Days of Our Lives’ Paul Telfer had nothing but praise for co-star John-Paul Lavoisier, and enjoys their onscreen rivalry.

Things between Xander and Philip have taken a complete about-face on Days of Our Lives. Despite being brothers, they’ve been bitter enemies for quite some time. This is until Philip’s (and Vivian’s) scheme to seize control of Victor’s fortune put the siblings in a situation where they had to work together. Things were going swimmingly for a short time, but Viv blew the lid on the forgery and now the brothers Kiriakis are back to being arch-enemies. Paul Telfer recently shared his thoughts on Xander and Phil’s sibling rivalry, which has gone sideways.

Xander Never Liked Philip

Telfer chatted with Soap Opera Digest and revealed, “I’ve never really had a consistent male scene partner outside of Matt Ashford, who plays Jack, and with that, we were friends.” When Xander’s not committing a crime, he’s been embroiled in several romances, which didn’t leave much room for male bonding.

Xander and Jack were friends until the Scotsman and Gwen (Emily O’Brien) blackmailed The Spectator away from Jack and Jennifer (Melissa Reeves). He has since given it back to Jack, but now he’s returned to square one with Philip (John-Paul Lavoisier), and Telfer summed up their relationship: “Xander’s just always kind of despised Philip.”

READ THIS: Get a peek at what’s coming up next on DAYS.

The Brothers Are Similar

Telfer explained that Xander has been justified in not liking Philip, whom he described as “A bit weaselly, a bit sneaky, and his own worst enemy.” Surprisingly, he noted that the brothers are very similar, although Xander tends to use violence to solve his problems while Philip prefers to backstab people.

READ THIS: How worried should we be for Philip’s life?

The actor admitted that he didn’t like describing Philip as a “weasel” because his scene partner is a really nice guy. He’s having a blast playing out the Xander and Philip scenes, “because J-P was one of the first people I ever met on DAYS.” The two working together did what Victor never could: They staged a takeover of DiMera Enterprises. Hopefully, Xander will be able to get past Philip’s treachery and continue to work with his brother, or they both stand to lose everything.