Days of our Lives Early Spoilers Jan 26-30: Dimitri Faces Brutal Attack as Brady Reaches His Limit

Days of Our Lives spoilers for Jan 26-30, 2026 suggest Dimitri von Leuschner DiMera (Peter Porte) is attacked and Brady Black (Eric Martsolf) being completely fed up.

As we always do on Early Edition Day, we start with what’s coming this week. And then we’re going to talk about what’s coming next week.

Days of Our Lives Custody Battles and Family Tensions

Diving in on Wednesday, January 21st, it is custody hearing day for Chad DiMera (Billy Flynn), Jennifer Horton (Cady McClain), and Jack Deveraux (Matthew Ashford). This is obviously about Thomas DiMera (Cary Christopher) and Charlotte DiMera (Olivia & Oakley Rondou). The three adults are meeting with a mediator to try and sort it out.

If you remember, the last time they had a hearing, Chad had been kidnapped. EJ DiMera (Dan Feuerriegel) had not been kidnapped yet, so he was able to get a continuance. And now we’re in mediation. Meanwhile, over at the Horton house, Thomas is confiding in Jeremy Horton (Trevor Donovan) that he feels like everybody’s mad at everybody else in the family.

Thomas thinks it’s all his fault, so Jeremy is there to comfort and encourage him. Don’t tell me Jeremy’s not changed. I mean, obviously, he has a terrible background, but unless they’re gaslighting him, I do feel like he has really changed. Plus, I love the actor.

Julie’s Bereavement Group and New Salem Romances

Julie Williams (Susan Seaforth Hayes) hosts her first bereavement book club, and coming to it are Doug Williams (Bill Hayes), Maggie Horton Kiriakis (Suzanne Rogers), and Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall). But Julie is actually going to have Doug facilitate because Julie is not sure that she is in a place where she’s ready to lead a group on bereavement because she’s very much still in it.

Plus, Felicity Greene (Kennedy Garcia) listens as her big sister, Cat Greene (AnnaLynne McCord), opens up to her. Felicity may ask why Chad hasn’t been around and what’s going on with him and Cat.

On Thursday, January 22nd, we have got love in the air for Philip Kiriakis (John-Paul Lavoisier) and Gabi Hernandez (Cherie Jimenez) as they get flirty on a night out on the town. But Philip needs to watch out because Theo Carver (Cameron Johnson) has his eye on Gabi.

Julie gets Jeremy to open up. He may share his thoughts about Stephanie Johnson’s (Abigail Klein) engagement and all the stuff going on about the letters and the accusations. Julie did walk up on Jeremy while he was looking at the Spectator online with their engagement announcement. I don’t know if Jeremy’s really jealous or if he’s just tired of being accused of things.

Stalker Traps and Investigations in Salem

Theo and Jack Junior (JJ) Deveraux (Casey Moss) do some bonding on Thursday, and Theo should be out of the hospital very soon. He’s been in there since the DiMera kidnapping. I do wonder if he’s going to tell JJ that he’s got a little crush on his ex, Gabi.

Plus, Steve Johnson (Stephen Nichols) spends time with Alex Kiriakis (Robert Scott Wilson). They’re out doing stuff, hoping to lure out the stalker. Steve’s kind of trailing after Alex, but also at one point, they’re going to just be hanging out in the Brady Pub. They’re doing the bait thing.

Stephanie Johnson (Abigail Klein) is also out with Jada Hunter (Elia Cantu). They are doing some alleged wedding errands, but really it’s more bait. So, Jada is on the lookout for Stephanie’s stalker. Of course, they’re all operating under the assumption it’s Jeremy. It looks like something happens, but we know that it’s Owen Kent (Wes Ramsey). We know he’s lurking in Salem, ready to get his twisted hands on Stephanie.

Jada’s Evidence and Accusations Against Jeremy

Then on Friday, January 23rd, Alex and Stephanie are rattled by something that crops up. I wonder if their stalker is closing in on them. They may see another photo posted of them like they did online when they realized this person is in Salem and very close to us.

Jada updates Steve on what she found out. Then Julie is there supporting and standing by Jeremy as he faces accusations from Jada. Jada shows up at the Horton house and says she has evidence that it’s Jeremy stalking and threatening Stephanie.

Jeremy is busy teaching at school, hanging out with Thomas, hanging out with Julie, and playing Scrabble, so he may have an alibi. I hope so. Jada, though, has drunk the Kool-Aid and bought into the elaborate assumptions that Steve, Alex, and Stephanie have cooked up about Jeremy. We’ll see what this evidence is that Jada insists she’s got. In the end, Jeremy may be guilty, but so far, I’m not getting guilty vibes.

February Sweeps and the DiMera Drama Escalates

Belle Black (Martha Madison) is there for her mom as Marlena opens up. I think she is probably going to tell her daughter that she got a clean bill of health from Sarah Horton (Linsey Godfrey). The Lyme disease is doing really well, all taken care of. I know Marlena is also worried about Rachel Black (Finley Rose Slater) and Brady. Plus, Chad is interrogated by Jennifer on Friday. I wonder if she wants to make sure he is really done with Cat.

All right, the week of January 26th through the 30th: We have February sweeps kicking off on Thursday the 29th. Even though they are not on a network platform that does Nielsen rating periods, they still do the sweeps. It’s soap tradition.

Starting on Thursday, things should really pick up the pace. Gwen Rizczech (Emily O’Brien) is losing patience with Dimitri because he has cut off her cash flow and her credit cards. Leo Stark’s (Greg Rikaart) crush, Javi Hernandez (Al Calderon), has left town after he told Marlena not to file their marriage certificate. These ex-besties, Gwen and Leo, may work together to deal with Dimitri because he screwed up both their lives.

I do suspect Gwen and Leo are on the cusp of a breakthrough and may regain their best friendship if they bond over running Dimitri out of town or burying him. I think Rafe Hernandez (Galen Gering) would probably take Dimitri off their hands.

Stephanie’s Stalker and EJ DiMera’s Return to Days of our Lives

Also next week, Stephanie’s stalker gets more aggressive, and we know soon she is going to be kidnapped from University Hospital. Owen Kent is going to be revealed when Steve thinks that it’s Jeremy. He is tracked down. We’ll have to wait and see if Owen is a lone wolf working alone or if he has a co-conspirator, because we’ve seen the stalker talking online with somebody.

EJ is back from Europe soon. He went to Italy to see his daughter, but he’s going to be back to Salem livid that Gwen dragged Dimitri back there totally against their plans. Gwen’s facing a divorce. She’s losing all the money EJ was promised for the clinic. And now there’s kidnapping stuff going on.

Rafe and Eli Grant (Lamon Archey) are headed to Alamania soon. They are going to be looking for answers about the CCTV footage that was being broadcast from the crypt watching the kidnapped DiMeras. They also want to confirm while they’re there that Stefan DiMera (Brandon Barash) really is dead. Rafe has made that promise to Gabi to look into it and make sure.

I don’t believe it. I haven’t heard anything about Brandon Barash coming back. As far as I know, he has been in Nashville this whole time doing music stuff and touring with the Day Players band, but I would like to have him back as Stefan, so fingers crossed.

Brady and Sarah’s Romance vs. Kristen’s Interference on Days of our Lives

Javi left town, so Leo has to decide what to do. By the way, Javi will be back. Al Calderon’s final episode is not until May, so he’s not gone for good this time around. They have also recast the role of Javi. So even after May, we’re still going to have Leo’s “not-husband” around.

Brady gets closer to Sarah. They’re going to be getting intimate soon. Kristen DiMera (Stacy Haiduk), of course, is having a fit about it while saying that she realizes they can’t be together. She’s saying that in one breath, and in the next breath, she is accusing Brady of rubbing Sarah in her face.

Since they’re exes, it’s kind of not Kristen’s business. I think Brady has had just about enough of this. He wants Sarah. He hasn’t been with Kristen in a good long time. As the therapist, Dr. Gregory, said, you can’t let Rachel control your love life because it’s worked before. You can’t give this power to her.

Days of our Lives Cast Departures: Chad and Thomas Exit Salem

Gwen’s going to pounce on Xander Cook (Paul Telfer) soon, but that won’t last long. Plus, Chad and Thomas may be off-screen very soon. We don’t have the final air date yet, but Thomas DiMera has revealed that he has three episodes left starting from the one on Wednesday the 21st.

He should be wrapped by late January or early February, and we should see Chad exiting about the same time because Billy Flynn and Cary Christopher left almost at the same time. Of course, Billy Flynn went over to Days of Our Lives and took a big role there, and Cary Christopher has a role on an Amazon series.