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Sonny Kiriakis
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Actor History
Other Names

Jackson Steven Kiriakis (full name)

Occupation

Co-founder of a company in Phoenix that specializes in breast cancer research and prevention

Former CEO of Titan Industries (multinational corporation)

Former business owner in Salem (bought and converted the Cheatin' Heart [bar] into Common Grounds [coffeehouse] alongside business partner Chad DiMera; later converted Common Grounds into Club TBD [nightclub]; ultimately sold Club TBD, which has since undergone two additional conversions [from Club TBD to Doug's Place, another nightclub; then from Doug's Place to Julie's Place, a healthy restaurant])

Former student at Salem University

Former webmaster (co-founded SalemSportsFan.com with business partners Will Horton and Chad DiMera; the trio shut down the website after discovering that a hacker was using it as a front for an illegal gambling operation)

Former intern at the district attorney's office in Salem

Residence

Somewhere in New Zealand

Formerly somewhere in Phoenix

Formerly the Kiriakis mansion in Salem

Formerly Apartment #15 in Salem

Formerly Apartment #14 in Salem

Formerly somewhere in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Formerly the Kiriakis mansion in Salem

Formerly somewhere in Austin

Marital Status

Married to Will Horton (June 17, 2019)

Past Marriages

Leo Stark (blackmailed into marrying Leo: December 13, 2018; forced Leo to sign annulment papers: March 26, 2019)

Will Horton (married: April 3, 2014; divorced: March 20, 2018)

Relatives

Justin Kiriakis (father)

Adrienne Johnson (mother; deceased)

Victor Kiriakis II (brother; via adoption)

Joseph Kiriakis (brother; via adoption

Alexander Kiriakis (half-brother)

Alexander Kiriakis (paternal grandfather; deceased)

Christina Kiriakis (paternal grandmother; deceased)

Duke Earl Johnson (maternal grandfather; deceased)

Jo Johnson (maternal grandmother)

Yurgos Kiriakis (paternal great-grandfather; deceased)

Sophie Kiriakis (paternal great-grandmother; deceased)

Jack Deveraux (uncle)

Abigail Deveraux (cousin; deceased)

Jack Deveraux Jr. (cousin)

Steve Johnson (uncle)

Stephanie Johnson (cousin)

Joseph "Joey" Johnson (cousin)

Tripp Johnson (cousin)

Victor Kiriakis (great uncle; deceased)

Tate Kiriakis (great uncle; deceased)

Isabella Toscano (paternal first cousin; once removed; deceased)

Bo Brady (paternal first cousin; once removed)

Philip Kiriakis (paternal first cousin; once removed)

Xander Cook (paternal first cousin; once removed)

Shawn-Douglas Brady (paternal second cousin)

Chelsea Brady (paternal second cousin)

Zack Brady (paternal second cousin; deceased)

Brady Black (paternal second cousin)

Ciara Brady (paternal second cousin)

Tyler Kiriakis (paternal second cousin)

Claire Brady (paternal second cousin; once removed)

Tate Black (paternal second cousin; once removed)

Children

Arianna Horton (technically his stepdaughter, but she has known and treated him as her second father since birth)

Flings & Affairs

Evan Frears (dated; lovers)

Paul Narita (dated; lovers; engaged)

Brian (flirtation; kissed)

Various boyfriends before returning to Salem as a young adult

Various girlfriends before coming out as gay during high school

Crimes and Misdeeds

Punched Tad Stevens (August 2012; payback for homophobic comments)

Punched Nick Fallon (February 2013; payback for homophobic comments)

Provided detectives with false information about a shooting (June 2013; was trying to protect Will's mother)

Possession of a stolen artifact (June 2017; was hoping to sell it)

Health and Vitals

Has O-negative blood type

Hospitalized after being stabbed in the back (February 2015)

Brief Character History

Sonny was born in Texas.

Although never shown on-screen, Sonny returned to Salem in 2007 with his parents and brothers. Along with his siblings, he attended Salem High School. His time in town was short lived, however, and by January 2008 the entire family moved again - this time to Dubai.

Sonny returned to Salem in June of 2011. He wanted to return to Salem to tell the members of his extended family that he was gay. Justin and Adrienne had known for years, but Sonny wanted to tell Victor and the rest of the family. All of his relatives were supportive. Sonny only encountered discrimination from T, one of Gabi and Will's friends, but the rest of Sonny's friends stuck up for him. Despite T's cruelty, Sonny even tried to reach out to T to stop the bullying.

After a brief internship with the Salem DA, Sonny embarked on some entrepreneurial opportunities. Will, Chad, and Sonny decided to launch a website surrounding Salem U's sports teams. The website was a huge success and quickly gained visitors. However, one day Chad noticed some suspicious activity on the message boards. It appeared that someone was using their website to give odds in an illegal gambling operation. After following a trace on the IP address, the boys learned that their entire website had been hacked and was a front for a gambling ring. The boys attempted to shut it down, and did so without Melanie, Gabi, or Abigail knowing and thought everything was fine.

But, the trouble wasn't near over for them. When the men behind the gambling ring found out that the boys had shut down their website, they kidnapped Melanie and Chad and held them hostage until Will and Sonny got the site back up. While Gabi and Abigail went to track down Melanie and Chad, Will and Sonny worked on getting the site back up. Luckily, Melanie, Chad, Abigail, and Gabi were not harmed. But, Will finally did talk to Rafe, Bo, and Hope. The men behind the gambling ring were arrested.

Sonny decided to open a coffee shop in Salem, "Common Grounds," a place where people of all different lifestyles could feel comfortable. Chad partnered with Sonny, but Will did not want to participate. Sonny noticed that Will was withdrawn. Will was starting to question Will's sexuality. Trying to be as supportive as he could, Sonny often invited Will out with Sonny's friends. Eventually, Will came out. Sonny was one of the first people Will told.

Soon, Sonny developed feelings for Will. When Sonny surprised Will with a kiss, Will rejected Sonny. Sonny was unhappy, but not ready to give up on Will. Eventually, Will returned Sonny's feelings and the two began to date.

Sonny and Will ran into a little opposition from Lucas, who wasn't comfortable with his son being gay. Lucas and Sonny butted heads several times, but Sonny made it clear to Lucas that he loved Will. Lucas backed off and supported Sonny and Will.

With their relationship going so well, Sonny didn't think twice about lending Will money when Will came to him. However, Sonny did not know that the money was for Gabi's abortion. (Gabi was pregnant with Will's child.) Gabi did not go through with the abortion, but Will did not tell Sonny about the baby. Instead, Will, Gabi, and Nick decided to let everyone else think that Nick was the father of Gabi's baby.

Sonny noticed that his business partner and friend, Chad, was extremely hostile towards Gabi. Sonny tried to reach out to Chad, but Chad never explained. However, on the day of Nick and Gabi's wedding, Chad stood up at the church and announced that Nick was not the father of Gabi's baby. Will, who was the best man at the wedding, stepped forward and confessed that he was the father. Sonny was crushed and ran out of the church.

Sonny asked Chad to explain the outburst at the wedding. Chad admitted that he had no idea that Will was the father, but that Chad had a score to settle with Gabi because of her role in masterminding a scheme that got Melanie kidnapped. Chad also told Sonny that Nick blackmailed Chad into never saying anything and asked Sonny to keep the secret. Sonny agreed.

Hearing the truth from Chad, Sonny felt a bit better about the situation. Sonny and Will began to work things out as well and eventually got back together. But Sonny, not one to trust Nick or Gabi, kept warning Gabi to never hurt Will. Sonny also thought that Nick's behavior was strange.

It turned out that Nick had a plan in motion. Nick had papers drawn up for Will to sign that would release all parental rights to Gabi's baby and just waited for the right time. That time came when Gabi started having labor pains while talking to Sami. Gabi and the baby were fine, and despite Kayla saying that dehydration contributed to her labor pains, Nick used Sami's temper as an excuse to set his plan into motion.

Nick confronted Will with the deal -- if Will signs away his paternal rights, Nick will stay quiet about Will shooting E.J. Nick also pointed out that turning in Will would mean incriminating Lucas, Roman, Hope, and more in the cover-up. Sonny, E.J., Sami, and Lucas all tried to convince Will not to sign the papers. Sami even offered to sign a document that would forbid her from coming near the baby. But Nick would not agree. Despite protests from Sami, Lucas, E.J., and Sonny, Will reluctantly signed the papers.

The situation got even worse when Nick got into a physical fight with Sonny because of homophobic slurs that Nick was using. After Will found out about the fight, Will went to Sami for help. She said that she had already been working on a plan -- she'd move back into the DiMera mansion with E.J. and the kids and start to build a relationship with Stefano in hopes that he would see her family as his own and use his contacts at the Salem PD to destroy the evidence against Will. Will agreed to go along with the plan. Sonny acknowledged that this was a last, but only resort.

While Stefano got the evidence removed from the Salem P.D., Sonny helped Sami break into Nick and Gabi's room (they were staying at the Kiriakis mansion) and find Nick's recordings of Will's confession. Thinking that Will would finally be able to get custody of his daughter back, Sonny and Will looked forward to the future, but kept a close eye on Nick.

One day while walking though the Horton Square, Will and Sonny witnessed Nick and Gabi being escorted away by a man named Jensen. They thought it suspicious and followed the three of them. Jensen took Nick and Gabi to an abandoned warehouse on Smith Island. He held them at gun point. Will and Sonny were able to rescue Gabi. Sonny left with Gabi while Will stayed behind to untie Nick.

On the way back to the ferry, Gabi went into labor. Sonny found an abandoned shack and delivered Gabi's baby. Arianna Grace was born on May 21, 2013 -- 7 lbs. and 20 inches.

Meanwhile, Nick told Will to leave him, but Will kept trying to rescue Nick. When Jensen returned to the cabin, Will hid and heard Jensen confess to abusing Nick in prison. When Jensen pulled a gun on Nick, Will jumped out and hit Jensen with a wrench. Jensen and Will struggled. The gun went off. Will was hurt. At that time, Hope and the police arrived. Hope fatally shot Jensen. They all took Will to the hospital. Will made it through surgery successfully. Gabi had Will's name put on Arianna Grace's birth certificate.

Sonny suggested that he, Will, Gabi, and Arianna Grace all move into an apartment together. Will was thrilled to start his new family. Despite his mother's protests, Sonny was equally as happy.

Living together was working fairly well until Sonny and Will learned that Gabi had rekindled her relationship with Nick. Sonny and Will were both furious, but Gabi told them that she's take Arianna and move out if they didn't let her live her own life. However, Gabi soon felt that Nick wasn't right for her and broke things off romantically with him.

But Nick wouldn't give up. He arranged for Gabi to be offered a modeling job in New York City. Then, he took a job in New York as well. But, when Gabi found out about his scheme, they got in a loud fight in the middle of the town square and people began to stare, including Kate Roberts, who overheard the whole fight. Gabi told Nick that she wanted nothing to do with him and stormed off. Nick chased after her. Kate chased after both of them.

Nick followed Gabi into the woods around town and continued to beg her for another chance. While trying to get away, Gabi tripped and fell on the ground. Nick jumped on top of her and starting kissing her. Thinking that he was going to rape her, Gabi grabbed a rock and hit Nick in the side of the head. Nick collapsed next to her and Gabi made her way out from under him. Kate arrived and saw an unconscious Nick and Gabi in tears. Sami, whom Kate had texted to meet her, arrived shortly after. Sami checked Nick for a pulse and couldn't find one. Kate noticed that the river wasn't far from the spot and suggested that they just throw Nick's body into the river. Sami agreed to help because Gabi was the mother of Will's baby.

Gabi was hysterical over the events that just happened, but agreed that this was the right thing to do. The three women dragged Nick to the river and pushed him in. Just as he hit the water, Nick woke up and grasped at them for help. But, they'd already let him go into the cold water. The three women assumed that he would drown and die. They agreed to keep all of the events of the night a secret.

In the days following, Will sense that Gabi, Sami, and Kate were hiding something. Worried that they were planning a surprise party for him, Will convinced Sonny to spy on the three of them and feed him information. So, Sonny hid in the coat closet one day while the three women were talking. He overheard them confess to killing Nick.

Sonny's first instinct was to go to his dad, Justin, and get his advice as a lawyer. But, when the women convinced him to keep quiet. They explained that the crime was committed in self-defense and the cover-up was to protect Gabi. Reluctantly, Sonny agreed.

Will found out a few days later. Sonny helped Will see why they all decided to keep it quiet and Will agreed eventually. But, Sonny was having nightmares about Nick.

On the day of Arianna's christening, an alive Nick Fallon showed up at the church, much to the shock of everyone at the church. Nick had a scar on the side of his head from where Gabi had hit him with the rock, but otherwise didn't seem to remember the events of that night. Nick claimed that he was there to see Hope, but everyone was suspicious.

Everyone, but Gabi. She believed Nick when he said that he was sorry for what he did to her and wanted a fresh start. Sonny and Gabi had a huge argument about her inability to see Nick as a dangerous man. But Gabi wouldn't hear it. She was adamant that Nick had changed.

Meanwhile, Sonny decided to propose to Will. Much to his surprise, Will didn't accept. Will said that he wanted to make sure that the drama (Nick, Gabi, etc.) was behind them. But, Marlena made Will see that there wouldn't ever be a time when their life would be completely drama-free. So, on Valentine's Day, Will finally accepted Sonny's proposal.

Will and Sonny were married on April 3, 2014. Victor and Maggie hosted the ceremony at the Kiriakis mansion. Marlena officiated the service. Caroline, Lucas, and Justin all spoke as part of the ceremony. Gabi and T served as Will's attendants. J.J. and Abigail stood up for Sonny. Sami and Adrienne walked their respective son down the aisle.

The only dark cloud still hanging over their happiness was Nick. Worried that Gabi was going to move on with Nick, Sonny and Gabi frequently argued about Nick's ability to change.

Slowly, Nick started to show his true colors to other people. He blackmailed E.J. and Abigail with photos of their affair. He manipulated Will and Sonny by threatening to send Sami, Kate, and Gabi to jail. He found a lawyer for Gabi and urged her to sign custody papers that would only allow Will to see Arianna every other weekend. He got into a physical altercation with Abigail's new friend, Ben, who had stepped in to protect Abigail when Nick grabbed her arm. Everyone seemed to be growing tired of Nick.

Sonny went so far as to steal a gun from Victor's house and bring it back to their apartment. Sonny was ready to shoot Nick if he did anything else to hurt Will. But when Sonny showed Will the gun, Will urged him to take it back.

The next day, Nick was shot three times. He stumbled to the square and collapsed in Julie's arms. He died a short time later. Hope led the investigation to find his shooter. Horrified that Sonny had done this to protect him, Will turned himself into the police. But, neither Sonny nor Will was the shooter. It turned out that Gabi had finally overheard Nick's threats to Sonny, retrieved a gun from the closet, and shot Nick to death. She turned herself into the police and plead guilty. Sonny and Will promised to keep in constant contact with Gabi about Arianna while Gabi was in prison.

Sonny and Will settled into their new life -- married, without Gabi, and raising Arianna. Sonny knew that Will really wanted to land a job as a writer, so he asked Victor to get Will a job with one of Titan's magazines. Sonny didn't tell Will this, and Will was happily surprised when an editor called him to offer him a position with True Vista Magazine.

Around the same time, Will agreed to be the best man in Sami and E.J.'s wedding. Will was very happy for Sami and E.J. and wished them well. But, a few days after the wedding Sami came to Will and told him that E.J. had been cheating on her with Abigail. Will felt bad for Sami, but was instantly worried that Sami would seek out extreme revenge on Abigail. So, when Will's first assignment came down from True Vista -- a tell-all piece about Sami taking over the DiMera Empire -- Will decided to use the article as a way to teach Sami a lesson.

Without disclosing to them that he was working on an article, Will secretly taped conversations with Kate, Sami, and E.J. about the DiMera takeover. Then, he wrote a article about Sami being the woman scorned and described her as a vindictive woman who was out for heartless revenge. He made sure to keep Abigail's name out of the article, but still described her and her affair with E.J. Sonny read the article and told Will is was well-written. However, Sonny warned Will that his mother would be hurt.

Nervous that Will would be making a mistake, Sonny went back to Victor and asked for Will to be given another assignment. Victor told him that he couldn't interfere and Sonny really needed to start letting Will make his own decisions. Sonny tried to warn Will about the outcome of the article again, but Will was determined.

Just before the article came out, Will's editor found out that Abigail was the mistress and made a change to the copy to include Abigail's name. When the article came out, everyone was angry with Will. Will was upset that no one congratulated him on landing the cover story. He was further upset with Sonny when Sonny assumed that Will had decided to include Abigail's name at the last minute. Will insisted that he didn't, but Sonny, along with Lucas and E.J., pointed out to Will that even without Sami giving the specific name, Will had done enough damage on his own.

Despite people's protest, Will insisted that he did the right thing. And when his TruVista editor, Zoe, offered Will another job at Sonix magazine, Will took it. His first assignment was write a tell-all article about Chad DiMera and Chad's feud with E.J. Will approached Chad about the story and they agreed to do the project together.

Sonny was less than thrilled that Chad was back in Salem. While happy to see his friend was doing well, Sonny was upset that Chad had disappeared and left him to run the day-to-day operation of the club. So, Chad and Sonny worked out a deal where Sonny would get a bigger share of the club's profits. Chad also agreed to finance a second location of the club on the south side of town. Despite warnings from his uncle Victor not to trust a DiMera, Sonny and Chad agreed to go forward with their new plans.

Meanwhile, Will and Chad began working on the article. But while they were working on it, E.J. was murdered. Sami was crushed. Before the story on Chad was published, some producers from Hollywood read Will's story about Sami and E.J. They wanted to make a movie about Sami's life and wanted Will to write the screenplay. The job would mean that Will would have to move to Hollywood for six months. Will was thrilled and told a heartbroken Sonny that he wanted to go so that he would have a chance to experience life and start a new career. Sonny didn't want him to leave, but loved him enough to let him go. So, in October 2014, Will took Arianna and moved to Hollywood with Sami, Johnny, Allie, and Sydney.

While there, Will was so busy that he didn't take Sonny's calls or return his messages. For months, Sonny and Will had limited contact. Back in Salem, Sonny was running into problem after problem with construction on the new club. When he ran out of money from Chad, he went to Victor for a loan. But, Victor turned him down. So, as a last resort, Sonny cleared out all of the money in his and Will's savings account.

Around Christmas, Will and Ari returned to Salem for good. Sonny was happy to see them. He was also glad that Sonix was willing to give Will another assignment. They needed the money.

What Sonny didn't know was that Will's new article subject was all-star pitched Paul Narita -- Sonny's ex-boyfriend. Paul had come to Salem to have Daniel Jonas repair his rotator cuff. The surgery was mostly a success. Paul would have control over his arm again. However, he would not be able to pitch again. Will's story was supposed to be about Paul's return to baseball. However, it ended up being more.

Paul and Sonny met while Paul was playing baseball in Japan. When he got drafted, Sonny traveled with Paul. They were happy and eventually Sonny proposed. But Paul wasn't ready to be publically out yet. So, Sonny had to end things. But, Paul never forgot about Sonny.

When Paul saw Sonny in Salem, he kissed him. Sonny pushed Paul away, told him that he was married, and that Paul should try to move on. Paul was crushed. He'd lost his career and Sonny. But, he tried to move forward.

He'd already agreed to the article with Sonix and Will was the writer. Will's editor had warned him that this was a top secret article and that he couldn't tell anyone who he was interviewing -- even Sonny. And, this editor told him not to let Paul know anything about him, including the fact that Will was married. So, Will removed his wedding ring each time he went to interview Paul. It didn't take long for Will to suspect that Paul may be hitting on him. So Will asked Paul if he was gay.

Paul asked Will if he was gay. When Will said yes, Paul kissed him. The two ended up sleeping together. Afterward, they both agreed that it couldn't happen again. But their newfound closeness made it easier for Paul to open up to Will about his past life -- including the man who proposed to him. Will was able to put together a draft of the column in which Paul came out. Paul approved the column and it went to print.

A few days before the article came out, Derek -- one of the employees at Paul's hotel -- was having a drink at Sonny's club. A copy of Sonix Magazine was on the counter with Will's picture on the cover, previewing his upcoming article. Derek pointed to the picture of Will and commented that "that guy" was having a great time right now. Sonny asked what Derek meant and Derek explained that Will was sleeping with Paul. Derek had seen Will at Paul's hotel room several time. Furious, Sonny went to confront Will.

But he was interrupted on the way there by men working for Clyde Weston -- Victor's newest enemy. Anxious to send a message to Victor, Clyle ordered a hit on Sonny. So, one of Clyde's men stabbed Sonny and left him for dead. Luckily, Victor and Maggie walked by a short time later, saw Sonny, and called 911.

Sonny was rushed to the hospital for surgery. But Sonny had O-negative blood, and the supply was almost completely depleted. So, Maxine called a recent patient whom she knew was O-negative. Paul came to the hospital and donated blood, not knowing that it would save Sonny. When Adrienne saw Paul, she recognized him. When she realized what he had done for Sonny, she thanked him and promised to call him with updates on his condition.

Sonny had no memory of what happened when he woke up. He also had no memory of learning that Will had slept with Paul. But, as the memories of the events of the attack came back to him, so did the memory of Will cheating.

Paul came to visit Sonny to make sure that Sonny was okay. When Sonny saw him, he asked him about Will. Paul confirmed the story. When he tried to explain that he didn't know Will was Sonny's husband, Sonny threw Paul out of the hosital room.

Then, Sonny confronted Will. Will tried to talk his way out of it. He said that Sonny had spent all their money, that Sonny had been with other guys, and that Sonny hadn't been honest with him about Paul. But Sonny corrected Will on all accounts. But deep down, Will was scared that Sonny only proposed to him because Paul had turned him down. When Sonny heard this, he decided that it was best to leave Salem for a while. So, he went to stay with his brother in Arizona.

Will and Sonny continued to have problems. Eventually, Will confessed that he'd had another affiar in L.A. prior to Paul. Sonny then moved to Paris to take a break from Will. While Sonny was gone, Will was murdered by the necktie killer.

Sonny returned to Salem a few month later, when he'd heard Victor's long-lost brother had returned to take Titan away. Sonny was immediately suspicious of Deimos, but no one would listen to Sonny's warning.

Sonny believed that Deimos had been instrumental in having Brady and Nicole kidnapped. So, he tracked Deimos to Greece to get proof. Sonny's plane crashed on the way home. He was stranded on an island with Chad, Abigail, Eli, J.J. and Paul for days. Paul contracted jungle madness and Sonny had to fight to the others not to kill Paul. Luckily, John and Marlena rescued them and Paul recovered. When they returned home, Victor turned Titan over to Sonny.

When they castaways home, Julie threw a party in their honor. Furious that his enemies were winning, Deimos disgusted himself as a bartender and drugged the Champaign toast with Halo. While everyone was high, Deimos stole a valuable artifact from Sonny. However, at the end of the night, the party attendees found Deimos dead.

No one had a clear recollection of what happened that night. Sonny vaguely remembered fighting with Deimos.

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Who's Who in Salem

DAYS Actor biographies
DAYS Cast and Credits

More profiles and submit changes
Who's Who for other soaps

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