mansi Threeway!
• The $64,000 Question at the Emmys was: How’s the new DAYS writing team working out? Is the material better or worse? Everyone I spoke to gave the new regime a big thumbs up. Stay tuned…
• Sadly, sassy Molly Burnett has finished taping at DAYS. She tells DIGEST to expect some nice scenes between Brady and Melanie before she departs. (Why does it always seems Eric Martsolf is given meaty material — and airtime — when Brady helps usher out a fan fave?)
• The stunning and vertically blessed Casey Deidrick is an admirable interview subject. Boyfriend does his homework. He even drove my ass home Emmy night… that’s what kind of a gentleman he is.
So… Molly Burnett is out… where does that leave Melanie and Chad? And why has Melanie and Chad been languishing on the back burner after a sizzling start?
“You know,” he muses, “perhaps they started us out too fast and furious, which is why fans aren’t super-on board yet. But there are so many YouTube fan videos of Melanie and Chad already out there. I think in the next two months fans will be happy.”
I think Chad needs a dog when Melanie leaves Salem — and I know the perfect dog to play him!
“Me, too,” laughs Casey, who has a gorgeous Husky dog, Nanuk. “He’s four-and-a-half-months-old and he follows me around. He’s my buddy. I take him everywhere I go.”
With Melanie departing Salem, there could be a love interest already waiting in the wings — and I don’t mean Gabi. Yep, I mean Will Horton. Is Casey jealous the EJill “coupling” has eclipsed Chill?
“OMG: I am jealous,” Casey states seriously. “I was talking to James Scott the other day, and he said, ‘I want to own that sexual tension between Will and EJ every time I can.’ Yes, I am jealous!”
But again, what happened to Chill? I mean, fans were, at one point, thanks to the undeniable sexual and romantic subtext, so obsessed with the two best friends taking their relationship to a carnal lev
el that myriad YouTube Chill videos popped up everywhere, Nuke-style! The chemistry between Deidrick and Chandler Massey was that palpable!
Moreover, the only missing element in this EJill “friendship” is Chad as a spoiler! Hello, DAYS: This is your Luke and Laura storyline. And Chad’s the Cassadine.
“I know,” he sighs. “Chandler [Massey] and I always talk about this: ‘What happened to Chill?’ Our fans were so on board with Chill and then it was dropped and they hardly share scenes together. But now that Gary Tomlin is back, Chandler and I are working together a lot more.”
Casey laughed when I remarked that Will, come hell or high water, will fuck a DiMera — even if he has to unearth Tony’s dead body!
“He will get some DiMera [dick] sooner or later,” exclaims Casey jokingly. “Just watch out… the next two months will be awesome.”
• Does that mean we should “chill” out then? Will DAYS have the balls to tell any kind of gay romantic storyline on DAYS? Sorry, folks, the answer is no. At the NBC Emmy party, a writer warned UNCENSORED, “My grandmother would turn off the channel if we paired EJ and Will or Will and Chad together. There’s no way we can tell an EJ/Will or EJ/Chad love story — and that’s that.” Well, good: No one wants your grandmother watching the show — certainly not advertisers!
And that’s the problem with daytime. A soap, which is on the verge of cancellation, still refuses to evolve and grow. I mean, what does it have to lose?