HOLLYWOOD—Get ready daytime TV lovers because the nominees for the 2024 Daytime Emmy Awards were announced in ‘full’ on Friday, Apil 19. On Thursday, the organization teased by revealing the candidates for Lead Actor, Lead Actress and Outstanding Drama Series, with some absolute surprises that we will talk about.

With that said, the CBS soaps “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” led all contenders with a total of 12 nominations each including Outstanding Daytime Drama Series. It wasn’t just the typical four soaps nominated this time around as, “The Bay” and “Neighbors” also earned nominations in the race.

When it comes to the acting talent there were plenty of welcome surprises in my opinion, that are long overdue. I mean titans Eric Braeden and John McCook earning Lead Actor nominations should be a sign for all the other contenders in the category to bow out and let one of these two claim the prize. My heart wants to see McCook win for his riveting performance as Eric Forrester who battled that medical crisis. I don’t know if McCook has ever been nominated, let alone walked away with the prize.

As for Braeden, he hasn’t been nominated in this race in over 20 years. So it is good to see these actors getting their flowers which are long overdue. Now that Lead Actress race is going to be a dogfight because EVERY SINGLE WOMAN NOMINATED DESERVES IT. They all delivered incredible performances in the past year and I’m more eager to see what reels/content each lady submitted because I think that will be a deciding factor.

There were also surprises in the Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress races. I think Supporting Actor could go for any of the candidates, while I feel Supporting Actress is more a battle between “Bold and Beautiful” star Jennifer Gareis and “Days of Our Lives” star Linsey Godfrey. I feel like this might be a wide open race for many of the categories this year, especially in the acting realm where any and everyone could walk away with a trophy. Who that will be? That is another story.

A partial list of this year’s nominees are listed below:

Outstanding Drama Series

-“The Bay”

-“The Bold and the Beautiful”

-“Days of Our Lives”

-“General Hospital”

-“Neighbors”

-“The Young and the Restless”

Lead Actress In A Drama Series

-Tamara Braun “Days of Our Lives”

-Finola Hughes “General Hospital”

-Katherine Kelly Lang “The Bold and the Beautiful”

-Annika Noelle “The Bold and the Beautiful”

-Michelle Stafford “The Young and the Restless”

-Cynthia Watros “General Hospital”

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

-Eric Braeden “The Young and the Restless”

-Scott Clifton “The Bold and the Beautiful”

-Thorsten Kaye “The Bold and the Beautiful”

-Eric Martsolf “Days of Our Lives”

-John McCook “The Bold and the Beautiful”

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

-Jennifer Gareis “The Bold and the Beautiful”

-Linsey Godfrey “Days of Our Lives”

-Courtney Hope “The Young and the Restless”

-Allison Lanier “The Young and the Restless”

-Emily O’Brien “Days of Our Lives”

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

-Robert Gossett “General Hospital”

-Bryton James “The Young and the Restless”

-Wally Kurth “Days of Our Lives”

-A Martinez “The Bay”

-Mike Manning “The Bay”

Guest Performer in a Daytime Drama Series

-Linden Ashby “The Young and the Restless”

-Ashley Jones “The Bold and the Beautiful”

-Alley Mills “General Hospital”

-Guy Pearce “Neighbors”

-Dick Van Dyke “Days of Our Lives”

Outstanding Talk Show

-“The Jennifer Hudson Show”

-“The Kelly Clarkson Show”

-“Tamron Hall”

-“Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts”

-“The View”

Entertainment News Show

-“Access Hollywood”

-“Entertainment Tonight”

-“Extra”

Daytime Talk Series Host

-Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro “The View”

-Kelly Clarkson “The Kelly Clarkson Show”

-Mark Consuelos, Kelly Ripa “Live With Kelly and Mark”

-Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Moales, Jerry O’Connell, Sheryl Underwood “The Talk”

-Tamron Hall “Tamron Hall”

Writing Team For Daytime Drama Series

-“The Bay”

-“The Bold and the Beautiful”

-“Days of Our Lives”

-“General Hospital”

-“The Young and the Restless”

Directing Team For Daytime Drama Series

-“The Bay”

-“The Bold and the Beautiful”

-“Days of Our Lives”

-“General Hospital”

-“The Young and the Restless”

The 2024 Daytime Emmy Awards will be handed out on Friday, June 7 at 8 p.m. on CBS at the Bonaventure Los Angeles. The ceremony will also be available to stream via Paramount +.