Days of Our Lives actors Freddie Smith and Chandler Massey have been released from their contracts with the soap opera.
Smith and Massey play Sonny and Will, who are an on-again/off-again gay couple.
“Chandler and I were released from our contracts, so we will not be filming any more episodes after this week,” Smith said on his YouTube channel.
“I’m making this video about seven or eight days after we found out,” Smith explained. “So I’ve had time to process … We went through an emotional roller-coaster over the past eight days of really taking everything into consideration.
“It was not our choice. Chandler and I were looking forward to staying on and signing a contract and keeping the storyline going.”
Smith said that he does “understand that there’s a lot happening with Days of Our Lives.”
In November 2019, the entire cast Days of our Lives was released from their contracts and the long-running soap opera went on an “indefinite hiatus.”
The series was quickly renewed afterwards, which prompted new negotiations with the cast members.
“I can only imagine that there was a big board of 35 actors … and they were like, ‘We’ve got to cut some people, so who is it going to be?’ And it landed on me and Chandler,” Smith said.
Due to the fact the show shoots six months in advance, Sonny and Will will remain onscreen until September, Smith confirmed in his video.
“Though it’s sad and shocking, I want to celebrate what we’ve created,” the actor told his fans. “That’s what I want to focus on.”
Massey quoted Smith’s tweet, writing: “Wish it weren’t coming to an end, but I will be forever grateful to everyone who went on this journey with us.”
Many fans of Days of Our Lives took to Twitter to express their displeasure over the release of Massey and Smith.
Some fans even created a petition to bring Massey and Smith’s characters back to the show.
NBC has not commented on the release of Massey and Smith’s characters as of this writing.