Paul Telfer’s performance on ‘Days of our Lives’ earned him top honors at the 2025 Daytime Emmy Awards. His emotional acceptance speech wowed the crowd and quickly lit up social media.
Key Points
- Paul Telfer won the 2025 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama.
- His emotional speech honored his wife, parents, cast, crew, and fellow nominees.
- This was his second nomination for the role he originated in 2015.
It was a big night for Paul Telfer, who took home the 2025 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama. The Days of our Lives star delivered a heartfelt speech that left fans and fellow nominees in tears — and X buzzing with love.
Paul Telfer, 45, who plays Xander Kiriakis on Peacock’s Days of our Lives won the 2025 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama. This was his second nomination for the role he originated in 2015. His other nomination was for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2020.
The Days of our Lives section cheered loudly when Telfer’s name was announced and when he took the stage, the Scottish actor thanked his wife of 13 years, Carmen Cusack, explaining she could not be there because she was working on the other side of the country. He also thanked his cast and crew and took a moment to honor the other nominees in the category. Toward the end Telfer teared up and his voice cracked when he started talking about his parents.
“The last thing I ever expected was for my 80-year-old father to become a fan of soap operas,” he said in his emotional acceptance speech. “And he did, whereas my mum always loved soaps, and she loved villains. She’s been gone for over 20 years, and so to win this for a soap opera, playing a villain, is really wonderful.”
The other nominees for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actor were Peter Bergman as Jack Abbott (The Young and the Restless CBS), Eric Martsolf as Brady Black (Days of our Lives Peacock), Greg Rikaart as Leo Stark (Days of our Lives Peacock), and Dominic Zamprogna as Dante Falconeri (General Hospital ABC).
The 52nd annual Daytime Emmys took place in Pasadena, CA on Friday, October 17, 2025, and were streamed live on watch.theemmys.tv and on the Emmys app.
“The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), founded in 1955, is dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of television. Our mission is to promote creative leadership and recognize artistic, educational, and technical achievements within the television industry. NATAS is proud to honor excellence in American daytime television programming through the prestigious Daytime Emmy Awards.”
