DAYS' Foster, OLTL's Gregory lead nominees for 13th Annual Soaphunks.net Awards

DAYS freshman Bren Foster and OLTL sophomore David A. Gregory both scored six nominations to lead the 13th Annual Soaphunks.net Award nominations, announced Wednesday at soaphunks.net. 80 nominations were announced covering 16 categories.

Both Foster and Gregory placed in the top category--Best Hunk--along with B&B's Adam Gregory, OLTL's Josh Kelly, and AMC's Jordi Vilasuso.

This is the first year since 2006 where four of the five Best Hunk nominees are competing in that category for the first time. Only OLTL's Gregory has previously been up for Best Hunk, having won the title last year.

A total of 36 soap hunks received nominations this year. With 24 nominations, OLTL led all shows for the fourth consecutive year, helping ABC lead the networks with 38 nominations. NBC scored 22 nods, with CBS at 20.

Other points of interest:

• In AMC's final broadcast year on ABC, the sudser managed five nominations, three of them going to Vilasuso. Cameron Mathison's nod (for Best Hunk Over 40) marks his 38th career nomination, lengthening the record he already held. And the soap itself picked up its eighth nomination for Hunkiest Soap, an award it hasn't been up for since 2007. AMC finishes with a total of 116 nominations and (thus far) 22 wins.
• Austin Peck's 22nd career nomination (Most Shamefully Clothed for ABC's OLTL) makes the actor the first hunk in history to pick up a nomination for appearances on all three networks. Peck's 21 previous nominations came from NBC's DAYS and CBS' ATWT.
• AMC's Jordi Vilasuso sets a record this year for the longest gap between nominations. His three nods in 2011 are his first in a decade, since receiving two bids in 2001 for GL.
• By referring to him on the show SEVEN TIMES as having won the fictional title of "Llanview's Best Arms," OLTL was clearly shouting-out to star David Fumero's win in that category last year in the Soaphunks.net Awards. And 2011 finds him up in that category yet again, with a record on the line: A win would give him four victories in that category, which would be the most all-time.
• Just three months shy of his 17th birthday, OLTL's teen heartthrob Andrew Trischitta becomes the youngest nominee ever with his three nominations.

The entire list of nominations is available online. Complete year-by-year history of the awards is also available online.

As always, voting begins December 1 at soaphunks.net.

Adams goes ultra

Anytime we come across an ad that features a shirtless soap hunk, we like to share it with you. So, check out Soaphunks.net Award winner Timothy Adams showing us his cure for athlete's foot!

Adams gets covered

What does a hunk do when he's not busy memorizing his lines for a soap? Well, if the hunk is OLTL, GL, and SUBE alum, Timothy Adams, the answer is simple. He poses for romance novel covers.

The studly actor/model's flesh has graced the front of over 100 romance books. How does Adams manage to keep his Fabio physique? Read more about Adams' workout routine and photo shoots here.

11th Annual Soaphunks.net Awards announced!

With six nods each, DAYS' Shawn Christian and OLTL's Mark Lawson led all nominees Wednesday as the 11th Annual Soaphunks.net Award nominations were announced live at soaphunks.net. 80 nominations were announced covering 16 categories.

Both Christian and Lawson placed in the top category, Best Hunk, along with B&B's Brandon Beemer, OLTL's David Fumero, and Y&R's Daniel Goddard.

Lawson won Best Hunk last year, while Fumero won in both 2001 & 2002. Beemer is now only the third person to be nominated for the top award in three consecutive years. This is Christian's second career Best Hunk nod, and Goddard's debut appearance here marks Y&R's first inclusion in the top category since 2005.

A total of 39 soap hunks received nominations this year, a tie for the second-most ever. With 18 nominations, OLTL led all shows for the second consecutive year, helping ABC lead the
networks with 33 nominations. CBS scored 28 nods, and NBC nabbed 19.

Other points of interest:

• The good news for CBS: B&B once again broke its own record for nominations, with nine nods spread amongst Beemer, Don Diamont (scoring his 26th career mention), Texas Battle, and Rick Hearst. Similarly, sister soap Y&R had its second-best year ever, with 14 nominations. (The CBS flagship soap received 17 nominations in 2000.)


• The bad news for CBS: ATWT posted its worst showing in six years, scoring only three nominations. What's worse: the de-hunkified sudser saw all three of those nods (Van Hansis, Billy Magnussen, & Jake Silbermann) in the Most Shamefully Clothed Category. Memo to ATWT's powers-that-be: Shirts! Off! More!

• The nominations for Murray Bartlett and Lawrence St. Victor mark the final nods for GL, bringing its series total to 28 nominations...and no wins.

• Will you guys ever give the boy a trophy? The Soaphunks.net Susan Lucci, Y&R's Thad Luckinbill, is back with two more nominations, extending his unfortunate lead in the no-wins race, with 18 career nominations but no wins.


• AMC's Cameron Mathison, suddenly finding himself eligible for Best Hunk Over 40 honors, picked up two more nominations this year, widening his lead as the most nominated soap hunk ever, with 37 career nominations.

The entire list of nominations can be streamed online, while the text version is also available. Complete year-by-year history of the awards is also available online.

As always, voting begins December 1 at soaphunks.net.

Farewell, Guding Light!

You will be missed.

GL's Driscoll Genoa City-bound

From Soap Opera Source:

Daytime Confidential is reporting that former GL star John Driscoll will join Y&R as Phillip Chancellor IV. Driscoll spent 5 years playing Coop Bradshaw on GL before he was written out in early 2009.

Phillip is the son of Nina Webster (Tricia Cast) and the late Phillip Chancellor III (Thom Bierdz). Phillip is also the grandson of Jill Foster Abbott (Jess Walton). The character's name has been dropped a couple of times over the past few months. During Katherine's "funeral," Nina revealed Phillip was fighting in the Iraq war.

According to DC's source, Driscoll will heavily interact with Adrienne Frantz (Amber), Christel Khalil (Lily) and Elizabeth Hendrickson (Chloe). Also interesting will bethe dynamic between Phillip and Cane (Daniel Goddard), seeing as how Cane turned out to be the "real" Phillip. During Katherine's "funeral," Nina looked at Cane and said "He's no Phillip." Was Y&R foreshadowing a story for the fans? It seems the writers have forgotten the DNA test between Jill and Cane did not match, yet she accepted Cane as her son anyway. It seems the writers have also forgotten the mysterious phone calls Cane made shortly after Jill accepted him as her son. Hmmmmmm….

The last time Phillip graced Genoa City with his presence was in 2001, when he was played by current Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley. Current Sarah Connor Chronicles star Thomas Dekker played the role back in 1993.

No first airdate has been given.

'Guiding Light' cancelled

It's official. CBS has cancelled the longest-running program in broadcast history, as "Guiding Light" will leave the airwaves in September 2009.

More details at Daytime Confidential.

Engen stalled; Driscoll done

The economic woes of the country continue to have trickle down to daytime television, and apparently CBS isn’t quite finished tightening its purse strings. Hot on the heels of the ouster of Y&R's legendary soap hunk Don Diamont comes word that the ratings leader is also letting 2008 Hunkiest Newcomer nominee Chris Engen go, along with Vail Bloom and Michael Gross.

Over at GL, sexy John Driscoll, nominated for Hunkiest Newcomer in 2004, has reportedly been given the pink slip. The exit is rumored to be permanent for his character, “Coop” Bradshaw. E.J. Bonilla and Kane Manera are also out, along with Bonnie Dennison and Caitlin Van Zant.

Light's on for Aleksander

GL fans who have been missing the popular character of Phillip Spaulding can rest easy. Word has it that four-time Soaphunks.net Award nominee Grant Aleksander will soon be returning to heat things up in Springfield.