The 90s celebrated three things: Scrunchies, the Spice Girls and these sexy hunks of burning love.
By Cassandra Rose — Written on Jan 30, 2014
After 21 years of breaking hearts and causing havoc in Salem, Alison Sweeney has decided to take her final bow on Days of Our Lives.
How we'll cope without Sam Brady's sassy, take no prisoner attitude and passionate love affairs remains to be seen. But just thinking about the girl we love to hate hit us with a wave of nostalgia, leading us to reminisce about some of the sexiest soap opera hunks to hit daytime television.
So pop open a bottle of wine and kick back with us as we give a nod to the 90s and celebrate Throwback Thursday the best way we know how.
Leonardo DiCaprio – Santa Barbara
Long before he was the criminally sexy Wolf of Wall Street and the romantic Jack to our Rose, Leonardo DiCaprio was busy being adorable (but lethal) on Santa Barbara as the young Mason Capwell
Jensen Ackles – Days of Our Lives
Playing the twin brother of beloved Alison Sweeney's character Sam Brady, Jensen Ackles certainly breathed life into the role (and our TV screens) with his smooth voice and sweet nature Although his days as Eric on Days of Our Lives are over, he's been stealing our hearts on Supernatural as a cheeky demon hunter ever since.
Galen Gering – Passions
There's no way that we can talk about delicious soap stars without mentioning one of our favorite soap operas of all time Gering starred as Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald – Talk about a mouthful! Remembering all of the unresolved feelings between Luis and Sheridan brings back so many memories! (Are we the only ones crying foul that they didn't end up together?). Luckily for us, Galen Gering traded one juicy whirlwind romance for another on Days of Our Lives as Salem's resident FBI agent.
Ricky Martin – General Hospital
Latin sensation Ricky Martin's portrayal of the steamy Miguel Morez on General Hospital definitely caught our attention Who didn't want to run their fingers through those luscious locks? While he's usually busy living la vida loca, this sexy author and musician is currently coaching singing hopefuls on the Australian version of The Voice.
Mark Consuelos – All My Children
Not only was Mark Consuelos a dreamboat on All My Children, he's also co-starring in a great modern love story We swear our hearts melted at the news that Consuelos secretly married his on-screen sweetheart, the fiery Kelly Ripa, in 1996. "I think [Kelly] might get a little nostalgic or maybe regret the fact that she didn't get to have that big wedding. But I quickly point out to her that we had a number of weddings," he once shared on their elopement. We don't think we'll ever stop swooning. Mark Consuelos now plays the humorous Andy Guzman in the new Amazon digital series Alpha House.
Jesse Metcalfe – Passions
Are your palms sweating? Can you feel your heart beating faster? With Dallas hottie Jesse Metcalfe in the room, we can't blame you We thank Passions for introducing us to that delectable smirk and praise Desperate Housewives for reuniting us with his gorgeous bod once again. If you think it's getting hot in here, we're pretty sure that that those eyes may have something to do with it.
Josh Duhamel – All My Children
After three years as our favorite con artist Leo du Pres, we were all in shock at his tragic end We swear our hearts went over Miller's Falls with him. But seeing the new dad star in the Transformers film franchise almost makes up for it. Duhamel met his famous wife Fergie on the set of TV series Las Vegas, and the couple recently welcomed adorable son Axl into the world. You'll be happy to know that you can see more of Josh (in more ways than one) in Greg Gorman's nude photography book As I See It. You're welcome.
Jesse McCartney – All My Children
The s strikes again with this très chic haircut. From this picture alone, it's safe to say that Jesse McCartney pretty much invented the word adorable! After his stint as JR Chandler on All My Children, he became a music sensation and talented songwriter. If you never danced to boy band Dream Street in your flannel pajamas with your radio blasting, you're lying. Although he's all grown up and working on releasing a new album, we'll never get over his boyish charm.
Travis Schuldt – Passions
Of course we can count on Passions to supply us with an endless stream of hotties While Ethan and Theresa were our OTP, we are totally head over heels for Travis and his co-star Natalie Zea, especially after news of their engagement broke after dating for ten years. We also love him for tickling our funny bone on Scrubs and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Nathan Fillion – One Life to Live
As far as first acting gigs go, Nathan's role as Joey Buchanan was absolutely flawless Dorian Lord totally forged a path for cougars to come when she seduced him as part of her revenge plan against his mother Viki. On a lighter note, Nathan is currently being his clever, charming self on ABC's Castle.
Jonathan Jackson – General Hospital
While we will always be secretly rooting – with big neon, color-coordinated signs – for supercouple Lucky Spencer and Elizabeth Webber (unpopular opinion: We still love AJ Quartermaine and are sneakily crossing fingers and toes for their reconciliation), we have to say that we're more than content with his new home As bad boy Averly Barkley on ABC's hit show Nashville, we're just stoked that we get more screen-time with this enticing beauty.
Taye Diggs – Guiding Light
This toned star got his start on television as Adrian 'Sugar' Hill on Guiding Light We won't judge you for admitting that you bawled uncontrollably when former partners (in acting, love and life) Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel headed toward splitsville last month after 10 years of marriage. It was like watching our musically-inclined parents get a divorce; we refuse to accept this.
Ryan Phillippe – One Life to Live
This bonafide stunner made history on One Life to Live when his character Billy Douglas came out, making him the first openly gay character in daytime television We were able to catch those pearly whites again as his Cruel Intentionswere made clear in the film adaptation of the novel The Lincoln Lawyer, alongside Matthew McConaughey. If you're itching for a bigger fix of this lovable actor, you'll be able to catch him in the directorial debut of his Indie thriller Shreveport soon.
Paul Walker – The Young and the Restless
It's time to shine a spotlight on some of the saddest news to hit us last year Paul Walker, famous for his role in the Fast and the Furious film series, tragically passed away in a car cash alongside famed racecar driver Roger Rodas. Before gaining fame, Paul Walker appeared on The Young and the Restless as Brandon Collins. Our heartfelt condolences go out to both of their families.
