DAYS SPICY HOT TAKE! Alex Kiriakis Is Not Protective, He Is Controlling, and Stephanie Johnson Deserves a Husband Who Asks Before He Acts

ALEX KIRIAKIS HAS A PATTERN AND SALEM SHOULD NAME IT

TL;DR: Alex Kiriakis has cancelled Stephanie’s book tour without telling her, turned off her phone while her mother was dying, attacked the wrong man multiple times, and made every crisis about his own guilt on Days of Our Lives. We are not calling him a villain. We are calling him a man with a pattern. And Stephanie Johnson deserves someone who communicates with her before making decisions that reshape her entire life.

Let Us Lay Out the Pattern

Alex Kiriakis has a history that nobody in Salem seems willing to examine as a whole. Individually, each incident gets explained away. He was jealous. He was scared. He was trying to protect her. But when you line them up, a pattern emerges that is impossible to ignore.

In 2022, Alex pursued Stephanie Johnson after she made it clear she was not interested. She turned him down. He showed up at her office with flowers. She said no again. He kept pushing until she gave in. Fans noticed it then and the social media threads from this week prove fans have not forgotten.

In December 2022, Alex turned off Stephanie’s phone while they were being intimate because Chad DiMera kept calling. He did not want to be interrupted. What he did not know was that Chad was calling to tell Stephanie that her mother Kayla Brady may have been dying. Kayla survived but Stephanie could have missed her mother’s final moments because Alex Kiriakis decided that his night mattered more than whatever was happening on the other end of that phone. Stephanie dumped him for it. Which was the appropriate decision.

Do you think Alex Kiriakis is controlling or just overprotective? We want your hottest takes at [email protected] and we just might publish them right here on the page!

The Book Tour, the Boss Comment, and the Man Who Decides Things

Alex and Stephanie got back together. He proposed. She said yes. And then in January 2026, Alex cancelled Stephanie’s book tour without telling her. He did not ask. He did not consult. He made the call and presented it as a done deal because of the stalker situation.

When Stephanie confronted him, Alex told her he made the decision “as her boss, not her fiancé.” Let that sentence sit for a moment. The man who is supposed to be her partner told her that he outranks her professionally and used that authority to override her career without a conversation. She walked away furious. With good reason.

He continually promises he will make better choices. But the pattern continues to repeat itself in a different form.

Jeremy, the Wrong Man, and Alex’s Need to Be the Hero

Before Stephanie was kidnapped by Owen Kent, Alex spent weeks convinced that Jeremy Horton was the culprit. He did not wait for evidence. He did not listen to Stephanie’s father Steve, who was running the investigation. Alex went after Jeremy. He attacked him. He jumped to conclusions publicly and loudly. And when Stephanie was finally found in that hospital basement, Alex discovered her with Jeremy and immediately assumed the worst again.

Understandable. Except he was wrong. Jeremy was innocent. Owen was the kidnapper. And Alex had to apologize to a man he had been targeting for months.

The instinct to protect someone you love is not the problem. The problem is the pattern of acting first, deciding first, speaking first, and asking questions only after the damage is done. Alex does not collaborate with Stephanie. He operates on her behalf without her consent and then frames it as love.

This Marriage Is Built on a Foundation That Keeps Cracking

Alex Kiriakis and Stephanie Johnson eloped in Chicago. They are married. They love each other. Nobody is disputing that. But love without communication is just possession with better lighting, and Alex has shown repeatedly that his first instinct is to control the situation rather than include Stephanie in it.

And somewhere out there, Joy Wesley left Salem pregnant with Alex’s baby and he doesn’t even know he’s a father. She’s about to come back to Salem and he’s going to be incredulous. Meanwhile, Jeremy is opting to stay in Salem. He and Stephanie bonded anew during the time they were being held in captivity together. Will that memory of closeness haunt her?

Alex Kiriakis loves Stephanie. We believe that. But love is not a license to override someone’s autonomy, and until Alex learns the difference between protecting his wife and controlling her, this marriage has a crack in the foundation that is only going to get wider.

Is Alex Kiriakis controlling or just a man who loves too hard and communicates too little? And is this marriage going to survive when Joy’s secret finally comes out? Sound off below because the fandom is divided and we want to hear every side of it!

WATCH THIS: Did EJ take out Vivian?

@soapoperamag Did EJ DiMera Actually Kill Vivian Alamain? She's missing, EJ says she's handled, and someone just left flowers on a grave with her name on it. In Salem, death is never certain. But EJ has never been more dangerous. #DAYS ♬ original sound – Soap Opera Magazine