Days of our Lives comings and goings for 2026 document one of the show's heaviest casting years in recent memory — a mass exit cluster, two announced departures, and the returns that cushion them. Here is the full verified list, what each move means, and why this much churn is survivable on this specific show.

The verified 2026 casting ledger

Drawing on the published comings-and-goings coverage (the mass exits & returns report), (Soap Opera Network's tracker), (the 2026 exits & returns roundup):

  • Four major exits shake Days. Carson Boatman, Raven Bowens, Ashley Puzemis and Leo Howard are written out — with the crucial detail that they'll "remain onscreen" for a stretch, meaning the show is airing taped episodes long after the taping decisions. That gap between decision and airdate is why casting churn feels surreal in soap-watching time.
  • Elia Cantu exits as Jada Hunter. Announced directly by the actress, ending a run in the role since 2022 (Soap Opera Network). Jada's departure removes one of Salem's newer-but-central young-adult anchors — a hole the show must re-dig or refill.
  • Nikki Crawford exits as Lexie Carver. With the character saying goodbye on-screen in early August per the casting coverage (the August casting report). A Carver-family goodbye is structural — the Carvers are one of Salem's core families, and Lexie's name carries decades of legacy weight from the character's earlier era.
  • Favorites return alongside. The same coverage documents familiar faces cycling back — the show's standard hedge, replacing front-burner risk with front-burner nostalgia. The full list of major returns and exits runs in the casting roundups (the full exits/returns list).

Why this churn is survivable — and what it means for story

Three structural facts make this exodus survivable. First, the show is renewed through Season 63 — into the 2027–28 season — a commitment we documented in detail, meaning these exits are planned within a multi-season architecture, not cost-cutting ahead of a cliff. Second, Days tapes roughly a year ahead of air, which is why four written-out actors "remain onscreen": their final episodes were taped under old plans, and the re-building happens off-camera long before the audience feels it. Third, the show's casting history is a rotation: exits cluster, returns follow, and the canvas's five families — Horton, Brady, Kiriakis, Hernandez, DiMera — absorb churn the way a river absorbs rain (the five-family canvas).

For story, the exits do two things. They free budget for the legacy-return investment the same coverage documents — and they hand the show's younger story lanes to whoever the returns bring back. The current return arc — the Salem return shaking two marriages — is exactly the kind of story these casting moves are clearing the runway for. And our week-ahead Salem shockwave guide maps how the churn and the story arcs interleave week to week.