The Heartwarming Reason Days Of Our Lives' Kyle Lowder Swapped Careers
Kyle Lowder has been a soap opera star for ages, having originally played Brady Black on "Days of Our Lives" from 2000 to 2005. He went on to play Rick Forrester on "The Bold and the Beautiful" from 2007 to 2011 and then returned to "Days" in 2018, taking on the character Rex Brady. With all of those credentials under his belt, Lowder has decided to take a break from soap acting and is pursuing an entirely new career: TV anchorman.
On June 23, 2023, the actor posted a picture of himself on Instagram signing a document and captioned it, "The ink is dry and it's official. I couldn't be happier to announce the next chapter/adventure in my life, both personally and professionally. Starting in July I will be joining news leader and CBS affiliate @ktvn_reno as their new morning co-anchor." KTVN channel 2 is a CBS affiliate that operates out of Reno, Nevada. Lowder's post continued, "Truly grateful and thrilled to be a part of the beautiful Reno-Tahoe community. Details forthcoming, stay tuned..."
In an interview on KTVN, posted on July 6, about why he changed careers, Lowder explained, "The bottom line is, I came up here with my family."
Lowder and his family fell in love with Tahoe
"Days of Our Lives" alum Kyle Lowder was married to co-star Arianne Zucker — who plays Nicole Walker on the sudser — for 12 years until they split up, but remain great friends and co-parent their daughter, Isabella "Izzy" Lowder. He continued explaining to KTVN that his family's thoughts about moving began during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. He stated that Zucker remains his best friend and that "Ari and her fiancé Shawn Christian, also an actor ... bought a house in South Lake Tahoe to kind of get out of L.A., sold their place in Los Angeles, [and] moved up to South Lake Tahoe." Christian previously played Dr. Daniel Jonas on "Days," where he and Zucker met. "Over the past three years," continued Lowder, "Our family, Ari, Shawn, Izzy, and myself, had just fallen in love with the Reno/Tahoe area and all of the recreation and everything that this area has to offer. So, in January, we spent about a week there as a whole family."
After their vacation in Nevada, Izzy approached her parents, asking, "What would it look like if I lived in Tahoe full-time?" Lowder and Zucker considered it and looked into schools, especially because Izzy is an "elite soccer player" and wanted to cater to her needs. He further remarked that Zucker commuted between Tahoe and California to work on "Days," and he planned to stay in L.A., doing the same thing.
For Lowder, any job he does is about storytelling
When the end of the school year drew closer, "Days of Our Lives" star Kyle Lowder realized, "The reality set in of this empty room at the top of the stairs thing." He didn't want to be left alone in L.A. and thought, "[I've] got five years left until [Izzy] graduates high school and goes off into the world, and I don't want to be a visitor in her life." He went on, noting, "All I knew is that I've just worked in television for 23 years." He stated that his career involved telling "scripted stories" and proceeded to send out emails to news stations in Reno, attaching his resume and cover letter, which said, "Humbly and respectfully, I realize this might be a little out there, but I'm following my daughter and my family up here to Reno/Tahoe area."
The producers at KTVN weren't sure if his job application was real, but after a meeting, they felt he would be a good fit, as broadcast news has been a mainstay in his life since childhood. It didn't matter to him if he was telling a story on stage, in a daytime drama, or on the news. "It all just reduces down and boils down to storytelling," he explained, adding, "It's about me being authentic and communicative with a story through that lens to people who are watching."