Peter Porte Says Goodbye to DAYS OF OUR LIVES

Six months after Peter Porte brought his BEYOND SALEM character, Dimitri von Leuschner, over to the DAYS OF OUR LIVES mothership, the actor has exited the Peacock series. In the storyline, Dimitri was carted off to prison after turning himself into the police to save boyfriend Leo.

“Ultimately, so much of what we saw between Dimitri and Leo was these comedic antics, yet they were very much in love. So to ground it in that way, that Dimitri had to finally make an ultimate sacrifice of himself in this display of love for Leo, was a very passionate and beautiful way to wrap things,” Porte told Soap Opera Digest of his DAYS exit.

The Dimitri/Leo relationship reunited Porte with his good friend and former THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS co-star Greg Rikaart, where Porte played Ricky from 2011-’12 and Rikaart still plays Kevin. “We met my first week at Y&R,” the actor explained, adding that they only shared one brief scene together on the CBS soap. “It was such a bummer that being as close as we were, friends for over a decade, we never got to work together. So, when this came to be at DAYS, we were both thrilled.”

In addition to the hijinks and romance between Dimitri and Leo, Porte also saw his alter ego cemented into the fabric of Salem as a member of the DiMera clan, being the son of Megan Hathaway.  “It’s always fun to be part of a preexisting family that has a lot of very exciting, lascivious attributes,” he said. “There’s a lot to play in that.”

Hopefully, this is just the end of the line for Dimitri for now. “What I’ve been led to believe is there may be a future for Dimitri somewhere down the line; but in what capacity, I don’t know,” admitted Porte, who is open to the possibility of returning. “I had a great time. I mean, not only did I get to play with and hang out with my friends — that I would choose to do for free — but I was getting paid for it. And the commute is only 10 minutes from my house. That’s a win-win. It really was a great experience.”