Breaking: Stephen Nichols Reveals REAL Reason He’s Off DAYS

While it was at first revealed that Stephen Nichols left Days of Our Lives (DOOL) over a contract dispute, the actor has now revealed what really went down.

The handsome actor first burst onto the Salem scene back in 1985, setting women’s hearts aflutter even before he captured Kayla’s (Mary Beth Evans) heart, igniting one of the most enduring supercouple love stories ever on the show.

But last March, rumors began to circulate that Nichols may be leaving the show because of a money dispute. It’s not surprising — a lot of actors have been asked to take a pay decrease because of the financial difficulties all of the shows have been suffering due to declining ratings.

At first, it seemed that the actor walked away from negotiations because the amount offered was way too low and he knew he deserved better. Now, the actor has tweeted a response to a concerned fan what the real reason was behind his character taking a powder away from Salem.

“Tori, I am touched and humbled by your kind words. I will be forever indebted to you and all of our dedicated supporters who give so much love. I accepted their offer after trying unsuccessfully to negotiate something better than a 30% cut. With no warning -written out. Truth[.]”

This is a shocking turn of events — to know that Salem didn’t have to lose one of its brightest lights but instead, the show chose to show Nichols the door anyway. It makes a lot of sense now why the actor is still so torn up about leaving. When it was believed to be his choice, it didn’t make a lot of sense.

Now that we know it wasn’t his choice and that he was willing to stay — even with a 30% pay cut — it’s even more heartbreaking than we realized. Hopefully, the show will make a move to rectify this so that the love story of Steve and Kayla can find a way to continue the way fans are hoping for it.

Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes.