In spite of his popularity, by the end of the decade Lester felt his role on the show was steadily declining. In 1989 he not only quit but also went to the daytime press and blamed Bill Bell's young daughter, Lauralee Bell (who played Christine Blair), for his dwindling role. He felt the excess airtime given to her came at the expense of both himself and other actors. Lester was replaced by Peter Bergman, who has played the part of Jack ever since. Lester switched to NBC to take over the role of Mason Capwell on "Santa Barbara" for a year. In November 1992, he joined "As the World Turns" to play the charming Royce Keller, who was soon revealed to be suffering from multiple personalities which caused him to kill his own sister in the series. The role was complex, causing raves for Lester, but the headwriter behind the story, Douglas Marland, died suddenly in 1993, and Lester once again found his screentime diminishing. He left the series on May 5, 1994.