Soap Opera
29 Years Ago, ‘Days of our Lives’ Gave Fans One of Soaps’ Most Hilarious Moments Ever
On ‘Days of our Lives,’ Susan Banks’ fake teeth flying into Vivian Alamain’s champagne at her wedding to John Black remains one of soap’s most iconic moments.
Soap opera weddings almost feel like a dime a dozen, but few soap weddings have flying teeth landing in the cocktails during the reception. On Days of our Lives, that is exactly what happened on June 24, 1997.
A Western Wedding Goes Awry in Salem
John Black (Drake Hogestyn) thought it was strange that Kristen DiMera (then played by Eileen Davidson) wanted a cowboy-themed wedding, but he was willing to comply with his fiancée’s wishes, not realizing that the woman who wanted this odd affair wasn’t Kristen at all, but a semi-lookalike named Susan Banks.
After Kristen had miscarried John’s baby, she was desperate to hold onto him, so her father, Stefano DiMera (Joseph Mascolo), hired a pregnant woman to pose as Kristen and give birth to a baby whom John believed was his. Susan was an Elvis-loving, southern-talking, quirky woman who believed she had really given birth to Elvis’ child, but her baby was actually fathered by Stefano, who wore an Elvis costume while Susan was artificially inseminated. Her baby grew up to be EJ (Daniel Feuerriegel), who still menaces Salem today.
But at Kristen’s and John’s wedding, Susan was so nervous that her ruse would be discovered, she drank a little too much at the reception. Laura Horton (Jaime Lyn Bauer) was also onto Susan and tried to get her to reveal the truth, grabbing for her while the guests looked on. In the struggle, Susan’s false teeth were knocked from her mouth and flew right into Vivian Alamain‘s (Louise Sorel) champagne, shocking and horrifying all.
Those false teeth gave away the game and everyone knew that Kristen was Susan and John had been hoodwinked into marrying the wrong woman. Those teeth have also become a popular prop through the decades, becoming the one physical attribute that distinguishes Kristen from Susan. Now played by Stacy Haiduk, all 2026 Kristen has to do is hand Susan some teeth when she needs someone to impersonate her.
It was a moment that will live in DAYS hilarity forever and you can relive the laughs here.
