By Emily Mitchell/Reported by Jeannie Park

Catastrophic news. After a secret operation for a new plot twist, Steven ("Patch") Johnson, the one-eyed heartthrob of Days of Our Lives, will no longer need his trademark eye patch, a feature of the show for four years. Soap-opera fans are protesting the change, and have even threatened to tune out the show. Actor Stephen Nichols is sorry to see the gizmo go. The moody Patch's gimmick has been the "key part of his sensual attraction -- it's black, leather and mysterious." The program's producers, however, have no patchwork guilt.