Days of our Lives star Wally Kurth has shared that his Daytime Emmy speech honored his friend and costar, John Aniston.
The 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards took place last Friday night.
Wally was nominated for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Justin Kiriakis on Days.
General Hospital star Robert Gossett ended up taking home the coveted award.
Over the weekend, Wally opted to share the speech he had written in case his name was called at the ceremony.
Taking to Instagram, Wally posted several pictures from the beach that had nothing to do with the Daytime Emmys, but his caption said it all.
Days of our Lives star Wally Kurth reveals Daytime Emmy speech honored John Aniston
“Unlike past awards shows, when I didn’t really have a speech. Last night I kinda did. I know it’s not typical to say a speech when you didn’t win…. but if I did end up onstage w Kelly Clarkson handing me the hardware, I might have said something like this:” kicked off his caption.
The talented actor acknowledged the other nominees and thanked a slew of people and his family. Wally gave credit to Ken Corday for giving him a life-changing opportunity more than once.
It was then that Wally revealed that the end of his speech would honor John, whom he had spent years working with on the hit Peacock soap.
“I want to share this with the late, great John Aniston. John was on Days for 40 years and was there when I started in this crazy Soap business. We worked very closely together and he taught me, by example, how to be a professional. I felt John’s spirit a lot this past year and I want to share this with him.” I’d hold the trophy up and say, “John, I hope I made you proud.” So this is something I might have said if I’d won. 😎🙏 Thank you all for your amazing support and love you’ve given me all these years.” Wally expressed.
Days stars react to Wally Kurth paying tribute to John Aniston
The comments section of Wally’s IG post was filled with love from fans and his fellow costars.
Carson Boatman (Johnny), Paul Telfer (Xander), and Eric Martsolf (Brady) all showed love for Wally and John.
Tamara Braun (Ava) and Emily O’Brien (Theresa/Gwen) also popped up in the comments section with the same sentiment that Wally did win. The two ladies shared how Wally has impacted their carers as an actor and costar since they have been on Days of our Lives.
We definitely would have liked to see Wally Kurth honor John Aniston in his Daytime Emmy acceptance speech, but perhaps he will get the chance to do it next year. Luckily, the actor revealed what he would have said to pay tribute to his friend, and it was good.
To see the full list of Daytime Emmy winners, click here.
Days of our Lives airs weekdays on Peacock.