On episode 1206 of Daytime Confidential, Luke Kerr, Jillian Bowe, Joshua Baldwin and Melodie Aikels dish the latest Beyond the Gates, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and The Young and the Restless headlines and storylines.  The DC crew remember J Bernard Jones, who passed away this past week. A Daytime Confidential writer and podcast regular during the early years, J Bernard left an unforgettable mark in the world of soap opera commentary. In late 2025, Jones returned to the podcast for a special Daytime Confidential Reflections episode and shared his thoughts on the current state of soups and the health challenges he'd faced down. It was a wonderful episode and anyone who misses his prescence in the soap opera community should listen to it.  Kat donates her organ to save Eva on Beyond the Gates and while still "under" she experiences a "What if" nightmare where she finds herself in Eva's shoes. Many soap fans, including Luke, felt the show was making Kat more evil than she really is, but Melodie has a very different take on went down. Last week, the DC co-hosts noted that Juneteenth wasn't mentioned during the big disaster event and wondered whether we'd see it this week. There wasn't a peep. Is it odd that BTG didn't mention Juneteenth when Days of Our Lives has integrated it into its storylines so well?  Logan vs. Forrester is delivering juicy drama and the feud between Katie and Brooke has Donna caught in the middle. Is The Bold and the Beautiful the most improved soap opera of 2026?  Is Days of Our Lives getting lost in the weeds with the Liam Selejko storyline and how it connects to Holly's overdose and viewers finding out that everything bad is connected to EJ and a batch of bad pills that were buried on Horton island. DAYS delivers all the great flashbacks for Deidre Hall's anniversary with the show.  Anna DeVane is back on General Hospital. From Drew to BLQ, at least four different Quartermaines are gunning for Willow. Will she go down because of one of the Q's? Luke really enjoyed the Carly and Lucas scenes this week.  Josh Griffith is OUT at The Young and the Restless and no tears are being shed on the podcast. After gutting the writing team and making the No. 1 soap opera nearly unrecognizable, we are ready for a new era at Y&R. Should CBS consider an interim head writer while an exhastive search is made to find Griffith's replacement? Someone to wrap up Josh's storylines and set the table for a new head writer.  All this and more on the latest Daytime Confidential podcast! Bluesky: @DCConfidential, LukeKerr, JillianBowe, Josh Baldwin, and Melodie Aikels. Facebook: Daytime Confidential Subscribe to Daytime Confidential on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

On episode 1205 of Daytime Confidential, Luke Kerr, Jillian Bowe and Joshua Baldwin dive into the latest Beyond the Gates, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and The Young and the Restless headlines and storylines.  All this and more on the latest Daytime Confidential podcast! Bluesky: @DCConfidential, LukeKerr, JillianBowe, Josh Baldwin, and Melodie Aikels. Facebook: Daytime Confidential Subscribe to Daytime Confidential on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

On episode 1204 of Daytime Confidential, Luke Kerr, Jillian Bowe and Melodie Aikels take a deep dive into the Beyond the Gates' disaster spectacular that brought The Young and the Restless' Newmans, Abbotts and Winters to Fairmont Crest.  The DC trio shares what stood out to them, before digging into the meaty drama of the past week.  From Victor Newman's (Eric Braeden) arrival by helicopter to Jack (Peter Bergman) and Diane (Susan Walters) dodging Tomas (Alex Alegria) and Kyle (Michael Mealor) and Hayley's (Marquita Goings) chemistry, they delve into the Genoa City guests at Martin's (Brandon Claybon) fundraiser. Should Kyle visit Fairmont Crest again in the future or Hayley set her sights on Kyle after scoring a fortune from Bill?  The Young and the Restless dropped the ball on aligning its storylines with the crossover's continuity.  Before the fundraiser kicked off viewers finally learned the idenitity of The Impaler. Super Joey Armstrong (Jon Lindstrom) saved Abby (Melissa Ordway) from a chandelier cake topper, but why was he so front and center in the disaster? Why wasn't he kicked out instead of being allowed to hang around. Why is Vanessa (Lauren Buglioli) so stupid?  Kat (Colby Nixon) and Eva (Ambyr Michelle) trapped together provided great drama, but will anyone be on Kat's side when she doesn't want to donate a kidney to save her half-sister's life?  Leslie (Trisha Mann-Grant) had some of the best singers of the event, but BTG still gave her moments of humanity as she searched for her missing daughter.  Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett) and Dani (Karla Mosley) had sex in the elevator, but what does this mean for Dani and Andre (Sean Freeman)? Should BTG tell a who's the daddy storyline or should they leave a baby out of the picture? Andre professing his fear of losing Dani tore the DC hosts apart. Does Bill want back in the Dupree family?  Martin went from being trapped under a tree to an asshole in the blink of an eye.  A couple characters' wigs and eyebrows distracted the hosts from the drama.  The tornado event definitely provided an opportunity for some actors to step up, while other actors stumbled under the weight of the special episodes.  The hosts reveal their final thoughts on the Beyond the Gates / The Young and the Restless disaster crossover before rating the event.  All this and more on the latest Daytime Confidential podcast! Bluesky: @DCConfidential, LukeKerr, JillianBowe, Josh Baldwin, and Melodie Aikels. Facebook: Daytime Confidential Subscribe to Daytime Confidential on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

On episode 1203 of Daytime Confidential, Luke Kerr, Jillian Bowe, Joshua Baldwin and Melodie Aikels dive into the latest Beyond the Gates, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and The Young and the Restless headlines and storylines.  All this and more on the latest Daytime Confidential podcast! Bluesky: @DCConfidential, LukeKerr, JillianBowe, Josh Baldwin, and Melodie Aikels. Facebook: Daytime Confidential Subscribe to Daytime Confidential on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

On episode #1202 of Daytime Confidential, Luke Kerr, Joshua Baldwin and Melodie Aikels dive into the biggest headlines and storylines that stood out for them on Beyond the Gates, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and The Young and the Restless.  All this and more on the latest Daytime Confidential podcast! Bluesky: @DCConfidential, LukeKerr, JillianBowe, Josh Baldwin, and Melodie Aikels. Facebook: Daytime Confidential Subscribe to Daytime Confidential on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

On episode 1201 of Daytime Confidential, Luke Kerr, Melodie Aikels and Joshua Baldwin count down the Top 5 Current Soap Actors Who Have Leveled Up.  These are the soap opera actors from your favorite soaps who started out their runs not knowing how to act or made questionable acting decisions but who have since improved.  Some of these actor's left soaps and returned better actors. Others were "learned" at the knee of soap thespians like Maura West, Heather Tom, Don Diamont, Rena Sofer, Rick Hearst, Jane Elliot and more.  All this and more on the latest Daytime Confidential podcast! Bluesky: @DCConfidential, LukeKerr, JillianBowe, Josh Baldwin, and Melodie Aikels. Facebook: Daytime Confidential Subscribe to Daytime Confidential on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

Daytime Confidential celebrates its 1200th episode with the return of Jamey Giddens to the podcast. Join Luke Kerr and Jamey Giddens as they reminisce over the show's 1200 episodes, dive into Jamey's award-winning writing career, the great news of Beyond the Gates' two year renewal and reveals publicly for the first time the cancer diagnosis and treatment he underwent over the past year. The duo discusses Jamey's evolution from soap opera journalist to daytime and primetime soap opera writer on shows like The Rich and the Ruthless, Tyler Perry's Sistas, Days of Our Lives and Beyond the Gates. Jamey recounts the impact of Will Packer's mentorship through their show Ambitions and acknowledges the karma in going from a podcast journalist critiquing TV writing to being on the receiving end of fan critiques. The two celebrate the two-year renewal of Beyond the Gates, what it means for the show and for the soap opera genre as an industry. Jamey credits Michelle Val Jean for the show's success and gives a shout out to the show's amazing cast, crew, writing team and production assistant. Luke and Jamey observe how daytime talk shows are being slaughtered by video podcasts and which talk shows remain unique while others seem to be Oprah or Ellen knockoffs. Luke and Jamey remember early Daytime Confidential listener The Best, better known as Tiggz, and co-host of The Chat. Our thoughts go out to those closest to him. Luke and Jamey delve into the nuance of the WGA's new deal with the studios. Jamey shares his life-altering prostate cancer diagnosis, treatment and how the experience and his continued recovery has made him face some things he never anticipated. All this and more on Daytime Confidential's 1200th Episode! Bluesky: @DCConfidential, LukeKerr, JillianBowe, Josh Baldwin, and Melodie Aikels. Facebook: Daytime Confidential Subscribe to Daytime Confidential on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

On episode 1199 of Daytime Confidential, Luke Kerr, Jillian Bowe and Melodie Aikels dive into the latest Daytime Emmy Award Nomination changes and juicy storylines from Beyond the Gates, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and The Young and the Restless.  All this and more on the latest Daytime Confidential podcast! Bluesky: @DCConfidential, LukeKerr, JillianBowe, Josh Baldwin, and Melodie Aikels. Facebook: Daytime Confidential Subscribe to Daytime Confidential on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

On episode #1198 of Daytime Confidential, Luke Kerr, Jillian Bowe, Joshua Baldwin and Melodie Aikels dish the latest Beyond the Gates, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and The Young and the Restless storylines.  All this and more on the latest Daytime Confidential podcast! Bluesky: @DCConfidential, LukeKerr, JillianBowe, Josh Baldwin, and Melodie Aikels. Facebook: Daytime Confidential Subscribe to Daytime Confidential on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

On episode 1197 of Daytime Confidential, Luke Kerr, Joshua Baldwin and Melodie Aikels look back at the first year of the new CBS soap opera Beyond the Gates.  Find out what stood out about Beyond the Gates year one for each of the DC co-hosts. They then dive into BTG's biggest strengths and biggest opportunities for improvement after the first year.  What were the best storylines BTG told, must-see character(s) and best couple of year one?  Listen as the Daytime Confidential crew share the things about Beyond the Gates that they either loved or hated when BTG premiered but feel the opposite about it now? The episode then looks forward to Beyond the Gates Year 2 and what changes they would like to see.  All this and more on the latest Daytime Confidential podcast! Bluesky: @DCConfidential, LukeKerr, JillianBowe, Josh Baldwin, and Melodie Aikels. Facebook: Daytime Confidential Subscribe to Daytime Confidential on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.