Longtime “Days of Our Lives” viewers have been thrilled to see so many legacy characters return to Salem, even if only for a short run, and as it turns out, another character is coming home. Patrick Muldoon is returning to the soap as the character of Austin Reed, which he originated in 1992.
Muldoon shared the news in an Instagram video on June 16, 2025, which featured the actor roaming the “Days of Our Lives” studio looking a bit confused.
Patrick Muldoon Says It Feels ‘Good to Be Back’
The video that the actor posted features him walking through a door and checking the sign, snapping his fingers as though trying to remember something. “It’s gotta be… Is it studio two?” Then Muldoon looks at the camera to talk directly to the fans. “Listen, I just got off the 101 South in Burbank and studio two and four… Oh! Oh my God, I’m in Salem!” Muldoon then puts on his sunglasses and smiles as he walks off. “Oh, it’s good to be back,” he declares.
When Muldoon first landed the role in 1992, he told Soap Opera Digest, “It was a big cattle call. For me, it was simply another audition. I screen-tested with Tracy Middendorf, who was playing Carrie. The main thing I remember is that after we got done, I saw Fran [De Simone], who was our stage manager, mouthing to someone else, ‘No. 4.’ I was No. 4, so I felt really good about that.”
In the same interview, Muldoon said that his first exit from the role in 1995 was because he was “simply being young and curious to try other things.” The role of Austin Reed was then recast with Austin Peck, who played the character until 2006. When the character returned to “Days” in 2011, Muldoon was back in his shoes. “It felt like coming home to family,” he said of reprising the role.
“I learned that the show is basically writing for whoever played the role last,” Muldoon said, “so I think there was this misstep with maybe the Austin that the fans were used to, and my interpretation of the character. As a soap actor, you try to redirect the story. Sometimes that can be a mistake, but I think we were successful toward the end of my second stint.”
What Is Next for Austin Reed?
Patrick Muldoon last appeared on “Days of Our Lives” in 2012, and he has continued appearing in a variety of films since then. The soap has yet to reveal an airdate for Austin Reed or give any sort of clue as to what his storyline will be, but Christie Clark recently returned to the series as Carrie Brady. Muldoon and Clark spent a chunk of the 1990s steaming up television screens as one of the hottest couples in daytime. Perhaps a reunion is on the horizon.
