There’s nothing better than the drama of daytime soaps, but sometimes that drama is even bigger in real life.
11 biggest behind-the-scenes soap scandals from the ’80s and ’90s
1/11
Lisa Rinna hated her co-star
Image: Michael Boardman/WENN
It’s been decades since Lisa Rinna first starred on Days of Our Lives, but this juicy tidbit wasn’t dropped until the Season 6 outtakes from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills aired.
Rinna shared, “I hated Robert Kelker-Kelly — hated him with a passion! He hated me with a passion. There’s a secret for ya!”
The duo were one of the hottest couples in daytime from 1992 until 1995. We call that some serious acting.
2/11
19 Daytime Emmy nominations
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What would it take for Susan Lucci to win a Daytime Emmy for All My Children?
It took 19 nominatons and changing up her Emmy submission strategy by giving voters the best of Erica Kane with two continuous episodes.
No one will ever forget Shemar Moore shouting in 1999, “The streak is over!” Lucci finally had her Daytime Emmy.
3/11
Susan Lucci was jealous?
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Sarah Michelle Gellar played Susan Lucci’s daughter on All My Children, and she was good at her job. That’s when the Daytime Emmys curse put a wrench in their relationship.
After Lucci failed to score a nomination in 1994, she reportedly turned her frustration on Gellar, who was nominated for Outstanding Younger Actress that year and eventually won in 1995. The story goes that Lucci had her fired out of jealousy.
4/11
On-again, off-again relationship
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They were one of the biggest supercouples in soap history, but General Hospital stars Kristina and Jack Wagner were hard to keep up with off-screen. Were they dating? Did they break up again?
The duo went public with their love affair when she became pregnant with their first son, Peter, and married in 1995. They uncoupled in 2001, recoupled a few years later and then finally called it quits in 2006.
5/11
The ‘Grim Reaper of Daytime’
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Daytime television executive Brian Frons was dubbed by soap opera fans the “Grim Reaper of Daytime” after killing Search for Tomorrow on not one but two networks in the 1980s.
His streak only continued into the 2000s, when he was named president of ABC Daytime and eventually killed Port Charles, AMC and One Life to Live off the network.
6/11
The bright glare of fame
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Luke and Laura were everything on General Hospital back in 1982, until Genie Francis up and quit the show at the height of her fame.
Fans were disappointed, but the real reason for her exit wasn’t explained until recently — Francis was battling a drug and alcohol addiction. She’s now healthy and back on GH, where she belongs.
7/11
Boy fight
Image: Nikki NelsonWENN
This legendary 1991 fight on the set of The Young and the Restless between Eric Braeden and Peter Bergman involved two hot actors and two hotheaded tempers.
Both were temporarily suspended from the soap, and the two are frenemies to this day.
8/11
Blacklisted
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After originating the role of Jill Foster Abbott on The Young and the Restless, Brenda Dickson was fired from the show in 1987.
She filed a $10 million lawsuit against Columbia Pictures, asking for her job back. She claimed she had an affair with series creator William J. Bell, who blacklisted her after their affair ended and blocked her from ever working again.
9/11
Toxic set
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Catherine Hickland loved playing the character of Lindsay Rappaport on One Life to Live. While it was her favorite acting job, she found the set to be a toxic one.
After the series was canceled in 2012, she told Soap Opera Uncensored that the show was always the “redheaded stepchild” to All My Children. The actors were gossipy, and the network rewarded their backstabbing behavior.
10/11
Affair?
Image: Nicky Nelson/WENN
Did DOOL star Melissa Reeves have an affair with co-star Jason Brooks back in 1995? That’s the alleged rumor after she abruptly quit the show to work on her marriage to Y&R star Scott Reeves.
She was sued for breach of contract by Corday Productions and Sony Entertainment Television, but all was forgiven by 2000, when she returned to the NBC soap. She is still married to her husband.
11/11
Tragedy
Image: NBC
One of the saddest stories from the ’80s is the death of DOOL star Brenda Benet.
Benet took her own life by a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1982 after she saw her marriage to actor Bill Bixby end in divorce in 1980. A year later, the couple’s 6-year-old son, Christopher, died after a severe throat infection.
She never recovered from the depression that set in after two tumultuous years in her life.
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