'Days of Our Lives': Peter Reckell on Bo's Return and Reunion With Hope

With the daytime soap world down to just four shows across three networks, there hasn’t been a lot of good news to report about the genre in the last few years. But Days of Our Lives fans are about to have a great fall, as the series not only celebrates its 50th anniversary on Nov. 8, but it will do so with a renewed focus on the characters and Salem families DOOL fans love most. And that means classic characters are returning to the mix.

Stephen Nichols just came back to town as Steve “Patch” Johnson, brother of Adrienne, and estranged husband of Kayla. Patch’s best friend Bo Brady — played by Peter Reckell — is also returning for the first time since Reckell left Days in 2012. The Patch/Bo bromance is a major factor in Bo/Reckell’s return to the scene, which comes just as Bo’s beloved ex-wife Hope prepares to move forward in her relationship with the shady Aiden, and as Salem is facing the wrath of another serial killer.

Stephen Nichols and Reckell

Daytime Emmy nominee Reckell, who makes his official return to the show during the Sept. 8 episode, talks to Yahoo TV about why he chose to return now, the Bo and Hope reunion, his all-time favorite Bo Brady storyline, and why he thinks longtime Days devotees are going to be thrilled with the next few months of Salem drama.

Aside from the anniversary, what made you say yes to coming back right now?
A lot of it was [because of] the new head writers [Dena Higley and Josh Griffith, whose episodes began airing in July]. I don’t know if you’ve been watching the show over the last few weeks, but they’re really good. They’re really focused on what the show has been focused on for so many years: family and the relationships that have been part of the show for so long. They called me up, and just talking to them, I knew that they had history with the show, that they were trying to do something for the 50th anniversary that would tell people that, hey, Salem’s back. The Days of Our Lives that you fell in love with is back. I just had a lot of faith in them.

Did you have any input into the storyline that you’re returning to?
We talked about it, but how much of my idea became part of the show is… you never know. You just try to spark ideas. What actually came about, can I take credit for? No, I was just in the room trying to [help] bring the show back to what it was.

Not looking for any big spoilers, but can fans count on seeing Bo on his motorcycle, and saying the words “Fancy Face” within the first week of your return?
Within the first week? You know, daytime budgets these days don’t — oh wait, we did have a motorcycle. Yes, both of those will happen. Not quite within the timeline that you set forth, but yeah, they both will happen.

Have you kept up with the show on a daily basis, or just the general storylines of what’s been happening, since you left?
I’ve been pretty busy being a dad. I try to keep up on Twitter just to let my fans know that I’m there and that I’m hearing them. There’s been a lot of frustration over the years, so that’s another one of the main reasons I went back, is just to help the fans out with the disappointment that they had when I left before.

Did you have to do a little crash course in the recent history of Days to catch up?
Not really, because when Bo came back into town, he had to kind of get a history lesson anyway. It was all kind of on the page, so I didn’t have to do too much talking to the producers, find out what the heck happened. Bo got that in the dialogue, so it was done for me.

Related: ‘Days of Our Lives’ Stars Mary Beth Evans and Stephen Nichols’s Adorable Instagram Takeover

What was your first day back on set like?
As you might have seen in some of the teasers, I’m laying on the floor… I was laying on the stage floor as they’re doing some lighting, and I’ve got my face in the sand, and I’m grungy and smelly, and I was like, “Ah, feels like I never left. Always in the dirt.” [Laughs.] That’s why I love Bo, why I love playing the character, and I think why he has touched so many people, because he’s down to earth. And my first few days back, that’s exactly what we see.

You mentioned the show’s budget cuts… so much has changed in the soap world in the last decade. What are the other big changes at Days?
You know what, a budget is something that we had to deal with over the years. It kind of makes sense. There’s so much for people to choose from out there as far as entertainment that we had to scale ours down. But as far as the reason the genre works, that hasn’t changed. People still need that kind of comfort. Kind of like mashed potatoes. It’s a comfort. You hook up with these people that you love, and we’ve got lots of different actors and people love those different characters for whatever reason, and whether it’s mashed potatoes or Häagen-Dazs, you get your choice when you watch daytime TV. That’s why I’m so proud of the show right now; that’s what they’re doing, giving the audience exactly what they want. I’m really proud of these new head writers for heading in that direction.

Reckell with Kristian Alfonso (Hope)

For viewers, it feels like the family is coming back together. Does it feel like that on set as well?
Oh, absolutely. I hope you feel when you watch it that it’s just so powerful because of the history that we all have together. You’re going to witness some amazing moments of daytime TV that I haven’t experienced in my 30 years. The disappointments and struggles that the audience had to continue to watch over the last couple of years, I’m almost guaranteeing those will just disappear, because they’ll get exactly what they want in this next couple of months. I think they’ll be very pleased.

Bo has been a hero of this world since 1983. Can you point to one storyline as your all-time favorite?
That’s a very difficult question. It’s like, well, this one’s great for this reason, and this one’s great for that reason. But one thing, the story with Roman [Bo’s older brother], where he died, and we’re on the beach… first of all, it was just fun that we were on the beach. What could be better? But also the relationship that I first came to the show with. People talk about the love triangle [with Bo, Hope, and Larry]. But the love triangle there was Bo, Roman, and Pop. Those were the most powerful relationships at that time, and the relationship with Hope sort of came out of that, the holding onto her. The reason that relationship happened was because of the [rivalry] Bo had with his brother, the competition for Pop’s love. Another thing the writers are getting back to now is the Steve and Bo relationship. Daytime’s had all these great romantic relationships, but they’ve forgotten about the male friendships and the female friendships and the mom and dad and son relationships. Those are very, very powerful relationships. That’s the reason I point to that scene on the beach with Roman. It was just a pinnacle of Bo’s life.

Bo and Hope remain one of the most beloved supercouples in soap history, and they’ve already been through almost everything a couple can go through. What would you still like to see happen between them?
When Bo was written off before, it was so awkward. I don’t know, it just didn’t work. Her moving on or her holding on to him — it was just awkward, kind of weird. To have something happen during this time when Bo comes back, to explain what happened and help the audience through this change in the relationship, that’s what these writers were able to do. I can’t say enough how proud I am of them for the way they handled the writing of this [return for Bo].

We have a couple of questions from Days fans. One of them wants to know, in three words, what is it like when Bo and Hope come face-to-face for the first time?
I think you’d have to say, history, powerful, and love. It’s a powerful love history. That’s what I can say.

Several fans wondered what Bo’s relationship with his daughter, Ciara, is going to be like when he returns? Will they be close again right away, or will it take some time for them to get back to that?
Well, she has gone through an awful lot. First of all, I just want to say that [Vivian Jovanni] is amazing. That’s difficult, because I’m in love with Lauren [Boles], and to have her replaced, I got to admit, at first I was disappointed. But what they’ve done, the way they’ve handled the character and her growing up, was really cool. She’s a great mixture of the characters of Bo and Hope. I think the audience is really going to connect to their relationship, because we did get to spend a lot of time together, the two characters. She’ll be kind of carrying the mantle of Bo onward.

Days of Our Lives airs Mondays through Fridays on NBC; check local listings.