Soap Star Ends 12-Year Run: ‘Ready for That Chapter to Be Closed’

Billy Flynn has said goodbye to Salem after 12 years playing Days of Our Lives‘ Chad DiMera.

The actor initially announced his exit from the Peacock soap in March 2025 before taking the role of Cane Ashby on The Young and the Restless in June, but his final episode as Chad just aired Tuesday after an extended farewell.

“I’m just ready for that chapter to be closed,” Flynn told TV Insider of his last episode. “It feels like I’m lingering too long, and it’s tough to start a new chapter when you’re still in the other one. It’s just an odd feeling; that’s the only way I can express it. It’s too much of me. Nobody needs that much of me.”

During Tuesday’s episode, Chad left town alongside his kids, Thomas (Cary Christopher) and Charlotte (Autumn Gendron), in an emotional goodbye that Flynn said reflected his reality in exiting the show.

“The stuff that’s airing now is what I remember fondly because they are genuine goodbyes,” he said, adding that the experience “was like getting to witness your own funeral in a weird way; everybody gives you love and admiration.”

“People who you don’t talk to all that often have all this nice stuff to say, and you’re like, ‘Oh, gosh. Why haven’t we had these conversations before?’” he continued, adding that he was told by his castmates and colleagues that the show wouldn’t “be the same” without him, a sentiment that “meant a lot.”

Looking back on his 12 years on Days of Our Lives, Flynn said he feels “a lot of gratitude” for his journey. “I love Days, and I loved the character of Chad so much,” he said. “It’s just a lot of gratitude. Having a job changed my life, and everything in my life changed so much. I have two children, I got sober on the show, and it gave me a life beyond my wildest dreams, so it’s hard to have anything other than gratitude for all of it.”

After Flynn announced his exit, Days of Our Lives brought on Conner Floyd to take over the role of Chad. Floyd, who previously played Phillip “Chance” Chancellor IV on The Young and the Restless, started filming with the soap in June, but his episodes won’t air until April 2026.