Days of Our Lives: Steve Burton to Reprise Role as Harris Michaels

Two-time Daytime Emmy winner Steve Burton is returning to Days of Our Lives proper, reprising his role as the enigmatic Harris Michaels — a character he first played on the sudser way, way back in 1988 (before General Hospital‘s Jason Quartermaine ever donned his first reindeer Christmas sweater) and more recently brought back for Season 2 of the Beyond Salem streaming spinoff.

Burton is due to resurface as Harris early next year, TVLine has learned, for “a thrilling new storyline” that will find the daytime-TV vet working alongside Days icons such as Stephen Nichols, Drake Hogestyn, Mary Beth Evans and Deidre Hall.

More from TVLine

• TVLine Items: More Days Returns, HBO's Shaq Doc Trailer and More

• Days of Our Lives' John Aniston Dies: Peacock Sets Release Date for His Final Episode as Victor Kiriakis

• Days of Our Lives' John Aniston Dead at 89 -- Read Daughter Jennifer Aniston's Heartfelt Tribute

(In Beyond Salem, Burton’s Harris notably kidnapped Nichols’ Patch and Hogestyn’s John, and had a romantic connection with Kristian Alfonso’s Hope.)

Additional details about the nature of Burton’s Days return are being kept under wraps, but the long-running soap’s new-ish streaming home, Peacock, promises “more mystery, high-stakes adventure, and romance with Harris returning to the canvas next year.”

Burton’s latest GH run famously came to an end a year ago, when he and ABC, like co-star Ingo Rademacher before him, arrived at an impasse due to the COVID vaccine mandate which took effect at GH in November 2021. Weeks later, Burton’s Jason Morgan was presumed dead after being caught in a tunnel collapse beneath Cassadine Island.

“I know there’s been a lot of rumors and speculation about me and General Hospital, and I wanted you to hear it from me personally. Unfortunately, General Hospital has let me go, because of the vaccine mandate,” Burton shared at the time on Instagram. “I did apply for my medical and religious exemptions, and both of those were denied… which, you know, hurts. But this is also about personal freedom to me. I don’t think anybody should lose their livelihood over this.”

Launch Gallery: <i>Days of Our Lives</i>' 10 Best Characters Ever, Ranked

Best of TVLine

• Soaps' Wildest Plot Twists of 2020

• Soaps' Wildest Storylines Ever: Eterna, Possessed Marlena, Ice Princess, Casey the Alien, Upside-Down Penis and More

• TV Roles Recast: 25+ Times a Show Changed Actors Midstream (and Why)

Get more from TVLine.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter

Click here to read the full article.