The Untold Truth of Justin & Adrienne’s Greek Wedding: A Scandal Hidden for 30 Years

Welcome back, everyone. Today, we’re peeling back the layers of one of the deepest secrets in daytime television history. I’m Wally Kurt, and after 30 years of silence, I’m finally revealing what really happened during the filming of Justin and Adrienne’s iconic Greek wedding on Days of Our Lives.

This is not just a behind-the-scenes anecdote. It’s a revelation so explosive it nearly destroyed my career, forced NBC into a cover-up, and blurred the line between fiction and reality in ways none of us could have imagined.

Justin Kiriakis: More Than a Role

When I joined Days of Our Lives in 1987, I never dreamed that Justin Kiriakis would reshape not only my career, but my life. Justin wasn’t just another soap hero—he embodied a new kind of masculinity on daytime TV. Vulnerable yet strong, romantic yet grounded, he showed men could embrace passion without shame.

Fans felt it. Women compared their partners to Justin, wondering why real-life love didn’t measure up. Men alternated between admiration and resentment. The role became a double-edged sword—transformative, but also suffocating. And that pressure would soon spill into the most shocking chapter of my career.

The Greek Cathedral Conspiracy

In 1988, NBC staged what was then the most ambitious wedding in soap history—Justin and Adrienne’s grand Greek Orthodox ceremony. The production was lavish: the cast flown to Athens, hundreds of extras invited, and an authentic Byzantine cathedral secured as the venue.

But the true twist came with the man chosen to officiate. Father Dimitri Papadakis wasn’t just an actor in costume. He was a real 28-year-old Greek Orthodox priest, earnest and devoted, who believed participating would honor his faith.

That decision changed everything.

The Forbidden Truth: A Wedding That Became Real

During what was supposed to be our final rehearsal, Judy Evans (Adrienne) and I exchanged vows under Father Dimitri’s blessing. What we believed were scripted lines turned out to be actual sacred rites, performed word-for-word from a thousand-year-old liturgy.

When Father Dimitri pronounced us husband and wife “in the name of the Holy Trinity,” we thought it was practice. He knew differently. Later that evening, he approached us with glowing conviction:

“My children, what occurred was no pretense. The Holy Spirit moved through me. In the eyes of the Church, you are married.”

We were stunned. Judy had a husband at home. I was in a serious relationship. Yet suddenly, spiritually—if not legally—we were bound together in a real marriage.

The Cover-Up Begins

Panic erupted. Lawyers, producers, and NBC executives convened emergency meetings across Athens. Could a rehearsal wedding by a real priest constitute marriage under Greek law? The answers were terrifyingly unclear.

Meanwhile, Father Dimitri faced his own tribunal. The Church accused him of desecrating the sacrament. Refusing to retract, he was quietly reassigned to a remote monastery in Crete, where he lived the rest of his life in silence.

NBC struck deals with both Church and state. Records were sealed, NDAs enforced, and cast members sworn into silence under penalty of financial ruin.

For Judy and me, the aftermath was psychological torture. We had to continue portraying a married couple while secretly questioning whether we were married in God’s eyes. Every kiss on screen felt like adultery. Every love scene, a betrayal of our real partners.

Thirty Years of Haunted Silence

The secret shadowed me through every chapter of my career. When I moved to General Hospital as Ned Ashton in 1991, I carried the guilt. When I won a Daytime Emmy in 2002, I questioned whether my “chemistry” on screen had been built on deception.

Even when I returned to Days in 2009, stepping back into Justin’s shoes felt like reopening a wound. Judy and I never spoke of it. The silence was unbreakable, the weight unbearable.

Why Reveal the Truth Now?

Because the time for silence is over. Father Dimitri passed away in 2019, taking part of this secret to his grave. The NDAs have expired. The executives who engineered the cover-up are gone.

And fans deserve to know the truth: the Justin and Adrienne wedding remains so powerful on-screen because, in some strange way, it was real. Somewhere, sealed in a Greek Orthodox archive, lies a marriage certificate binding two actors who accidentally married while filming a scene.

This is the secret that shaped decades of daytime television history.

Secrets in Salem: EJ & Gwen’s Dangerous Scheme

While the ghosts of the past still haunt, Salem’s present is just as treacherous. All eyes are now on EJ DiMera and Gwen Rizczech, whose alliance is proving far more sinister than expected.

A Room of Secrets

It starts in an unfinished room, dust and scaffolding everywhere. Gwen is skeptical when EJ insists this is the site of their “grand plan.” A party? A joke. But EJ’s grin suggests something deeper.

Then comes the revelation: the so-called “free clinic” he’s been funding is a front. Behind its walls lies a high-security laboratory. What it houses remains a mystery—but it’s no act of charity.

The Envelope of Cash

EJ pulls out a bulging envelope of cash, instructing Gwen to use it to silence an electrician who discovered a “leak.” Whether literal or metaphorical, it’s clear this is about keeping secrets buried.

Gwen fumes. Once again, she’s reduced to EJ’s errand-runner, forced to clean up his mess while he walks away smug and untouchable. Her resentment is growing—and resentment often leads to betrayal.

What Lies Ahead?

For Salem, the stakes are dire. A hidden lab disguised as a clinic raises questions of science, power, and corruption. How long before someone else stumbles on the truth? And how long before Gwen decides she’s had enough of EJ’s arrogance?

One thing is certain: secrets in Salem never stay buried forever.