{"id":6167,"date":"2026-06-19T19:22:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T19:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/deidre-hall-slaps-craig-melvin-live-on-today\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T19:22:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T19:22:22","slug":"deidre-hall-slaps-craig-melvin-live-on-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/deidre-hall-slaps-craig-melvin-live-on-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Deidre Hall slaps Craig Melvin live on &#8216;Today&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F3%2F2026%2F06%2F131571386.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cDays of Our Lives\u201d star Deirdre Hall slapped \u201cToday\u201d host Craig Melvin in a display of soap opera prowess \u2014 but it was all in good fun. <\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_8-0\">\u201cOf all of the storylines that you\u2019ve been a part of over the years, what I\u2019ve always enjoyed is your ability to slap,\u201d Melvin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Yjads3063E4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told the daytime icon on Friday\u2019s broadcast<\/a>, while discussing her five decades of playing Dr. Marlena Evans. <\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_8-0\">He added, \u201cYou\u2019re a great slapper,\u201d to which Hall replied, \u201cWell thanks!\u201d <\/p>\n<p>When asked how many times she may have slapped co-stars over the decades, Hall, 78 \u2014 who began appearing on the NBC mainstay in 1976 \u2014 admitted to Melvin that she \u201ccouldn\u2019t begin to imagine.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Deirdre Hall playfully slapped Craig Melvin during Friday\u2019s episode of \u201cToday,\u201d as seen above.  <span class=\"credit\">YouTube\/TODAY<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Melvin told the \u201cDays of Our Lives\u201d icon that he\u2019s always admired her \u201cability to slap.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">YouTube\/TODAY<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_10-0\">Melvin then quipped that it would be \u201cone of the greatest professional honors of my life if you could slap me.\u201d <\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_16-0\">\u201cI would be privileged to slap you!\u201d Hall exclaimed before pulling her hand back for the faux strike.<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_16-0\">\u201cBe gentle now,\u201d Melvin said as crew members could be heard laughing in the background.<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_16-0\">\u201cI\u2019m going to draw my hand back and I\u2019m going to come very close to your face,\u201d Hall told Melvin, noting that when he \u201cfeel[s] that happen,\u201d he should \u201csnap [his] head.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the apparent on-camera slap, Melvin jokingly reacted with horror, recoiling and whimpering, \u201cOh my God!\u201d while covering his left eye.  <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Hall told Melvin to \u201csnap\u201d his head while performing the faux slap.  <span class=\"credit\">YouTube\/TODAY<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Hall joked after the moment that she \u201cmeant to miss.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">YouTube\/TODAY<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hall, meanwhile, said she \u201cmeant to miss\u201d as both laughed. <\/p>\n<p>In the comments thread via YouTube, fans gushed over Hall\u2019s half-century milestone. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cLove you Marlena!! Congratulations on 50 years!!!!!!!!!!\u201d one person wrote, while another remarked, \u201cGreat interview. Love Deidre Hall \u2026 has watched her for those 50 years and Days since a 7 year old in 1965 \u2026\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cLong live Deidre Hall and Marlena!\u201d a third person enthused. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Hall was marking 50 years on the soap opera during her appearance on \u201cToday.\u201d She\u2019s seen here in Los Angeles in November.  <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Hall\u2019s run on the show \u2014 set in the fictional town of Salem, Illinois \u2014 has earned her three Daytime Emmy nominations. <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9NBC\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hall\u2019s run on the show \u2014 set in the fictional town of Salem, Illinois \u2014 has earned her three Daytime Emmy nominations.<\/p>\n<p>For decades, she played the beloved psychiatrist opposite her character\u2019s love interest, Drake Hogestyn\u2019s John Black. Hogestyn <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/09\/29\/entertainment\/days-of-our-lives-soap-star-drake-hogestyn-dead-one-day-before-birthday\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">died following a battle with pancreatic cancer<\/a> just a day before his 71st birthday on Sept. 28, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement to Access Hollywood at the time, Hall said her co-star was \u201cdearly loved by everyone who ever knew him and he will be missed beyond measure.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>While Hogestyn\u2019s character was written off the show, Hall has continued in her long-running role as Dr. Evans, which has been streaming on Peacock since 2022.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/06\/19\/entertainment\/deidre-hall-slaps-craig-melvin-live-on-today\/\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cDays of Our Lives\u201d star Deirdre Hall slapped \u201cToday\u201d host Craig Melvin in a display<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/131571386.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}