and Hope Campbell
This year's five Daytime Emmy Lead Actor nominees had all taken home Emmy gold in the past, although some of their wins had come in different categories. Eric Martsolf won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2014. In addition to a previous Lead Actor win, The Bold and the Beautiful's Scott Clifton has also been a winner in the Supporting Actor and Younger Actor categories.
This year, for the first time since As the World Turns' Michael Park did so in 2010 and 2011, there was a back-to-back winner: B&B's Thorsten Kaye (Ridge Forrester).
This was Kaye's seventh Daytime Emmy nomination and his second win. Kaye's first nomination for Lead Actor came in 2003 for his work on Port Charles. In 2006, he picked up his first of two nominations for his work as Zach Slater on All My Children. Kaye was previously nominated for his B&B performance in 2020.
Over the past year, Kaye's Ridge embarked on an emotional journey when he learned his father, Eric, was diagnosed with a fatal disease and left it up to Ridge whether to use life support. Ridge only wanted to adhere to his father's wishes, as his family fought him every step of the way. Thankfully, Eric pulled through in the end and shared heartwarming scenes with his son.
In his acceptance speech, Kaye told the audience that his feelings about award shows had changed.
"I'm going to be very honest. I do not like award shows," he quipped. "Or I didn't like award shows till tonight. Now they make perfect sense."
Kaye went on to thank his partner, Emmy winner Susan Haskell, and children for their support. Kaye and Haskell met during their time on One Life to Live when he played Patrick Thornhart and she played Marty Saybrooke.
"You need a whole village of people that are not going to let you down, not tonight. I have all of that. So, thank you. And I've got Marlowe and McKenna," he said of his daughters as McKenna sat in the audience in tears, listening to her father's remarks. "Being your dad is the greatest honor of my life. Susan, thank you for these beautiful kids, and everything that you've sacrificed did not go unnoticed. Honey, I love you."
This was Stafford's twelfth Daytime Emmy nomination and her third win for playing Phyllis Summers on The Young and the Restless, a role she originated in 1994 and has played off and on ever since. She previously won in the Supporting Actress category in 1997 and for Lead Actress in 2004.
In 2023, Stafford's Phyllis faked her own death. and then killed the man who convinced her to do it, Jeremy Stark. When Phyllis' family learned what she had done, they were in disbelief. Stafford submitted scenes from that storyline in which she had to deal with her loved ones' grief -- and later anger -- over Phyllis' alleged demise.
In her acceptance speech, Stafford made sure to give a shout-out to fellow nominee Finola Hughes (Anna Devane, General Hospital), who she once co-starred with when Stafford played Nina on GH.
"Finola, you are the best actress in this room, and you are the greatest friend," she said, before thanking the people she works with at Y&R, as well as her family.
"First, I want to say, I want to share this with all of you. The crew and the cast at Young and the Restless, every single one of you should have one of these. I love you so much. You cannot know how much you mean to me. There's nobody in the world I would have rather shared a pandemic with than you. Thank you, Josh. I don't know where you are, but I love you so much. Thank you for listening to me cry in your office. Thank you, Sony and CBS. All the women I was nominated with, you're superlative. My kids. I love you, Natalia and Jameson."
Before finishing, Stafford also expressed her gratitude to the stepfather she lost earlier this year. "And, just on a personal note, this one is for you, Joe."
Stafford told Soap Central that she had missed out on this year's Daytime Emmys "ladies luncheon" because, as parents do, she needed to put her children first and attend her daughter's volleyball game. Next year, however, Stafford will be the one who gets to host the event.
