Days of Our Lives Comings and Goings: Leo Howard Is An All-New Tate Black

Days of Our Lives may be dealing with a baby switch, but the show is making a different kind of switcheroo in real life. A new Tate Black is headed to Salem to replace Jamie Martin Mann, who is leaving the show in order to attend college full-time. Leo Howard takes over the character as Tate finally gets out of the halfway house after being locked up for a crime he didn’t commit.

The New Face of Tate

TV Insider first reported the news of Howard joining DAYS as the newest Tate Black, son of Brady Black and Theresa Donovan (Emily O’Brien). He’s set to debut on Peacock next Friday, April 5. The actor’s first scenes are with Daytime Emmy-winner Eric Martsolf, who plays Brady. But the person really on Tate’s mind is Holly (Ashley Puzemis).

Recently, Holly faced her mom’s wrath when she confessed the truth. She told Brady, Nicole (Arianne Zucker), and EJ (Daniel Feuerriegel) that the drugs she overdosed on were hers, not Tate’s. As a result, Tate is no longer in jail, a juvie facility, or a halfway house. He gets to spend a nice morning with his dad, thinking about Holly. (Find out who’s returning to DAYS here)

The 26-year-old is a daytime newcomer, but his credits include The Vampire Diaries spinoff of a spinoff called Legacies and Netflix’s Santa Clarita Diet, which starred Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant. He also starred in a Hulu Original Series called Freakish and played the young version of Jason Momoa in Conan the Barbarian.

From Disney XD to DAYS

But his biggest gig put his martial arts skills to great use. Growing up he competed in martial arts competitions and it’s always been a part of his life. He was one of the leads in the Disney XD comedy Kickin’ It, a show about a young karate fighter. Howard appeared in all 84 episodes of the popular series and had the opportunity to direct an episode. In fact, he actually became the youngest person to ever direct an episode of a television series.

He told TV Insider that his mother and grandmother both watch — and battle over their soaps — General Hospital and DAYS, respectively. In fact, his mom was catching up on DAYS when she spotted her favorite actor, AKA Steve Burton. “That is just her favorite. So the fact that he’s on DAYS made her very happy.”

He also told the entertainment outlet what he’s learning about Tate, and what he’s excited to explore. “He’s had a rough go of it,” he said. “He’s 17, and it’s not where you want to be at 17, all the while trying to explore being in love for the first time with Holly.”