The nominations for the 2026 Daytime Emmy Awards will be announced on July 14. This year, for the first time since 2014, there are five major soap operas in competition, with CBS’ Beyond the Gates, created by Michele Val Jean (General Hospital; The Bold and the Beautiful), now eligible after its 2025 debut.
While it can sometimes take a new show years to gain traction in the nominations, let alone a win or two, one industry expert believes that Beyond the Gates will not only score some nods, but may also walk home with a few golden statuettes.
Voting has already closed, but daytime talent manager Michael Bruno, who reps or has repped Daytime Emmy winners Mary Beth Evans (Kayla, Days of our Lives), Amelia Heinle (Victoria, The Young and the Restless), and Julie Pinson (ex-Janet, As the World Turns), said the show would have been wise to not over-submit, despite having numerous contenders in multiple categories.
“When I sit with my clients to choose scenes for their reels, the first thing I say to them is we need to include scenes that enable me to understand your character and the story if I’d never seen your show,” Bruno says. “That’s the most important thing.”
“Beyond the Gates — or, for that matter, any show — shouldn’t have any expectations because it’s always a crapshoot,” Bruno says of the upcoming awards. That said, he believes that BTG‘s Tamara Tunie, who plays matriarch Anita Dupree, is a stronger contender for Best Actress for her character’s breast cancer story.
While that tale played out mostly in 2026, Anita received her diagnosis and she shared the news with her family in late December 2025 inside the eligibility period.
“Tamara can not only get the nomination, but I feel she can win, too,” Bruno says. “She’s somebody new. It’s not the same eight actresses that we’ve seen for the last 20 years. Here’s someone fresh.”
But not entirely fresh, Bruno hastens to clarify, as the daytime community knows and respects Tunie from her time as savvy attorney Jessica Griffin on As the World Turns, a role she played on and off for 20 years starting in 1987.
“She’s also someone we know,” Bruno adds. “She’s familiar and beloved.”
Beyond the Gates, Bruno continues, has an “embarrassment of riches” because there are some actors who deserve to be on the ballot, but they most likely won’t be because it would weaken somebody else’s chances on the show to get on it. “The votes may split,” Bruno cautions.
Bruno says that all shows have to act strategically when it comes to who they’ll submit. “It’s got to be Sophie’s Choice,” he says with a hint of dark humor. “You’ve all got to band together at the show and decide who are our top two in each of the categories. Even though a show could have three or four or more candidates, you can’t go with all of them for fear of risking the votes splitting. You’ve got to be strong.”
For Best Actor, Bruno will not be surprised to see both Clifton Davis (Vernon) and Jon Lindstrom (Joey) on the ballot. “Clifton is known for his primetime work,” Bruno says. “And Jon is known in the industry for his work on General Hospital [as Dr. Kevin Collins]. Both Jon and Tamara have been in this for 35 years. People vote for their friends. I imagine all of General Hospital is going to vote for Jon.”
In the Best Supporting Actress category, Bruno feels that the show’s strongest selections are Daphnée Duplaix (Nicole) and Trisha Mann-Grant (Leslie). Duplaix broke hearts in May 2025 as Nicole learned that her husband, Ted (then, Maurice Johnson), had fathered a daughter, Eva (Ambyr Michelle), with Leslie.
Mann-Grant, as Leslie, is the delicious “have-not” on the show who never misses an opportunity to both point out and capitalize on the foibles of others.
Last year, the Best Emerging Talent category was created, and while BTG has several newcomers who could easily land a spot in that category, Bruno reiterates the importance of not over-submitting.
“If I were making the decision at the show in that category, I would have submitted Ambyr Michelle [Eva] and Marquita Goings [Hayley],” Bruno says.
The rules for the Best Guest Performer changed this year. Performers can’t appear in more than 19% of the show’s total episodes. If that math works in her favor, Bruno sees Ernestine Johnson, who plays nurse Shaunice Johnson, as an ideal candidate because “she’s very likable. Ernestine took what could have been a supporting day player role and turned it into a character I care about. I want to see more of her journey.”
For Best Supporting Actor, Bruno is hoping to see Timon Kyle Durrett, who plays attorney Bill Hamilton, make the cut. “He’s their J.R. Ewing [Larry Hagman],” Bruno says. “I say that because he’s a bad guy who has a wink in his eye. He’s fun to watch, and you know that [Bill] has a heart. You know he’s a good guy playing a bad guy. They need to give him more.”
Beyond the Gates producers had 200 episodes to choose from for the categories of Best Drama Series, Best Writing Team, and Best Directing Team; he feels that Anita’s breast cancer story, which kicked off in late December, is the way to go across the board.
“Show, writing, and directing should all be the breast cancer story,” Bruno says. “I wouldn’t dissipate those categories with anything else.”
In the Creative Arts categories, Bruno expects to see casting director Kim Taylor-Coleman receive a nod. “Kim hit it out of the park,” the talent manager notes. “She found everyone.”
Whether or not Beyond the Gates takes home any gold in October, Bruno says that the newest soap in more than two decades is already a winner.
“The soap industry is psyched for this show,” Bruno says. “I can see people voting for Beyond the Gates because the show is a great sign for all of us. The show being greenlit is the best news the genre has had in over 20 years.”
Bruno suggests that the show will be a winner on Daytime Emmy night just by showing up for the ceremony. “The show has a two-year renewal, and the Daytime Emmys are going to be a night in which actors from that show can meet the Los Angeles-based actors,” the talent manager points out.
“The actors from Beyond the Gates got to meet some of the Y&R cast when they did the crossover, but now, they’ll be able to meet fellow performers from other shows, as well,” Bruno concludes. “Actors from Beyond the Gates are going to be interacting with the community that night. They should send a lot of people, no matter what.”
The 53rd Daytime Emmy Awards will be handed out Oct. 30.
