2026 Daytime Emmy Awards Nominations — The Full List of Soap Nominees Winners will be announced atthe 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday, October 30. The Winners Have an X beside them Our picks have a * beside them Fan Voted Picks (In Our Weekly Poll) Have a Y beside them Outstanding Daytime Drama Series Beyond the Gates Days of Our Lives General Hospital* The Young and the Restless Outstanding Lead Performer in a Daytime Drama Series: Actress Stacy Haiduk (Kristen, DAYS) Karla Mosley (Dani, BTG) Michelle Stafford (Phyllis, Y&R) Heather Tom (Katie, B&B)* Tamara Tunie (Anita, BTG) Outstanding Lead Performer in a Daytime Drama Series: Actor Eric Braeden (Victor, Y&R)* Steve Burton (Jason, GH) Scott Clifton (Liam, B&B) Thorsten Kaye (Ridge, B&B) Christian LeBlanc (Michael, Y&R) Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actress Linsey Godfrey (Sarah, DAYS) Camryn Grimes (Mariah, Y&R) Beth Maitland (Traci, Y&R)* Trisha Mann-Grant (Leslie, BTG) Amanda Setton (Brook Lynn, GH) Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actor Sean Dominic (Nate, Y&R) Timon Kyle Durrett (Bill, BTG)* Michael Graziadei (Daniel, Y&R) Roger Howarth (Matt, Y&R) Mike Manning (Smitty, BTG) Lawrence Saint-Victor (Carter, B&B) Outstanding Emerging Talent in a Daytime Drama Series Braedyn Bruner (Emma, GH) Al Calderon (Javi, DAYS) Alice Halsey (Rachel, DAYS)* Giovanni Mazza (Gio, GH) Ambyr Michelle (Eva, BTG) Arielle Prepetit (Naomi, BTG) Outstanding Guest Performance in a Daytime Drama Series Jasmine Burke (June, BTG) Jeff Kober (Cyrus, GH)* Y Eva LaRue (Natalia, GH) Christopher Sean (Paul, DAYS) Ray Wise (Ian, Y&R) Outstanding Writing Team for a Daytime Drama Series Beyond the Gates The Bold and the Beautiful Days of Our Lives General Hospital* Outstanding Directing Team for a Daytime Drama Series Days of Our Lives* General Hospital The Young and the Restless Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Daytime Program Beyond the Gates* Have Guitar Will Travel World The Kelly Clarkson Show Let Frankie Cook Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Outstanding Technical Direction and Video for a Daytime Program Beyond the Gates The Bold and the Beautiful* Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade The Jennifer Hudson Show Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Outstanding Cinematography or Camerawork for a Daytime Program Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade France Made With Love General Hospital* Long Way Home Superskilled with Eva zu Beck TrueSouth Outstanding Sound Mixing and Sound Editing for a Live Daytime Program The Bold and the Beautiful The Jennifer Hudson Show The Kelly Clarkson Show Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade The Young and the Restless* Outstanding Lighting Direction for a Daytime Program Beyond the Gates General Hospital* The Jennifer Hudson Show The Kelly Clarkson Show Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Outstanding Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design for a Daytime Program The Kelly Clarkson Show Live With Kelly and Mark The View The Young and the Restless (Episode 13145)* The Young and the Restless (Episode 13244) Outstanding Costume Design/Styling for a Daytime Program The Jennifer Hudson Show The Kelly Clarkson Show Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade The Young and the Restless (Episode 13149)* The Young and the Restless(Episode 13273) Outstanding Hairstyling and Makeup for a Daytime Program Beyond the Gates General Hospital* The Kelly Clarkson Show The Young and the Restless Outstanding Casting for a Daytime Program Beyond the Gates General Hospital* The Young and the Restless 2026 Daytime Emmy Award Nominations Date (7/8/26) 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. The Emmys will be handed out in a ceremony to be held on Friday, October 30 in Hollywood, California. Per michaelfairmantv.com, a few categories will once again be announced early. First up on Monday, July 13, Entertainment Tonight will announce the nominees in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category and the Outstanding Daytime Talk Series. Also on Monday, July 13, Extra will reveal the nominations in the categories of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Outstanding Daytime Talk Host. Then, its on to the official 53rd annual Daytime Emmy nominations day on Tuesday, July 14 which will kick-off with the ladies of ABC’s The View revealing the nominee in the categories of Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, Outstanding Entertainment News Series, and Outstanding Daytime Personality – Daily. 2026 Daytime Emmys Unveil Major Changes for Nominee Submissions (3/19/26) (variety.com) Submissions are now open for the 53rd Daytime Emmy Awards, which are set to take place on Oct. 30, the East Coast-based National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced on Thursday. As part of the news, NATAS unveiled a new design scheme for all of its Emmy ceremonies, including the Daytime event. It also revealed several rule changes — including the elimination of the Science and Nature category, and methodology that puts it closer in line to how the West Coast-based Television Academy runs the Primetime Emmys. Among the changes: Submissions will now be episode-based, which it calls a “primetime format,” allowing programs to enter multiple submissions for different episodes and potentially receive several nominations. Also, NATAS has opted to determine how many nominations a category will get based on a scale of how may submissions there were, much like what happens at the Primetime Emmys. There’s a new threshold for when you’re eligible for guest actor in a daytime drama. And the science and nature programming category has been eliminated in Daytime, as programs will now have to submit in Primetime, News & Doc or Children’s & Family, depending on eligibility. Here is a full look at this year’s Daytime Emmy rule changes: Episode-Based Submissions: In the past, a team-based structure allowed a show’s full team to be awarded on a single submission. But now, with an episode-based submission for craft categories, “A program is therefore eligible to enter multiple submissions for different episodes and potentially receive multiple nominations within the same category.” Joint Drama/Non-Fiction Categories: Daytime dramas and non-fiction programs will now enter alongside each other in categories except writing and directing. The categories will be split again if both the daytime drama and daytime non-fiction tracks have at least 10 submissions each. Science and Nature Programming: With the elimination of the Daytime Emmys having a science and nature category, shows that previously landed here (including the offscreen/voiceover narrator) will now relocate to either News & Doc or Primetime. Also if the show is geared to viewers under 15, it would move to Children’s & Family Emmys. As a corollary to this, programs produced by a platform’s documentary department are not eligible for a Daytime Emmy (submit them at News & Doc Emmys or Primetime Emmys instead). Last year’s winner in the category was Apple TV’s “The Secret Lives of Animals.” Other nominees included “Living with Leopards” (Netflix), “National Parks: USA” (National Geographic), “Secret Lives of Orangutans” (Netflix) and “Secrets of the Neanderthals” (Netflix). Guest Performer In a Daytime Drama: “To be eligible for the guest category, you must be seen in a maximum of 19% of episodes aired/streamed for the first time during calendar year 2025. Otherwise, you must enter in categories eligible only in the Leading, Supporting, or Emerging Talent categories.” Previously, that definition was, you could submit in the guest category if your performance was “in a limited role with a definitive beginning and end to the story arc.” Redefining Multi-Cam and Single-Cam: All categories that used to be tracked as “multi-cam” or “single-cam” are now classified as “studio or non-studio.” That means “programs featuring both filming styles must a) choose to enter categories featuring the predominant style and b) may NOT enter certain crafts in one style and other crafts in the other style. Predominant is defined as 50.1%. This applies in non-fiction directing, technical direction and editing categories.” Members-Only Judging – Judges must now be members of either NATAS, the Television Academy, or dual members will automatically be approved to judge. “Members in applicable categories will be assigned, at the discretion of competition administrators, to the appropriate category or categories, as outlined in our judging guidelines,” the org said. And if there aren’t enough eligible judges, NATAS will consider prior Emmy Award winners, prior Emmy Award nominees, and “those who otherwise meet the published membership criteria for their respective Peer Group but have elected not to join at this time.” Nominee Count: The default number of nominations in a category are: 10 – 29 submissions: 5 nominations 30 – 59 submissions: 6 nominations 60 – 89 submissions: 7 nominations 90 – 119 submissions: 8 nominations 120 -149 submissions: 9 nominations 150 or more submissions: 10 nomination If there are fewer than ten submissions in a category, the default number of nominations is 50% of the category’s submissions, rounded up to the nearest whole number. Categories with three or fewer submissions have no nominations, “though the National Awards Committee may proceed with an award based on a standard of excellence if the category is not otherwise merged or eliminated.” Here’s how that compares with the Primetime Emmys’ nomination math: 20 – 80 submissions = 5 nominations 81 – 160 submissions = 6 nominations 161 – 240 submissions = 7 nominations > 240 submissions = 8 nominations.