X Marks the Spot: Do Days Of Our Lives Fans Care What Happened to Xander?

One minute Xander was on Days Of Our Lives, the next he was… somewhere else. Which seems to happen a lot.

He was presumed to have died alongside Nicole (Arianne Zucker), but then he popped up again, like the proverbial bad penny. Now he’s gone again. Where did he go? Does the show care? Are fans supposed to care? Do you care?

We asked almost 8,000 viewers whether or not they missed Xander (Paul Tefler), and here are the replies:

Nothing Doing
Truth be told, 77% of you were really hoping the fire that got Nicole would also be the last you saw of Xander.

Because, really, who needed him? He was a one-dimensional villain whose hobbies included twirling his proverbial mustache, threatening people, and walking around shirtless after a dip in the Kiriakis pool. (So OK, so maybe you didn’t mind that part so much.)

Xander never made a true love connection during any of his stays in Salem, and if you can’t do that on a soap, you’re a waste of space. He enjoys blackmailing people, but it’s not very effective, and the guy he really wants to bring down, Victor (John Aniston), is too smart for his childish games. So, Xander, don’t let the door hit you on the way out!

Plenty of Potential
We do miss him, 23% of the audience counters. Xander might be a mustache-twirling blackmailer (with nice abs), but he’s also funny!

He enjoys his villainy in a way brooding Stefan (Brandon Barash) and needy Eve (Kassie DePaiva) refuse to.

And his scenes with Leo (Greg Rikaart) were actually amusing – in a way the forced Bonnie (Judi Evans) and Hattie (Deidre Hall) wackiness tried and failed miserably. Why not hook those two up — either professionally or personally — and let the pair go to town on all the do-gooders in Salem? (Of course, Leo is gone now, too.)

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