Soap Opera Magazine, a digital publication covering daytime television, has announced nominees for its first annual Maggie Awards, a new awards program in which every category winner will be determined by fan vote rather than an industry jury. The awards recognise performances and storytelling that aired during the 2025 calendar year, with winners to be announced October 1, 2026.
The inaugural slate covers 13 categories: Leading Actress, Leading Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Younger Actress, Younger Actor, Guest Performance, Best Soap, Best Couple, Best Villain, Best Hero, Best Comeback, and Best Newcomer. Nominations span all five current American daytime dramas — The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, and Beyond the Gates.
Among those nominated are daytime veterans Eric Braeden, Deidre Hall, Maurice Benard, Genie Francis, Jane Elliot, and John McCook, alongside Steve Burton, Scott Clifton, Cameron Mathison, Paul Telfer, Tamara Tunie, Karla Mosley, Maura West, and Kathleen Gati. Beyond the Gates, described in the announcement as the first new network daytime drama in more than 25 years, earned nominations in nine categories in its first eligible year.
Voting is open on the Soap Opera Magazine Facebook page and closes September 28, 2026. Each winner will receive an engraved Maggie trophy. The awards are named for the magazine itself and are intended to be presented annually, with each year's eligibility period matching the prior calendar year.
Editor-in-Chief Amber Sinclair said daytime actors "do some of the most demanding work on television" and are "rarely recognized for it outside one night a year," describing the Maggies as a "second stage" for that work. On the decision to place all voting power with viewers, Sinclair said: "Soap fans have never been shy about who deserves recognition, and now they get the final say. These are the people who watch every single day, who know exactly which scene mattered and why. Handing them the ballot was the whole point."
Soap Opera Magazine is published by Squid McGuffey Media LLC and is a revival of a print title that ran from 1991 to 1999. The complete list of nominees is available at soapoperamagazine.com/the-maggies/.
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