Days of our Lives Comings and Goings: Port Charles alum Michael Dietz returns to daytime after two decades

Days of our Lives welcomes an old soap star to the scene in a new role when Michael Dietz makes his debut as Jeffrey Russell, a mysterious doctor who might hold the key to saving Bo Brady's life.

Days of our Lives felt like home for Michael Dietz

Dietz made his soap debut in 1997 as Dr. Joe Scanlon on the General Hospital spin-off, Port Charles. He remained in the lead role of a GH intern until 1999, making brief soap appearances over the next few years on Passions (Jake) and The Bold and the Beautiful (Mark MacLaine) before settling into life behind the camera.

When he agreed to play Dr. Jeffey Russell, he was a little nervous to step onto a sound stage again as a performer, but felt right at home with Scott McKinsey, the DAYS director who also worked on Port Charles.

"When I got on set, Scott [McKinsey], the director, came out, and he was one of my last directors I worked with on Port Charles," Dietz told TV Insider. "He gave me a big hug, and I said, ‘I’m a little nervous.’ I had my scene with Mary Beth [Evans, Kayla Johnson], and she was so lovely. After, Scott said something over the speaker on the stage, like, ‘Welcome home, pal.’ Then it all kind of melted away."

Dietz' reality show life

The reason you haven't seen Dietz on-screen in nearly 20 years is that he has been off-screen as a reality TV producer. You can catch his name in the credits on such shows as Big Brother, House of Villains, Generation Gap, and Love Island USA. He stumbled upon this career by accident when he helped a friend come up with some of the challenges for Big Brother and never saw himself in front of the camera again.

However, he will now bring a doctor to life who has the key to saving a comatose Bo as he takes a turn for the worse. After the experience, it looks like the acting bug has bitten Dietz once again and wouldn't mind a more regular return to on-screen work.

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"I could see doing it if stuff like this came up every now and then," he said. “Before DAYS, I would have said no. I felt like I had closed that chapter and moved on. But then I had that experience, and I was like, ‘Oh, there’s no reason I have to close this. This is fantastic.’ So, I would definitely have a conversation, and I am 100 percent open now to explore possibilities that come up in this space again."

Catch all-new episodes of Days of our Lives weekdays on Peacock.

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