We have our 2025 Daytime Emmy Awards leading lady.
Nancy Lee Grahn won Outstanding Lead Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actress at the 2025 awards ceremony in Pasadena, California, on Oct. 17. She beat out fellow nominees Eileen Davidson, Laura Wright, Melissa Claire Egan, Michelle Stafford and Sharon Case.
“Ladies, we’ll share it, we’ll pass it around. We’re all friends,” Grahn told the other stars during her acceptance speech on Friday, before opening up about how her role as Alexis Davis in General Hospital has allowed her to have a strong presence in her daughter Kate’s life.
She recounted, “At 39, I wanted to be a mom … so I called General Hospital.” Through her role on the show, Grahn said, “I was able to do what I love and raise the person I love most in the world … without missing anything … so thank you ABC for giving me a home, so I could give one to Kate.”
Grahn joined Wright as the sole General Hospital nominees in the category this year. She has played Alexis on the soap since 1996, having appeared in over 2,000 episodes. This is her 11th nomination, and she previously won in 2012.
In a July Instagram post, Grahn wrote that she is “always grateful for a sweet nod” as she celebrated the whole industry, regardless of nominations.
“CHEERs to all my fellow actors nominated or not. This acting medium is not 4 sissies. Daytime Television actors & crew work without a net. 130 pages of dialogue, 60 or more scenes with only one quick rehearsal a day,” she wrote. “We shoot sometimes up to 8 hr shows in 5 days. Proud to be a member of this community.”
Other nominee Davidson has been a mainstay on The Young and the Restless as Ashley Abbott since 1983. She’s appeared in over 2,000 episodes of the series, and won a Daytime Emmy for the role once, in 2018.
She also collected a win in 2014 for her role on Days of Our Lives, which she similarly starred on for decades prior to her departure in 2023.
Davidson, who also had a stint on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for three seasons from 2014 to 2017, told TV Insider that it was “such an honor” to be nominated again as she praised her fellow nominees. “These are the best of the best. All these women are so incredible and always put in great performances; this isn’t an anomaly. It’s pretty amazing.”
Egan, who was nominated for her role as Chelsea Lawson in The Young and the Restless, which she’s played since 2011, joked about her chances to win this year in an Instagram post following the nominations.
“I’m so honored be nominated for a Daytime Emmy again this year. Maybe 8th time’s the charm?!😆🥰,” she wrote in the caption as she shared three photos from previous awards shows she’s attended. “I love my job and love our show and am grateful and touched! It never gets old. Also to be nominated alongside those powerhouse women, whaaat?!”
The nod marked Egan’s eighth nomination, but she has never won.
Stafford was the reigning winner in the category, and earned her 14th nomination this year for playing Phyllis Summers on The Young and the Restless. She’s been on the show since 1994 and also previously won in 1997 and 2004.
During her acceptance speech in 2024, she praised her fellow nominee, Hughes, whom she called “the best actress in the room” and the “greatest friend.” She also acknowledged the cast and crew of the soap, as she said, “Every single one of you should have one of these.”
The final Young and the Restless nominee in the category this year was Case, who has played Sharon Newman since 1994 and has appeared in over 3,400 episodes of the series. This year marked her seventh nomination; she previously won in 1999 for the soap.
She called this year’s nominee pool a “very, very strong” one, as she told TV Insider, “It’s a competitive category. It always is, so it makes us all feel all the more just grateful and honored you were part of this.”
