Breaking HUGE Soap News: Melissa Reeves Out At DAYS, Cady McClain In

Melissa Reeves is leaving Days of Our Lives. Two-time Daytime Emmy-winner Cady McClain has been tapped to take over the role of Jennifer Horton Deveraux.

Melissa Reeves Out As Jennifer

According to Daytime Confidential, broke the news about the shocking switcheroo: “Days of Our Lives (DOOL) spoilers tease that there’s some shocking casting news to report – and involves the recast of a major character. Although there’s no official confirmation just yet, DOOL insiders are offering up some strong buzz about Cady McClain stepping into the role of Jennifer Deveraux.”

While casting news at DAYS has been breaking all summer, this is a shocker eclipsing even the departure of veteran cast member Kristian Alfonso, who has played Hope since 1983, because unlike in the case of Hope, viewers are going to be seeing a new Jennifer.

Reeves joined DAYS back in 1985 after making her daytime debut as Jade Perkins on NBC soap Santa Barbara. She received two Daytime Emmy nominations for her role as Jennifer in 1992 (Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series) and 2016 (Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series).

McClain is one of daytime’s most respected actress. She made the soap scene in 1989 as Dixie Cooney on All My Children. She won her first of two Daytime Emmys in 1990 in the category of Outstanding Juvenile Female in a Drama Series.

The actress’s next soap role was as Rosanna on As the World Turns where she played opposite Jon Lindstrom (ex-Craig; now Kevin/Ryan on General Hospital) to whom she is wed in real-life. McClain won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2004. She also played Kelly on The Young and the Restless from 2014 to 2015, taking over that role from Cynthia Watros (Nina, GH).

Reeves made headlines about her DAYS status earlier this year. Back in July, TVLine had reported in a story that Reeves had been fired from the NBC soap. But the story was soon taken down and retracted.

TVLine issued a statement that read: “Due to technical error, a story was briefly published on TVLine on Monday evening — and has since surfaced on several of our partner feeds, most notably Yahoo — that erroneously claims Days of Our Lives has fired Melissa Reeves. The story is false. Melissa Reeves has not been fired from Days of Our Lives. In the meantime, we apologize for the error.”

According to Soap Opera Digest, the casting is supposedly temporary as Reeves opted not to return to California from her Tennessee home when DAYS began taping again last week. Days of our Lives airs weekdays on NBC. Check local listings for air times.