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We should have known that when push came to shove, Days of Our Lives Stefan wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to Gabi. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much of a choice once his mother decided their relationship was at its end and kidnapped him to Alamainia!

Of course, Vivian had Ivan do the actual dirty work of drugging, tying up and tossing Stefan in a car trunk. Check out what happened with our recap of today’s episode here. It’s not that she’s afraid to get her hands clean — she’s killed plenty in her time — but when it comes to the actual manhandling of someone, she turns to her loyal manservant.

For those who haven’t been watching for ages, though, they may not be aware of who Ivan is. He didn’t accompany Vivian on her last visit to claim Victor’s legacy, but he’s been with “Madame” from day one — and we’re talking back when she first popped up in town, shooting Alphonse LeBeque in the back as he threatened her nephew, Lawrence Alamain!

Played by Ivan G’Vera initially from 1992 to 2000, Ivan started out as Lawrence’s manservant, though he was always loyal to Vivian. And it didn’t take long for the two to become inseparable. Through all their misdeeds over the years, Ivan has remained madly in love with the woman he insists on calling “Madame,” even if she never quite reciprocated in the way he would have liked.

But then, we suppose few things bond people like crime! And these two have broken plenty of laws over the years. Right from the start, Ivan helped Vivian with her crimes, covering up lawyer Lisanne Gardner’s death when her grandnephew Nicholas (who she was passing off as her own son)  accidentally killed her. Ivan then gave Vivian a much-needed hand in murdering Carly’s patients and burying her alive when Madame didn’t want to give Nicholas back to his real mom.

And when Stefano forced Vivian to do his bidding, Ivan stayed right by her side, helping in everything from aiding the DiMera patriarch in escaping Salem, to kidnapping Marlena at The Phoenix’s behest. They even schemed with (and against) Kristen and hatched all kinds of wild plots with even wilder disguises!

As Louise Sorel explains, “I kind of miss some of the madness. I was a hyperthyroid Heidi with a sheep. I was a French woman. I was a man. I fell out of a plane. I was a box of French fries, at one point, with Ivan. He was a hamburger. I mean, just madness. I loved all that.”

You can see what else Sorel had to say about Vivian and Ivan, along with what’s ahead for Philip here.

Eventually, the partners in crime skipped town in 2000 after winning the lottery, only to drift apart at some point. Ivan then became wildly wealthy and successful working in Bollywood, returning in 2011 to offer Vivian a starring role in one of his films after her new henchman, Gus, turned out to be too much of a sociopath even for her!

But neither he, nor Vivian could stay away from Salem forever, and in 2020 he came back to break the news to Vivian that Stefan had a twin brother, Jake, who she never knew about. And after Ivan helped Vivian (played then by Linda Dano) kidnap Eli and Lani’s kids in 2021, they both ended up behind bars. We guess he, like Vivian, served his time, since the duo are reunited once more!

When Ivan’s around, that’s how we know Vivian means business. No one helps her in her schemes quite like he does. Heck, he already saved her a boatload of trouble today by cautioning her not to go overboard in forging Stefan’s divorce.

So hopefully, he’ll be back once Stefan’s taken care of. Vivian’s clearly got more in store for Philip and if she wants to pull her scheme off, she’s going to need all the help she can get!