Paul Telfer Returns to 'Days of Our Lives' and with Greg Rikaart Creates New "Ship" Name

Paul Telfer is the Scottish actor who first appeared on NBC's Days of Our Lives in 2015. He started out as just a day player, but the show quickly brought him back as a recurring character and practically a regular actor on the show, portraying the role of Xander Kiriakis. The Kiriakis family is now one of the show's core families, having been in existence for nearly 40 years. One of the reasons for Telfer's upgrade from day player status is because ten years prior, he had the titular role in a miniseries about Hercules. It was clear that Telfer definitely had the Herculean physique and charm to entice anyone. The program therefore consistently had him shirtless, which is not unusual for most male actors on soap operas, but it became a running gag that almost every time Telfer was featured, there would be some reason to have him half naked. Given his character is a rogue and villain type, he's been off and on the series, but that running gag continues.

He came back in 2018 twice. His first appearance was in May when he redeemed himself a little. He rescued Theresa, played by Jen Lilley, from Mexico where she was being held hostage by El Fideo. He brought her back to Salem and used that as a way of trying to get a job at his uncle Victor's company, Titan. It didn't work, but he found out about a secret and then left.

His second appearance in 2018 was in October when he became a villain again. His character Xander went to Nashville where he blackmailed Nicole who killed his other uncle Deimos. He blackmailed her into marrying him. He knew that she was in love with Eric Brady, so he plotted to shoot and kill Eric, but he missed and shot Marlena Evans instead. He was working for Kristen DiMera who plotted to shoot Marlena too, so he was able to get away with it.

Having nursed EJ Dimera, Kristen's brother, and having nursed Jack Devereaux back to health, Xander is back in Salem, again wanting a job at his uncle Victor's company, the top job of CEO. In the meantime, he ran into Leo Kiriakis née Leo Stark, played by Emmy winner Greg Rikaart. Leo also is a blackmailer. He blackmailed Sonny Kiriakis into marriage. Leo had feelings for Sonny, but his wandering eye couldn't be pulled from Xander's huge, muscular, shirtless form. Leo proceeds to proposition Xander, which led head writer Ron Carlivati to create a new portmanteau representing a possible relationship or just a new "ship" name for them, either #Xeo or #Leander. The following pictures are from January 7th, 9th, 15th and 18th when we were being teased with a possible coupling sexually between the two hunks.