Days of Our Lives Exclusive: As Babygate Explodes, Dan Feuerriegel Warns, ‘This Is Just Gonna Create Drama’ (2024)

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No, folks, this is not a drill: Nicole is finally getting Jude back on Days of Our Lives! It has been a long half a year, but Sloan’s scheme is finally unraveling… mostly. Because while Jude is going back to his rightful mother, thanks to EJ, he’s being taken away from his father!

It’s all part of his desperate plan to raise Jude as his own, hopefully saving his marriage with Nicole, rather than losing her to Eric. Of course, we all know how that’s going to work out for him once the rest of the truth comes out — Nicole and EJ are heading for splitsville! And with Arianne Zucker exiting the show, we’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a downright explosive split.

When we spoke to Dan Feuerriegel back when this baby drama first started, we thought it might be fun to get his take on who EJ’s true love is. While he’s had a number of flings and affairs over the years, in the end, it really boils down to two people: Zucker’s Nicole and Alison Sweeney’s Sami.

This was, we should note, back before Zucker’s exit, and Feuerriegel was not looking to tick off “EJami” or “EJole” fans! “Well,” he laughed nervously, “this is just gonna create drama.”

So we amended the question and asked who he liked with EJ. That was a bit easier to answer, though Feuerriegel made sure to include a caveat.

“See, if it comes from a personal perspective,” he explained, “it’s Nicole, because I’ve worked with Ari for almost two years. Unfortunately, I haven’t really had that much time with Ali. I’ve only been able to work with her for like a couple of weeks at a time when she’s come back.”

“I haven’t been able to develop that kind of depth with her,” he explained. “I obviously haven’t had the time that, say [EJ’s former portrayer] James Scott did to develop that kind of rapport with another actor. To go through the drama with that actor shooting those scenes.

So for “current EJ” as Feuerriegel put it — meaning his version of EJ — Nicole was his true love “because I’ve worked with her for the most part and I’ve gone through things. I’ve been able to be vulnerable with her.”

Yes, he has gotten time with Sami — she was the one who brought EJ back to life, after all — but Sweeney hasn’t been on contract since he joined the show. So, he went on to explain, “all the things that I did with Ali were all kind of like things were happening rather than being able to sit down and share a moment. It was about catching up. It was all about the stuff with Lucas, and it was all about this and this and this… There was never really a time to kind of grow that.”

Maybe that even explains in part why EJ is so desperate to keep Nicole, even being willing to raise someone else’s son as a DiMera. Because for now, this EJ and this Nicole are perfect together… At least until EJ’s lies blow everything apart!

While we think with the way this fallout is heading, Nicole seems likely to exit with her portrayer, we aren’t actually sure if that’s the case. The show may have recast her, which would mean there’s always a chance that EJ and Nicole could reunite someday.

If that seems unlikely after all this, remember they found their way back together after Nicole stole Sami and EJ’s baby, convincing everyone that she had died and raising Sydney as her and EJ’s kid. There doesn’t seem to be a lot these two won’t forgive. But chemistry can change with new actors and sometimes, there’s just no going back.

Take a look back at EJ’s life and loves (not just Sami and Nicole!) in our photo gallery below.