JPI
Days of our Lives’s Stefan learned the truth about EJ and Gabi’s revenge sex on Wednesday, September 4, when Gabi ‘fessed up to her husband. And his reaction was likely what most viewers — and actor Dan Feuerriegel (EJ) — anticipated: he slugged EJ!
Family Affair
“EJ expects everyone to be violent towards him, because he’s been punched and slapped so many times,” asserts Feuerriegel. “I definitely know that he has a sense of, ‘You guys are all hypocrites. You [cheated], then she [cheated], and now all of a sudden it’s all my fault?!’ There’s definitely that kind of exasperation.”
Feuerriegel concedes that EJ being EJ, his reputation clearly precedes him. “Therefore people are going to look at him a particular way,” he notes. “So in regards to the characters, if EJ does something – even if he wasn’t the instigator, even if he wasn’t pulling the strings – he’s going to cop the brunt of the blame. Also, it’s a natural instinct of Stefan to go after EJ, because he still loves Gabi and he’s protecting her. He cannot believe that Gabi would be the one to initiate [sex with EJ]. So he believes it was EJ. ‘EJ’s the one that convinced her. EJ’s the one that seduced her.’”
However, when Stefan accused EJ of using his wife to get revenge on him, Gabi set the record straight, admitting she was the one who put the moves on EJ. For Feuerriegel, watching the fallout as EJ was totally gratifying. “Oh yeah, he enjoyed it, because he doesn’t like either of them and Gabi also ruined his life,” points out Feuerriegel, referring to Gabi blabbing to Nicole that Eric is Jude’s father. “So there were definitely multiple layers to this. It was, ‘All right, if I [have sex with Gabi], it’s obviously going to get to my brother and he’s going to be pissed off. And then when he finds out that Gabi is the one that [orchestrated] it, it’s two birds, one stone.’ EJ was able to sit on the outside and just watch them crumble and the fall.”
The one night of passion between EJ and Gabi ultimately left Stefan fuming mad and his relationship with Gabi in tatters. Meanwhile, Gabi later regretted her actions and found comfort in EJ’s arms, but viewers shouldn’t read too much into it.
“It was more along the lines of EJ just being nice to someone who was in a little bit of pain,” says Feuerriegel. “And he understands. There’s an element of empathy and sympathy, because he just went through this, too.”
