Clifton Davis singing a Jackson 5 classic on 'Beyond the Gates' is the feel-good holiday surprise we needed
Clifton Davis has sent The Jackson 5 fans into full nostalgia mode with a heartfelt performance on 'Beyond the Gates'. For the unversed, the soap opera is celebrating the holiday season with special episodes airing from Monday, December 22, to Friday, December 26. In one standout moment, Davis surprised viewers with an emotional rendition of the Jackson 5 classic 'Never Can Say Goodbye,' moving fans with the throwback performance.
Davis performed 'Never Can Say Goodbye', the 1971 hit he wrote for The Jackson 5, in a special holiday episode of 'Beyond the Gates' airing on Christmas Eve. In the episode, Davis' character, Vernon Dupree, sings the song to his wife, Anita, played by Tamara Tunie, in a moment previewed exclusively by Billboard. Davis talked about the full-circle moment of performing 'Never Can Say Goodbye'. "It's quite amazing to think I wrote this song way, way back, and now it's been written into the show's story plot," he told Billboard.
He further added, "It's exciting to be singing and sharing this song with another generation… It's a song that just keeps on giving. I'm humbled as well because it didn't have to turn out this way. God is good." Released 54 years ago, the Hal Davis–produced The Jackson 5 hit reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
The song also earned Davis a Grammy nomination, with later covers by artists like Isaac Hayes and Gloria Gaynor. The song's legacy mirrors Davis' own enduring career, which spans Broadway ('Wicked,' 'Two Gentlemen of Verona'), television ('Amen,' 'Madam Secretary'), and film ('Any Given Sunday'). Talking about 'Beyond the Gates', CBS has released the first promo for season 2 of the show, set to premiere in 2026, teasing major romance and drama.
The teaser opens at a glamorous Dupree household party, where matriarch Anita Dupree (Tamara Tunie) promises, "This party is going to be brimming with surprises." Quick cuts highlight steamy moments between Kat (Colby Muhammad) and Thomas (Alex Alegria), Vanessa (Lauren Buglioli) and Joey (Jon Lindstrom), and a playful joke from Martin (Brandon Claybon) to his husband, Smitty (Mike Manning), as he says, "Hopefully, it's involving fewer clothes."
Romantic tension also builds as Leslie (Trisha Mann Grant) flirts with Marcell (Darryl W Handy), saying, "Oh, baby, I'm counting on it." At the same time, Nicole (Daphnée Duplaix) shares a charged moment with Dr. Carlton (Robert Christopher Riley), promising a wilder season of love and intrigue, as per Parade. The promo also teases steamy moments among the Dupree family. Dani Dupree Richardson (Karla Mosley) flirts with her husband, Andre (Sean Freeman), saying, "I married a genie, the sexy one who grants all my wishes."
