Martsolf, DAYS sweep 14th Annual Soaphunks.net Awards

Eric Martsolf finally took top honors as the winners of the 14th Annual Soaphunks.net Awards were announced Sunday.

The DAYS stud, who has previous lost the awards' top contest three times, finally won the Best Hunk prize. He also won for Best Arms and Best Hunk Over 40, marking the first time the same person has won both the regular and the Over 40 races in the same year.

Martsolf re-tweeted news of his wins Sunday with his thanks.

It was effectively a sweep for DAYS, a soap that had not had as much success the past few years in these awards. With the recently-sweeping but now-cancelled OLTL out of the way, DAYS managed 12 victories in all. The series won its record-setting seventh Hunkiest Soap trophy, in the most dominant race in awards history.

The only person to win multiple awards outside of DAYS was Y&R's Marco Dapper, whose leading seven nominations going in turned into wins for Hunkiest Newcomer, Best Torso, and Best Butt.

It was a pair of victories each for the DAYS trio of Chandler Massey (Best Pecs and Best Eyes), James Scott (Best Abs and Best Voice), and Freddie Smith (Most Shamefully Clothed and Best Smile).

Other DAYS victors: Greg Vaughan for Best Face and Casey Deidrick for Best Hair.

All-time wins leader Brandon Beemer of B&B won Most Missed Soap Hunk, padding his lead with his 18th Soaphunks.net Awards win.

Complete voting results can be viewed at the Soaphunks.net Award archive.

Y&R's Dapper leads nominees for 14th Annual Soaphunks.net Awards

Y&R hottie Marco Dapper landed seven nominations to lead the pack in the 14th Annual Soaphunks.net Award nominations, announced Wednesday at soaphunks.net. 79 nominations were announced covering 16 categories.

It is the first time a Y&R actor has held the yearly nominations lead.

One of Dapper's nods came in the top category — Best Hunk —along with B&B's Scott Clifton & Adam Gregory and DAYS' Shawn Christian & Eric Martsolf. Gregory, Christian, and Martsolf have six previous Best Hunk nominations between them, but none has ever won the top prize.

Christian, Gregory and Martsolf each received five nods, as did DAYS' Chandler Massey. Clifton got four total nominations.

A total of 33 soap hunks received nominations this year. With 28 nominations, DAYS led all shows for the first time in four years, though it was CBS that led the networks with 32 nominations. NBC scored 29 nods, with ABC at 18.

Other points of interest:

• With his five nominations this year, DAYS' Eric Martsolf passes B&B's Don Diamont for the second-most total nominations all-time with 33. Diamont's two 2012 nominations give him a lifetime total of 32. (AMC's Cameron Mathison remains in first place with 38.)
• The Best Voice nomination for Y&R's Daniel Goddard ties the Aussie actor with GH's Tyler Christopher for an unfortunate record: most nominations without any wins.
• After having won the award for Most Missed Soap Hunk the past two years, DAYS' just-debuted Greg Vaughan turned his one week of eligibility this year into a nomination for Best Face, the 18th nomination of his career.
• The good news for GH's Erik Valdez and DAYS' Schuyler Yancey is that both were nominated as Hunkiest Newcomer. The bad news is that both have already received walking papers from their respective shows. A third nominee, GH's Nathin Butler, was killed off earlier this fall.
• With four of the five nominees in the Best Face category, DAYS becomes the first soap to accomplish that feat since OLTL landed four hunks in the Best Arms race in 2010.
• GH's Drew Cheetwood, who has recurred on the soap since 2006, finally stripped down in 2012, and his first Soaphunks.net Award nomination followed (Best Arms).

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

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

Vaughan joining DAYS' Brady Bunch?

Major rumors are circulating that Y&R and GH alum Greg Vaughan could be headed to Salem to play Sami's long-absent twin brother, Eric Brady. The role was previously played by Jensen Ackles, who has moved on to primetime stardom on Supernatural. Eric Brady hasn't been seen since 2000. 

Adding fuel to the rumors, Vaughan will be co-starring with DAYS' Alison Sweeney in an upcoming Hallmark movie.

The 8-time Soaphunks.net Award winner would make a welcome addition to the hunky roster at DAYS. Vaughan's talents have been sorely missed on daytime, as proven by his consecutive Soaphunks.net Award wins for Most Missed Soap Hunk of 2010 and 2011.

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.

Wilson Bethel gives his shirt for a good cause

Former Y&R hunk Wilson Bethel has shed his daytime bad boy image (and his shirt) to show he is not above raising awareness for climate change. In fact, the stud, currently starring on The CW's "Hart of Dixie," took to the airwaves in a PSA about the television network's gracious efforts to be more eco-friendly by eliminating "wasteful wardrobe" and spreading the message that true environmental change will only happen when everyone addresses the problem head-on...and shirt-off!

Check out the PSA for yourself and don't forget to Give a Shirt!

Y&R's Muhney rings up GuyswithiPhones

The risque and often NSFW Web site GuysWithiPhones recently had a celebrity sighting: Y&R's Michael Muhney!

Muhney's pants-less pics were sadly only PG (well, maybe PG-13), but welcome nonetheless!

Check them out via Towleroad...

Shemar shows Moore on "The Talk"

Soaphunks.net Award winner Shemar Moore landed a guest hosting gig on the June 21st episode of the CBS gabfest "The Talk," and he did much more than just talk. Moore lifted his shirt to reveal that at 41 years old, he's still got it! Is that a 12-pack? Watch the clip and count for yourself.

38th Annual Daytime Emmy Nominations

The usual suspects and some strange head-scratchers dominated the list of nominees for the 38th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. GH led with 21 nominations, while Y&R claimed 20.

Both of those soaps are up for Best Drama Series, along with AMC (13 noms) and last year's winner, B&B (14 nods).

OLTL, generally considered to be the best soap on the air, received scant recognition thanks to their annual bungling of tape submissions. (Really, OLTL? You submitted "Starr X'ed Lovers?") The show received 12 nominations, nothing bigger than the supporting races.

NBC's lone soap, DAYS, received five nominations. The now canceled ATWT got four nods in its last at-bat.

Among soap hunks nominated were DAYS' James Scott and Chandler Massey, GH's Jason Thompson and Chad Duell, Y&R's Billy Miller, and B&B's Scott Clifton.

The major nominations:

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
All My Children (ABC)
The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS)
General Hospital (ABC)
The Young and the Restless (CBS)

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR
Maurice Benard, GH
Ricky Paull Goldin, AMC
Christian LeBlanc, Y&R
Michael Park, ATWT
James Scott, DAYS

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS
Susan Flannery, B&B
Alicia Minshew, AMC
Debbi Morgan, AMC
Michelle Stafford, Y&R
Laura Wright, GH
Colleen Zenk, ATWT

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR

Doug Davidson, Y&R

Jonathan Jackson, GH

Brian Kerwin, OLTL

Billy Miller, Y&R

Jason Thompson, GH

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Tricia Cast, Y&R
Melissa Claire Egan, AMC
Nancy Lee Grahn, GH
Julie Pinson, ATWT
Heather Tom, B&B
Bree Williamson, OLTL

(No Robin Strasser, Academy? Really?!)

OUTSTANDING YOUNGER ACTOR
Scott Clifton, B&B
Chad Duell, GH
Chandler Massey, DAYS

OUTSTANDING YOUNGER ACTRESS
Lexi Ainsworth, GH
Brittany Allen, AMC
Emily O'Brien, Y&R

The 38th Annual Daytime Emmys will be televised live from Las Vegas June 19th on CBS.

Cane mutiny: Just WHAT is going on with Y&R's Daniel Goddard?

Okay, see if you can follow all this.

In late 2010/early 2011, rumors starting circulating that Y&R megastud Daniel Goddard had been fired from the show. The powers-that-be had no official comment, but given the soap's unceremonious history of killing off its long-time hunks (think Don Diamont and Scott Reeves), it seemed believable.

Fast forward a few weeks and indeed, Goddard's Cane Ashby apparently met his maker when his character was murdered on the Feb. 3rd episode. He has not been seen onscreen since.

This development sent off a firestorm among Goddard's fiercely loyal fanbase, who began avalanching Y&R with demands for his return. Online petitions now sport signatures in the tens of thousands, and the actor's personal Facebook and Twitter pages are overflowing with support for the Aussie-born hunk.

What's odd is that the show STILL has had no official comment on the status of the actor. Has the 10-time Soaphunks.net Award nominee really been let go, or is this all an elaborate cat-and-mouse game being used to hide a story twist in which Cane is very much alive? (I'm personally betting on the latter.)

Nonetheless, this level of outrage over a firing among fans is notably rare in daytime, and Y&R would be wise to take note. If Goddard really was let go, he should be brought back. And if he wasn't fired, he needs to be front-burner more often. (Preferably without a shirt, but that's just me.)

And as if Goddard didn't have enough stress with all of this, the actor was injured during a stop on Soap Cruise 2011, in which his leg got on the wrong end of a fight with a moped. See the evidence below...and ouch. Here's wishing you a speedy recovery, Daniel!

Vaughan's number is 775

It's good to see that Y&R/GH alum and 7-time Soaphunks.net Award winner Greg Vaughan is still finding work.

Check out the FreeScore.com commercial below to see Vaughan and the other "Credit Score Guys" in action. It's a shame his rating is only a 775 because Mr. Vaughan is a perfect 800 in the eyes of his fans.

David A. Gregory, OLTL lead 12th Annual Soaphunks.net Award nominations

With a near-record seven nods, OLTL breakout sensation David A. Gregory led all nominees Wednesday as the 12th Annual Soaphunks.net Award nominations were announced live at soaphunks.net. 80 nominations were announced covering 16 categories.

Gregory placed in the top category--Best Hunk--along with B&B's Brandon Beemer, OLTL's David Fumero, DAYS' Eric Martsolf, and GH's Brandon Barash.

Beemer won Best Hunk last year, while Fumero won in both 2001 & 2002. Beemer is now the only person to be nominated for the top award in four consecutive years, while Fumero's mention ties the record for most Best Hunk nominations ever with five. This is Martsolf's third career Best Hunk nod, and Barash's debut appearance here marks GH's first inclusion in the top category since 2005.

A total of 38 soap hunks received nominations this year, down one from 2009 but still among the most ever. With 25 nominations, OLTL led all shows for the third consecutive year, helping ABC lead the networks with 41 nominations. CBS scored 20 nods, with NBC right behind with 19.

Other points of interest:

• As the world stopped turning for ATWT this year, so did its luck with the Soaphunks.net Awards, placing in only two categories: Best Butt for Billy Magnussen and Most Missed Soap Hunk for Austin Peck. ATWT finishes with a total of 64 nominations and (thus far) 12 wins.
• For the first time in awards history, one soap has managed to claim four of the five available spots in a category. The Best Arms race this year pits OLTL's Fumero, Gregory, Mark Lawson, and Max Tapper all in the same category.
• After 2009 finally saw wins for perennial bridesmaids Thad Luckinbill and Shemar Moore of Y&R, now GH's Tyler Christopher widens his stance in the role of the Soaphunks.net Susan Lucci. Christopher's Best Arms nomination is his lucky 13th with no wins.
• For the first year in Soaphunks.net Awards history, AMC's Cameron Mathison was not nominated in any category. Mathison had placed in at least one category every year since the first awards in 1999. Still, the former Best Hunk winner holds the all-time record for most nominations with a whopping 37.

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.

Y&R runs out of Luckinbill

Say it ain't so! Rumors of Thad Luckinbill's exit from The Young & the Restless have been rampant in recent months but it now appears official as Luckinbill's wife & co-star, Amelia Heinle, has confirmed via interview that her hubby is departing the daytime drama.

After 10 years with Y&R, his character, JT Hellstrom, will end his run when Luckinbill's contract expires. Thad Luckinbill has also been a fixture here on Soaphunks.net where he became affectionately known as the 'Susan Lucci' of the Soaphunks.net Awards. After 18 nominations, over 7 years, Luckinbill finally scored a win for "Most Shamefully Clothed" in 2009.

It's not clear when Luckinbill will last air on Y&R but it will certainly be a sad day for all his fans, despite his diminished attention on the show in recent years. We hope greener pastures lead to much bigger things for one of daytime's finest.

Leyden lands in Genoa City

It looks like former ATWT hunk, Paul Leyden, is headed to Genoa City. The 6-time Soaphunks.net Award nominee will first air on Y&R on October 6th in the role of "Blake." No word on whether Leyden will be reunited with his former ATWT co-star Maura West, but kudos to Y&R for nabbing yet another hunky man!

Jeff Branson is Young and Restless

Former AMC and GL hunk Jeff Branson is set to move to Genoa City. The Emmy winner will join several of his former co-stars, including hunks Billy Miller and John Driscoll, in his new home at The Young & The Restless.

Branson recently signed with Y&R for what is described as a "breakout role" that is part of a major storyline to be played out over the Summer. Next week, Branson will make his debut on the CBS soap as Detective Ronan Malloy, a new character who will be partnered with Chance (played by Driscoll).

Jeff Branson won the 2009 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his role on GL and is set to bring his acting chops to Genoa City beginning June 22nd.

Michael Muhney exits Y&R

After months of speculation, Michael Muhney confirmed via Twitter that his role on daytime's No. 1 soap, Y&R, has come to an end. Muhney was signed to a one-year contract after taking over the role of the villainous Adam Wilson from Chris Engen back in June 2009.

Muhney may have been axed by Y&R, but his character, Adam, was last seen as a burnt corpse after an explosion. The character's death has kicked off a murder mystery set to play out over the next few months.

Dimples on The Strip

Check out People.com's latest video feature, which combines two of my favorite things: Las Vegas and SUBE/Y&R alum Eddie Cibrian's fine physique! On a shirtless photo shoot atop the Palms hotel, Eddie looks as hot as ever. The steamy footage is here.

If this is what People magazine is featuring these days, sign me up for a subscription!

Meet your new Malcolm

The geniuses in the Y&R casting department have found a replacement for the character of Malcolm Winters: former Family Matters star Darius McCrary!

Malcolm was previously played for the better part of a decade by hunkalicious Shemar Moore, who won an Emmy as well as making hearts flutter with some of the hunkiest moments in daytime television history. (Moore is nominated in this year's Soaphunks.net Awards as Most Missed Soap Hunk.)

I'll just say that McCrary may be a fine, talented actor, but whoever made this casting decision clearly doesn't know that there is an entire other dynamic that the audience expects from this character. Epic fail.

(To be honest, the only possible acceptable replacement I could have envisioned for Moore would have been Marcus Patrick.)

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.

GH nabs Scott Reeves for daytime return

Woohoo! One of soaps' most stunningly handsome hunks is headed back to daytime. GH has wooed Scott Reeves (a two-time Emmy nominee) into a recurring role as a recast of Steven Lars Webber.

Reeves is, of course, best known as Y&R's Ryan McNeil, a role he left to focus full-time on his country band, Blue County. During his Y&R run, the abs-tastic Reeves scored 8 Soaphunks.net Award nominations, including one win.

You got to strip dowwwwn to do the Lambada!

From my Youtube channel:

Here's a fun (and ridiculous) clip from Y&R in 1990. Drucilla has been introduced as the soap version of "ghetto," and then she proceeds to insult my Brad's perfect body. This did not put her high on my like list back in 1990! But we get to see Don Diamont in his requisite Speedo, so who cares! (Classic line: "You got to strip dowwwwn to do the Lambada!") Plus, what she's teaching him is hardly the Lambada!