Days of Our Lives Could End Its Best Love Story Yet — Here’s the Real Reason

Days of Our Lives may soon be losing one of its best couples. Throughout the years, this soap has had many unconventional love stories. Many of the wildest Days of Our Lives stories have revolved around whether true love is strong enough to fight pure evil, such as when John Black helped Marlena fight demonic possession.

Those love stories have included gay characters since 2011 when Will Horton came out. Gay characters in Salem experience many favorite soap tropes such as cheating, dangerous situations, and trying to win back love and forgiveness. Currently, there is only one gay couple on-screen, though there are two others off-camera who return for brief visits occasionally.

Al Calderon Has Been Cast In NBC’s Brilliant Minds

He Will Play A Nurse Dubbed The “Mayor of Bronx General”

Al Calderon, who plays Javi Hernandez, has just been cast in season 2 of NBC’s Brilliant Minds. His new role will be that of a nurse who works closely with Oliver Wolf. He will be charming, charismatic and dedicated to nursing, and this character has already been given the nickname “Mayor of Bronx General.”

This role is a fantastic way for Calderon to expand his acting portfolio. Brilliant Minds has one of the most diverse casts, high-quality writing, and interesting stories. Although this character has the desire to be a caregiver in common with Javi, he will likely be different in key respects.

Unfortunately, it’s not likely that Calderon will remain on Days of Our Lives while playing this role, though he will continue to appear on-screen for almost another year. Days of Our Lives films 10 months in advance, so Calderon’s Javi will continue to air until May 2026.

Calderon’s Brilliant Minds Casting Could Mean That Javi Is Leaving Days Of Our Lives

It’s Unlikely The Actor Will Be Able To Do Both Shows

An actor rarely appears in both a primetime series and a soap opera. Soaps are time-intensive — actors are often expected to work for 12 hours at a time, learn long monologues, and film in only one take unless there is a serious problem that needs to be corrected.

This is especially true for characters who are in front-burner stories. Long-running soap actress Deidre Hall tried to be in the family drama Our House and Days of Our Lives at the same time in 1986, but ultimately was written out of the soap until her other project was finished because of time constraints.

To be clear, actors sometimes take guest roles in primetime series while on a soap. This can be accomplished by writing their soap character out temporarily or rearranging the filming schedule to accommodate a week off to work on another project.

In Calderon’s case, he is going to be part of the cast throughout Brilliant Minds season 2 and thus will likely not be available to be on Days of Our Lives.

However, in Calderon’s case, he is going to be part of the cast throughout Brilliant Minds season 2 and thus will likely not be available to be on Days of Our Lives.

Why Javi Leaving Leo In Days of Our Lives Would Be So Disappointing

There Are Several Reasons The Role Needs To Be Recast

Since Calderon is likely leaving Days of Our Lives, the role of Javi should be recast. As a young, gay, Latino man, he is a unique character on the soap. Days of Our Lives does not have very much gay representation at the moment.

Paul and Andrew are off-screen, as are Will and Sonny, and Chanel’s bisexuality is never mentioned now that she is in an opposite-sex relationship. If Javi leaves, the only gay character remaining on screen would be Leo. While Leo is often entertaining, a flamboyant white man shouldn’t be the only non-heterosexual character on a popular soap opera.

Storywise, it would also leave Leo floundering, without a real narrative. In the past, Leo has been given ridiculous storylines, such as hanging out with Hattie or attempting to pursue Craig Wesley, which have made the character hard to watch. Leo is much more enjoyable while with Javi. So if Javi leaves, he will need a new love interest.

Javi is also a calm and steady influence in the Hernandez household. Gabi and Rafe are the only Hernandezes to stay long-term, which is disappointing, as the series could easily dive into the Hernandez family’s cultural and personal history if there were more of them on-screen.

Javi’s character development has also been better than average. When he first arrived, he was resentful that Rafe had gotten his mother’s engagement ring even though Javi didn’t have a boyfriend, but he has let the anger go. He and Leo also worked through some problems and are both stronger characters now.