Now and Then: Six ’80s Soaps Hunks (PHOTOS)

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Soap Hunks
Ramona Rosales


Six Times the Fun

When you rope six popular '80s daytime stars together, there's bound to be some wild fun and uproarious laughter. Take a look at some of the biggest soaps stars then and now, and read some of their candid comments about aging, career struggles, "hunk" statuses and more.
Kin Shriner
Ramona Rosales for TV Guide Magazine

Now: Kin Shriner

Now on TV: Scotty Baldwin, General Hospital

On Aging: “So far I’ve spanned five decades with my character and hope to hit six or seven. It’s like I signed a deal with Lucifer himself. [Laughs] “

Kin Shriner photo shoot in September 1984
Barry King/WireImage

Then: Kin Shriner

Then on TV: Scotty Baldwin, General HospitalOn the ’80s: “I don’t think there’s an actor who was in soaps in those days who doesn’t look back fondly. We had it great. But, hopefully, the wardrobe’s not coming back. Or the hairdos. If I was still sporting that shag haircut, that wouldn’t be good.”

Michael E. Knight
Ramona Rosales for TV Guide Magazine

Now: Michael E. Knight

Now on TV: Dr. Simon Neville, The Young and the Restless

On the Downside of Fame: “I definitely couldn’t do the stuff to my body that I did then. You were going out all night, rolling into work around 6 am, taking a shower and hoping nobody noticed that you’re wearing sunglasses in rehearsal.”

Michael E. Knight of All My Children in 1984
ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images

Then: Michael E. Knight

Then on TV: Tad “the Cad” Martin, All My Children

On Being Considered a Hunk: “I was a wallflower in college and then, all of a sudden, I was a mac daddy on TV. I’ve always suffered from terrible body dysmorphia, so the heartthrob stuff was hard to handle.”

Doug Davidson
Ramona Rosales for TV Guide Magazine

Now: Doug Davidson

Now on TV: Paul Williams, The Young and the Restless

On Aging: “In my mind, I’m still in my thirties. But the truth is I’ve been at Y&R for 38 years and I’m now the longest-running guy in the building.”

The Young and the Restless in the 1980s - Steven Ford, Michael Damian, Doug Davidson
CBS / Everett Collection

Then: Doug Davidson (upper right)

Then on TV: Paul Williams, The Young and the Restless

On the ’80s: “My old mullet still haunts me!”

Don Diamont
Ramona Rosales for TV Guide Magazine

Now: Don Diamant

Now on TV: Dollar Bill Spencer, The Bold and the Beautiful

On His Career: “A few years after Bill died, I was fired at Y&R…but it turned out to be the best thing for my career. Two months later I got a call from his son, Brad Bell, at B&B, and there is no character I would rather play than Bill Spencer.”

Don Diamont on The Young And The Restless, 1987
© CBS / courtesy Everett Collection

Then: Don Diamant

Then on TV: Brad Carlton, The Young and the Restless

On Being Considered a Hunk: “I had no issue with the hunk label. It goes with the territory. I embraced it, even when I was playing the pool boy on Y&R and they had me wearing nothing but Daisy Dukes.”

Stephen Nichols
Ramona Rosales for TV Guide Magazine

Now: Stephen Nichols

Now on TV: “Patch” Johnson, Days of Our Lives

On His Career: “So many times I’d try to get an audition in primetime and was told, ‘We will not see soap people.’ There’s always been that pecking order, but at some point you finally go, “I really don’t care. I’m working!”

Stephen Nichols sighted at Spago Restaurant in West Hollywood - April 1988
Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage

Then: Stephen Nichols

Then on TV: “Patch” Johnson, Days of Our Lives

On Crazy Soaps Plots: “It wasn’t the ’80s unless you were trapped—in an elevator, a cave-in, an imploding building.”

A Martinez
Ramona Rosales for TV Guide Magazine

Now: A Martinez

Now on TV: Eduardo Hernandez, Days of Our Lives

On Aging: "My packaging has weathered and my future isn’t as big as it once was, but I’m a much better actor now. [Laughs] You find comfort in that."
Actor A Martinez attends the 14th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on June 30, 1987
Ron Galella/WireImage

Then: A Martinez

Then on TV: Cruz Castillo, Santa Barbara

On His Career: “There’s always hope in soaps. I remember getting very dark and depressed at one point and my father saying, ‘You’re in a game where the phone could ring at any time and it will change your world.'”

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