Soap
Opera
Weekly
the
news
YEP,
I'M (NOT)
GAY!
Jack admits the truth |
|
MOVE
OVER, ROSIE, JACK DROPS HIS OWN bombshell this week on Days
of Our Lives when he admits to the world that he is not
gay.
"Jack is beyond busted," declares Matthew Ashford
(Jack). "Everybody has a
reason to hate him, and they all move in on him. It's like
something out of Night of the Living Dead.
After dodging mobster Chico and Big Chauncey, who want to
kill him because he accidentally picked up their brief case
filled with money, Jack ends up backstage in a hotel ballroom
in Las Vegas where Harold's dad, Oliver Wentworth, is hosting
a big show.
When Wentworth invites Jennifer and Brandon to stay for the
festivities, they agree, setting the stage for what promises
to be a fiasco. Meanwhile, Chico and Chauncey block all exists
from the ballroom. Realizing there's no way out, Harold gets
an idea: He, Jack and Greta will dress up as showgirls.
 But
they fall flat on their faces -- literally. Wentworth is furious
when the three stumble into the orchestra pit, while Jennifer
and Brandon are stunned at the sight of Jack in drag. As Chico
and Chauncey train their guns on Jack, "Brandon, of all
people, knocks over Chico and his bullet goes astray,"
previews Ashford. "The Jennifer gets into the act and
saves Jack's life."
"Jennifer drops a sandbag
on Chauncey's head," chuckles Melissa Reeves (Jennifer).
"She knocks him out. Boom, boom, boom! It's over. In
the face of trauma, Jack and Jennifer always rise to the occasion
for each other."
The two thugs are promptly arrested, but Jack's troubles are
just beginning. Jennifer laces into Jack, telling him she
knows his secret. Finally, Jack blurts out the truth, but
unfortunately, his big revelation is blasted over the ballroom's
loudspeaker.
"Everybody's there, and they all
hear it," sighs Ashford. "Brandon, Harold, Wentworth....
Jennifer is disgusted. Greta is a mess. They all take potshoots
at Jack."
The most crushing blows come from the two women in his life.
"Jack and Jennifer get in a pretty heated argument, but
it's out of hurt and pain," explains Reeves. "Jennifer
realizes Jack is never going to change and that things may
never work out between them. She can't believe he pretended
to be something he's not, that he lied to and hurt so many
people. Usually, Jack's lies just hurt Jennifer, Jennifer
never wants to see him again."
 Ditto
Greta, who slaps Jack across the face. "Greta is shattered,"
relates Julianne Morris (Greta).
"Her heart is broken. She spent months believing in Jack,
trusting him, wanting him to be happy and doing everything
she could to make him happy."
"Things are
bad," groans Ashford. "Everybody's yelling at Jack,
then they leave. He doesn't even have anybody to spin a story
to. Jack's back to negative square one. This would be where
Jack would sing his solo, if it were a musical. Maybe, Don't
Cry for Me Argentina. Something sad and torchy.
Things get more dismal for poor Jack when he returns to Salem,
where life is, fittingly, a drag.
|
|
SHOW
GIRL FOR DAY(S)
OF
ALL THE CAREER ASPIRATIONS Matthew
Ashford has had, he never quite pictured himself
as a Vegas showgirl -- until his Days of Our Lives
alter ego, Jack, went undercover to escape thugs (airing
this week).
 "It
was kind of scary," cracks Ashford. "I was in
full drag, full-on regalia." You can say that again:
a bra top covered with clam shells, a sarong, fishnet stockings
and a purple boa.
"The hard part for Ashford was donning his fishnet
hosiery. "They felt very strange. Someone had to actually
put them on for me," he admits. "But, hey, I guess
it would have been more embarrassing if I had been really
good at it."
Ashford, however, already knew how to walk in heels -- "you've
got to be on your toes, literally" -- from his last
dress-up stint on Days. "Vern and Jack were
in drag years ago. They were on the lam hiding out in New
York City trying to save Jennifer from Lawrence Alamain.
I was more of a matron then," he muses. "At least
this time, I'm a showgirl."
|
|
|