What Happened to Joey on DAYS OF OUR LIVES
Joey Johnson hasn’t been on DAYS OF OUR LIVES for a while so it’s understandable if fans might need a little refresher on his history in Salem. Well, that’s where we come in! After twins Brody and Jonas played Joey as a baby starting in 2009, child actor Jadon Wells portrayed the character on a recurring basis from 2012-14. In 2015, the character was aged into a teenager and James Lastovic stepped into the role. Although Joey was written out of the soap in 2017, DAYS brought the character back in December 2020 for a brief appearance. Then, the role was recast again in 2022 with actor Tanner Stine, who debuted on the second season of BEYOND SALEM in July before debuting on DAYS proper in October.
Joey was born prematurely to parents Steve “Patch” Brady and Kayla Brady, and was named after Kayla’s grandmother, Jo Johnson. During the first year of his life, little Joey was kidnapped by Stefano DiMera! In early 2009, Joey left Salem with his parents, but returned in 2011 when Steve and Kayla were splitting up.
In 2015, Joey was now a teenager and left boarding school to track down his father, Steve, in New York City. They returned to Salem where Joey resented his father for abandoning their family. When Steve flew to locate Bo Brady, Joey stowed away on the plane which led to a heart-to-heart between father and son where they finally reconciled. Back home again, Joey continued to be a bit of a troublemaker but befriended Theo Carver.
When Joey collapsed during the town’s bicentennial celebration, Kayla was shocked to discover her son had drugs in his system. Joey insisted he never took drugs. Later, it was revealed that Joey was working with Ava Vitali to orchestrate his parents’ reunion. Unaware of her true identity, Joey fell for the older woman and was upset to find out Ava was just using him to get to his father. Seeking revenge, Joey sneaked into Ava’s hospital room and smothered her with a pillow! In order to protect his son, Steve took the rap.
With Theo’s help, Joey kidnapped Chase so Claire Brady could confront her rapist. Joey got involved with a girl named Jade Michaels, and just as he was about to break up with her, learned she was pregnant with his child! Tragically, Jade miscarried the baby, which Joey felt was what he deserved after killing Ava. When Joey met his half brother, Tripp Dalton, he was terrified he would find out he’d killed his mother. And when Tripp tried to take revenge on Kayla, believing she’d killed Ava, Joey stepped up and took responsibility for the crime.
Joey went to prison for murder in 2017, but in December 2020, Ava turned up in Salem very much alive, thanks to Dr. Rolf, which meant there was no reason for Joey to remain behind bars! Although after being released from prison and reuniting with his family, Joey decided to move to Seattle.
In 2022, Tripp had moved in with Joey, and when the brothers found Wendy Shin had broken into their apartment, they both became smitten with the young woman and teamed up with her to crash a gala in Hong Kong in search of a special prism. After their adventure, Joey made his feelings known, but Wendy didn’t want to come between the siblings. Months later, Joey returned to Salem where he joined the rest of the family in sitting vigil at Kayla’s bedside as she lay dying of Orpheus‘ poison.
Stay tuned to see what happens next!
