JPI
The news DAYS OF OUR LIVES fans have been hoping for was finally revealed. TV Insider is reporting that Kristian Alfonso reported back to the set on Monday, April 22, bringing her incredibly popular Hope Williams Brady back to mourn the death of her father Doug, played by the late Bill Hayes.
“My return is very bittersweet, because it is the end of an era with Bill gone,” Alfonso told the news outlet. “So to return to DAYS is very sad. I am appreciative that they came to me to include me in their series of shows honoring Doug and I’m very happy to see everyone, but I’m entering the studio with a heavy heart.”
Alfonso joined the show back in 1983 as a teenage Hope, who eventually fell in love with Bo Brady, played by Peter Reckell. When last we saw Bo and Hope, she was at his bedside as he lay in a coma. Will she be returning to say goodbye to her beloved father alone or will Reckell be bringing his character back as well? Reckell has been vocal on social media, responding to his former coworkers celebrating on set the 15,000th episode saying he wished he was there. That said, the show could still surprise fans. Alfonso advised fans not to give up hope.
But having Doug’s daughter there to say goodbye was a must-have for most fans amongst the welcomed sea of returns. Alfonso recently celebrated 41 years since her Salem debut. “I remember my first scenes with him,” she told TV Insider. “He was very loving, very welcoming. That he was very talented and an incredible actor and an icon, that all goes without saying, but my personal relationship and my working relationship with Bill, it was home. Doing the scenes with Bill, I felt like I was with my dad because there was so much warmth and reality.”
Considering how far in advance DAYS shoots, fans should know that the scenes that are being shot this week won’t be shown until December.
