‘Days of Our Lives’: Steve Burton Speaks Out After Sudden Exit From Show
It’s been an eventful start to the new year for Steve Burton, who not only finalized his divorce from his wife, Sheree, last month (December 2023) but has now confirmed he will be leaving Days of Our Lives.
On the YouTube channel for his podcast, The Daily Drama Podcast with Steve Burton & Bradford Anderson, the actor shared a video where he revealed he’d just filmed his final scenes for the long-running soap opera, in which he played Harris Michaels.
“Wow! Well, I just shot my final scenes here on Days of Our Lives, and I just want to say thank you so much to the cast, to the crew, to Days, everybody. It’s been amazing,” Burton said.
He continued, “I can’t believe it’s been a year already. So thank you so much to the fans. It’s just… I’m always so full of gratitude. So thank you. Stay tuned.”
Burton, who previously starred as Chris Fuller in the fantasy sitcom Out of This World, first joined Days in 1988 but left the show a year later after his contract expired. He would go on to join the cast of General Hospital as Jason Morgan in 1991, a role he played until 2012 and then again from 2017 to 2021.
In 2022, the Daytime Emmy Award-winning actor reprised his role as Harris on the Days spinoff Beyond Salem: Chapter 2, eventually transitioning to Days itself in 2023.
“When you’re in the business 36 years and people are still calling? I’m super grateful,” Burton told Soap Opera Digest in a previous interview. “[Days is] a great environment to work in, and I feel like I’m getting a real run at things.”
Fans reacted to the news of Burton’s departure with a mix of disappointment and hope (the hope being it means he’ll be returning to General Hospital).
“Please lord, let this mean he is coming back to GH and he and Sam need to get back together!!!!” wrote one Instagram commenter, while another added, “Maybe this means GH will smarten up and bring you back.”
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“We miss you in Port Charles. Period!!!” said another, while one fan wrote, “Happy New Year! You are truly missed in Port Charles! GH hasn’t been the same since you left.”
Burton made headlines in 2021 after he revealed he was fired from General Hospital for refusing to comply with the ABC hit’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“Unfortunately, General Hospital has let me go because of the vaccine mandate,” he said at the time in an Instagram video, noting how he’d applied for both a religious and medical exemption from the vaccine, which the studio rejected. “This is also about personal freedom to me,” he stated.
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“I wouldn’t go back to GH after they fired you,” wrote one fan. “They don’t deserve you and that’s coming from someone who has watched GH for a good part of my life.”
However, many others disagreed, with one person writing, “I know ABC did you wrong but we need Jason back!!!! Sonny needs you!!! ”
Burton has also been in the news for his messy separation from his wife Sheree, who he claimed had gotten pregnant by another man.
“I wanted to clear something up. Sheree and I are separated,” Burton wrote in an Instagram Story in July 2022 (per the NYPost). “She recently announced that she’s expecting her 4th child. The child is not mine.”
Burton, who shares three children with Sheree, added, “We are still co-parenting our three beautiful kids. We would appreciate privacy at this time. Much luv, Steve.”
According to court records obtained by Us Weekly, the duo settled their divorce in December.
Days of our Lives, Weekdays, Peacock
General Hospital, Weekdays, ABC
