Days of our Lives Performer of the Week: Greg Rikaart as Leo Stark 

Javi has left Salem on Days of our Lives, but he Leo, and Dimitri are still embroiled in a love triangle. As evidenced last week, Leo, played by Daytime Emmy winner Greg Rikaart, is clearly still in love with Javi. For his performance as a man caught between two men who bring out different sides of him, Soap Central presents Rikaart with our Performer of the Week honors.

Days of our Lives, Performer of the Week Greg Rikaart

We're not saying Leo isn't truly concerned about Javi's (Al Calderon) dad, who needed heart surgery in Texas, but Leo also simply missed hearing his ex's voice. That's a big part of why he picked up the phone and called him.

"I just wanted to hear how your dad is doing," Leo said. "If you have a chance, just give me a call. It'd be nice to hear your voice. I'm thinking about you, and I love you."

Leo is known for injecting even the most sensitive moments with some kind of humor. Call it his charm or his identity, or a defense mechanism, but it's just what he does. However, when Leo thinks of Javi, he doesn't need those tactics.

He then reached out to his best pal, Marlena (Deidre Hall), hoping to get some official or non-official therapy. Rikaart chose to have Leo briefly debate whether to call or text. Who among us hasn't done that as we wonder which method of communication will get us the answer faster? Leo rolled the dice and got Marlena's voicemail.

He took another gamble by hightailing it over to the DiMera mansion to tell Dimitri (Peter Porte) that he no longer wanted to see him. Marlena might have advised Leo that the best way to send Dimitri the message he wanted to deliver would be to avoid him at all costs. Distance delivers a pointed message.

It's not over for Leo with Javi or Dimitri

Rikaart made it clear in Leo's performance that he still has lingering feelings for Dimitri. He knows in his head that Dimtri's bad for him, and that Javi is good for him. But he can't quite get his heart on board with that -- at least not fully.

Leo had to not only ward off Gwen's (Emily O'Brien) play-by-play quips when he confronted Dimitri, but he had to firmly state that he would not be going upstairs with him, where the mansion had bedrooms. Leo let his trademark humor come out when he announced that he and Dimitri would be staying downstairs in the "bedless, depressing living room."

Leo may not have meant to elicit a laugh from us when he brought up Taylor Swift and consulting AI (Artificial Intelligence) into his plan to purge Dimitri from his life, but he did. That's part of Leo's charm. He effortlessly rattles off pop culture references, expecting those around him to understand them in the same way he does.

However, he got down and serious when he informed Dimitri that while it's true they share some of the same bad qualities, Javi brings out his better ones.

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With that, Leo exited, hoping that Dimitri would get the message that he was trying to deliver. Bravo to Rikaart for bringing heart and humor to Leo's predicament.

Catch all-new episodes of Days of our Lives on Peacock, NBC's streaming platform.

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