You can’t make us hate them. Well, not completely anyway.
We’ve noticed that certain individuals are hated at extreme levels on soap operas — The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, and General Hospital. Have they all done things to deserve said hate? Yes. Absolutely. Do they continue to act shady? Of course, most definitely. Will they ever learn their lesson? Probably not. But should they have to deal with everybody continually talking about them behind their backs and to their faces? Nope. Not when the people going off on them have committed their own crimes and misdemeanors. Soap Hub thinks these unpopular people should be protected at all costs.
Soaps’ Least Liked People
Adam Newman (Mark Grossman), Y&R
We don’t know how Adam Newman gets out of bed in the mornings. Each day he makes his way through Genoa City, he gets it from all sides. His crimes are legendary and wildly known. But in GC, whose crimes aren’t? Victoria (Amelia Heinle) berates him. Billy (Jason Thompson) lectures him. And Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan) will not let him feel what he’s feeling. People have entire conversations behind this man’s back. Are his ears burning at all times?
Meanwhile, his family doesn’t trust him enough to include him in their inner sanctum. They didn’t rely on him to help out with this Jordan (Colleen Zenk) woman, even though sometimes fighting fire with fire is the smart thing to do. They need to use or channel his scheming superpower for good! Adam can get creative with the best of them. Yet, they don’t call him for things like Harrison (Redding Munsell) being kidnapped. Boo.
Why Should He Be Protected At All Costs? Because he’s someone who’s trying to fit in. And in trying too hard, he perpetually remains on the outside looking in. Sally (2024 Daytime Emmy Nominee Courtney Hope) supports him, but as we know, she was recently involved with his brother Nick (Joshua Morrow)! Please, Genoa City. Fix yourselves before you try to fix him. He could use therapy, not your condescension and snide comments.
Nina Reeves (2024 Daytime Emmy Nominee Cynthia Watros), GH
To be fair, Nina Reeves is her own worst enemy. Her past includes a litany of crimes, some more heinous than others. She sabotages, oversteps, and tells tales when she shouldn’t. But, apparently, being a whistleblower is one step too far. Since the SEC scandal blew up, she has lost her husband, her job, and any semblance of a relationship with her daughter.
While criminals like Heather (2024 Daytime Emmy Nominee Ally Mills), Cyrus (Jeff Kober), and the late Esme (Avery Kristen Pohl) get the benefit of the doubt, Nina doesn’t. Even when Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) planted Nina at The Invader after losing her Crimson job, Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) wanted nothing to do with her. And Diane (Carolyn Hennesy) made it her mission to disrespect her. When Nina starts to make slight inroads, like getting her Crimson job back, she and Ava (Maura West) break up. Nina can’t catch a break. In fact, her main source of support is some twisted misery bond with Drew (Cameron Mathison). DREW, of all people.
Why She Should Be Protected At All Costs: Because Nina’s social cues are warped. Maybe that’s because she spent 20 years in a coma. But she just wants to be loved and to love somebody with her whole heart. She wants to be a mother, something that’s forever eluded her. She can be generous, and she can be petty. She’s flawed, and she knows it. But she also knows she deserves happiness as much as anyone else. Why is it wrong for her to try and make it happen?
Leo Stark (Greg Rikaart), DAYS
Leo Stark lives his life loud. He will tell you how amazing an individual he is while, at the same time, roll around in the dirt that comes with blackmailing and exploiting secrets. For the longest time, he was aimless, entitled, and shallow. It was all about shortcuts with him. He didn’t want to do the hard work himself.
His misdeeds include emotional blackmail, monetary blackmail, using fake names, filing a bogus sexual harassment lawsuit, and keeping the lid on a mammoth baby switch secret. He’s always been a “me, me, me” kind of guy. As a result, the people of Salem don’t mind calling Lady Whistleblower out and focusing on his negatives. The thing is, while his negatives remain, he’s piling on some positives, too.
Why He Should Be Protected At All Costs: Look at how Leo’s branching out with his work at The Spectator. He writes powerful and poignant articles referring to activist Bayard Rustin. Chad (Billy Flynn) is now regularly complimenting him and offering him reporting jobs. Eric (Greg Vaughan) wanted to kill him for blackmailing Sloan, but he quickly let his anger go. Instead, he showed the guy compassion. The man is growing a conscience, people! Sure he had to get drunk in order to tell EJ (Daniel Feuerriegel) about the Jude switch. But he did it! He’s developing depth and showing growth, and it’s too bad not everybody in town is taking notes.
Thomas Forrester (Matthew Atkinson), B&B
When Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown) isn’t around, Thomas Forrester is the main scourge of Los Angeles. He’s obsessive, laser-focused on the wrong things, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the woman he loves is his.
His past is very problematic, people. This is a fact and completely undeniable. And that’s why when the ex-Hope for the Future designer says he’s changed, nobody believes him. Why should they? After all, he kept the secret of Beth being Hope (2024 Daytime Emmy Nominee Annika Noelle) and Liam’s (2024 Daytime Emmy Nominee Scott Clifton) baby a secret for far too long. And there’s that shadiness that went down with Emma (Nia Sioux) that resulted in her death.
Why He Should Be Protected At All Costs: Because, unlike Sheila Carter, Thomas has actually done the work. We heard about his therapy appointments (would have been great to see some of them). We see how he works to suppress those darker urges and keep them from surfacing. He dealt with being persona non grata after the whole call to Child Protection Services fiasco. And whenever we think his darker, more obsessive tendencies are about to surface, he manages to react to extreme situations in a respectable manner (mostly).
He’s taking everybody’s crap and rising above it. Sure, he could still use some work. Like, why was it so important for him and Hope to get engaged now? That’s a discussion for another day. He’s currently on a break with Hope and Los Angeles. He’s off in Paris hitting reset on his life after Hope turned down his proposal again. Will he show continued growth and development when he returns? Fingers crossed.
Honorable Mentions
Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard), GH
Normally, we probably wouldn’t include Sonny Corinthos on a list like this. But, here’s what qualifies him. As a mobster, he’s always had his enemies. But now it feels like the entire PC population is suddenly against him. He’s completely isolated, other than a few exceptions. His support has dwindled to almost nothing. Anna and Laura are two people he used to be able to count on him and have turned against him.
But we also know that part of this The World Vs. Sonny Corinthos storyline, that Valentin has tampered with his meds. And seeing him suffer while seeing him shut out friends and family is a tough watch. And it makes us want to protect him at all costs. For now.
If this list were compiled a year ago, Diane wouldn’t be an honorable mention. She’d be on the primary list. Because she couldn’t walk around Genoa City without being called out on her, admittedly supremely problematic past. She faked her death for years. The damage it did to her son is clear. And when she returned, she was contrite, but was it genuine? If you ask her peers, no way in hell. Her motivations were rightly questioned.
Except the people calling Diane out had no business judging her. Because their pasts were as problematic as hers. Their hypocritical and condescending interactions with Diane were hard to take. And that’s why we had no issue being Team Diane. Fast forward to the present day, and she’s married to Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman). Plus, she’s the co-CEO of Jabot. And it’s hard to feel as bad for her even though she still gets crapped on by those hypocritical enemies of hers.
Who do you think should be added to this list? And why should they be protected at all costs? Let us know in the comments.