The 49th annual Daytime Emmy Awards winners were announced at a live ceremony in Pasadena on Friday, June 24.
Hosted by Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner, the award show honoured the best in daytime talk, game shows, and soap operas and aired on CBS in the U.S. and Global in Canada.
Soap legend Susan Lucci (Erica Kane, All My Children) made a surprise appearance to lead into the ceremony’s In Memoriam segment which honoured some of daytime biggest stars who had passed away this past year, including her husband and talent manager Helmet Huber, As the Worlds Turns’ Kathryn Hays (Kim Hughes), Lisa Brown (Iva Snyder), Another World’s Ray Liotta (Joey Perrini), General Hospital’s Stuart Damon (Alan Quartermaine), All My Children’s Michael Nader (Dimitri Marick), Guiding Light’s Jerry verDorn (Ross Marler), The Young and the Restless’ Jerry Douglas (John Abbott), and Betty White (The Bold and the Beautiful’s Ann Douglas).
ABC and Citytv’s General Hospital led the pack with the most number of wins, including Outstanding Drama Series, where it beat out CBS and CTV’s The Bold and the Beautiful, CBS and Global’s The Young and the Restless, and NBC and Global’s Days of our Lives, and it’s streaming spin-off series Beyond Salem (Peacock in the U.S., STACKTV and W Network in Canada).
General Hospital also won for Outstanding Directing Team and three major acting wins: as Nicholas Chavez (Spencer Cassadine) won for Outstanding Younger Performer, Jeff Kober (Cyrus Renault) won for Outstanding Supporting Actor, Kelly Thiebaud (Britt Westbourne) won for Outstanding Supporting Actress.
Soap vet Ted King won Outstanding Guest Performance in a Drama Series – for his appearance as Jack Finnegan on The Bold and the Beautiful – in a special ceremony that took place on June 19 which honoured the creative side of the Daytime Emmys. King would return during Friday’s ceremony as a presenter. Original Bold and the Beautiful cast member John McCook won for Outstanding Lead Actor for his performance as Eric Forrester – his first win after three nominations.
Days of our Lives veteran John Aniston (Victor Kiriakis) was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award from co-star Suzanne Rogers (Maggie Horton Kiriakis) and real-life daughter (via video) Jennifer Aniston. Although John Aniston was not able to attend in person, Suzanne Rogers accepted the award on his behalf. Days of our Lives also won for Outstanding Writing Team.
Canadian actress Mishael Morgan made history as the first black woman to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as The Young and the Restless’ Amanda Sinclair. The actress was previously nominated in the Supporting Actress category for her turn as Amanda’s twin sister Hilary Curtis in 2018 and 2019.
For a full list of winners from the non-soap categories of the 49th annual Daytime Emmy Awards, please visit TVLine.com.
For the latest soap opera spoilers, previews and news, visit TheTVWatercooler.com/Soaps.
