Huge casting news out from Days of our Lives: the NBC soap has added soap veteran Vincent Irizarry to its ever-growing cast. The Emmy-winning actor -- famous for his roles as All My Children's David Hayward, The Young and the Restless' David Chow, Guiding Light's Nick Spaulding/Lujack Luvonaczek, and Santa Barbara's Scott Clark -- says he is already in love with his new character.

The actor himself finally broke his silence about his new role, sharing the good news on Facebook. ""Finally!" he posted. "I'm able to share with all of you what I've been excitedly holding in for over a month now, that I've joined all the incredibly talented people in Salem over at Days of our Lives! I honestly couldn't be happier to be working with such wonderfully gifted people, all of whom who have been so warm and welcoming. I'm equally thrilled to be playing a character I've already loved playing these past weeks, with scripts that have been so wonderful, I'm excited each time I open a new one to find out what the writers have in store for me next, and alongside actors I have so much respect for. What a true, absolute pleasure it's all been!"

At the moment, the character Irizarry will be playing remains a mystery, though Internet rumors have him being everything from an E.J. DiMera recast (a character previously played by Irizarry's former AMC costar, James Scott) to a brand new character. Head writer Dena Higley shared on Facebook that Irizarry's new alter ego will be the younger brother of an existing character and will show up in Salem, seeking revenge. Yahoo! TV, meanwhile, reports that Irizarry's character will have strong ties to the Kiriakis family.

The New York native will be joining fellow Emmy winners Jordi Vilasuso (ex-Griffin Castillo, AMC; ex-Tony Santos, GL) and A Martinez (ex-Ramon Montgomery, The Bold and the Beautiful; ex-Ray Montez, One Life to Live; ex-Roy DiLucca, General Hospital) when he debuts in Salem early next year.

"Thank you so much, all of you, for your tireless support of me and my work throughout all these years together," Irizarry added. "I'm truly, truly touched by the overwhelming expressions of kind thoughts and well wishes by so many of you throughout all the social media outlets. As it has been throughout so many times in my life working on shows such as this, because of you all, my cup truly runneth over... Can't wait to see you all in Salem!"

For a tease as to what Salem will look like when Irizarry hits the canvas, be sure to check out DAYS' co-head writer Josh Griffith's revealing interview about the future of the NBC soap.

What character do you think Vincent will be taking on? Will it be a character fans know about or one we've never heard of? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, on our message boards, or by submitting Feedback.

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