Exclusive: Patrika Darbo’s Nancy Returns To DAYS – With Chloe’s Sister, Joy!
Abundance Of Joy: AlexAnn Hopkins joins the DAYS ranks as Joy Wesley, daughter of Nancy (Patrika Darbo).
While Nadia Bjorlin’s Chloe Lane has been off the canvas since last October, Days of Our Lives is poised to welcome back two members of her family: her mother, Nancy, played once again by Patrika Darbo, and her little sister, Joy, who’s not so little anymore!
Joy To The World
As longtime fans will remember, Joy was conceived by her parents, the now-divorced Nancy and Craig, during Chloe’s harrowing bout with leukemia. Craig and Nancy hoped that a new baby who was a full biological sibling of Chloe’s would be a viable bone marrow donor for the ailing heroine. Lo and behold, Joy — who was born on the show on March 7, 2003 — was indeed a match and Chloe’s life was saved! Joy hasn’t been seen on the canvas since 2005, but when she returns later this month, she will be played by soap newcomer AlexAnn Hopkins.
A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Hopkins became interested in acting when she was a mere 9 years old. After cutting her teeth in the performing arts locally, she ultimately moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career. She has appeared in episodes of Chicago PD and Criminal Minds.
Darbo first created the role of Nancy back in 1998, and her first stint in Salem lasted through 2005. After an eight-year absence, she returned again in 2013, then again from 2016-17 and in 2019. Darbo’s most recent reprisal of Nancy took place less than two years ago, in 2022, which saw Nancy and Craig’s long relationship coming to an end (at least romantically), as Craig came out as gay and he and Nancy divorced. But Nancy left on a high note — she began a new love story of her own, with Dr. Mike Horton. When she was invited back to the show that year, the actress told Soap Opera Digest that “as a performer, you’re always grateful that they still want you, that your fans still love you. I can’t say enough about the fact that daytime embraced me back in 1998 and has kept its arms around me all the time. It’s very heartwarming.” She added, “To be blessed enough to have the fans still want me and to have the show still want me, I am one happy camper. I truly feel blessed about that and have great gratitude to the show.”
In addition to her DAYS work, Darbo is familiar to daytime fans for playing the role of Shirley Spectra, aunt to Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope’s role) on both Bold and Beautiful and Young and Restless.
Look for Darbo and Hopkins to make their Salem appearances during the week of October 22.
The Circle Of Life: Craig (Kevin Spirtas) and Nancy (Patrika Darbo) welcomed their bundle of Joy back in 2003.
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