In May 2024, Days of Our Lives star Thaao Penghlis , who has played lookalikes Tony and Andre DiMera off and on for four decades, announced his exit from the show. The news of his exit did not precisely shock his fans as Penghlis has exited the soap numerous times in the past. His character left, came back, died and was resurrected several times over the years thanks to head writer James E Reilley.
Days of Our Lives head writer, the late James E. Reilly, took over the show in 1992. Thaao Penghlis was killed off numerous times after he allegedly disparaged his scripts. Fans wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the men butted heads more than once in their careers. In fact, in a 2009 interview, after Thaao Penghlis was killed off from the show, he gave an interview saying how “The James Reilly’sReilly’s of The World Have Destroyed Daytime.”
At the time, in an interview with soaps.com, he said Days of Our Lives is not the soap he signed on to do in 1981, noting, “Days is not “Days” anymore. It’s an extension of what it was; it’s not the body or the heart of what it was. We were all part of that, especially those that just left, and I think we were the best of daytime.”
He then blamed the head writer Reilly for destroying daytime television, saying “I think, hands down, the James Reilly’s of the world have destroyed daytime. They took the thing that people watched, which was great reality and passions, and made it into somewhat of a joke and cartoons. However, I must say that the fact that DAYS has remained on for so long is a credit to the show. It has such a wonderful history and I will miss it.”
In a 2024 interview, Thaao Penghlis opened up about his feud with the late writer, saying, “Well, James Reilly was not a very nice guy.” Penghlis recalled, “He liked me a lot during the first year. And then there was a bit of a sabotage that went on [behind the scenes] because I was popular on the show… there was another actor and an actress who wanted to see me go.”
However, Penghlis didn’t reveal the castmates’ identities.
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