Kristian Alfonso Confirms Days of Our Lives Return for Bill Hayes Tribute — But How Long Will Hope Stay in Salem?

Andy Swift
·2 min read
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Hope Brady is coming back to Salem. Kristian Alfonso is set to reprise her iconic Days of Our Lives role as part of the Peacock drama’s upcoming tribute to the late Bill Hayes, who played beloved Salem resident Doug Williams for more than five decades prior to his death earlier this year.

“My return is very bittersweet, because it is the end of an era with Bill gone,” Alfonso tells TV Insider, which first reported the news of Hope’s visit. “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.”

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Hope, a role Alfonso has played off and on since debuting in 1983, is Doug’s daughter, making her return for his memorial service all the more devastating. Though she didn’t get to work with Hayes during her most recent visit to Salem in 2023, she has decades worth of memories to cherish.

“I remember my first scenes with him,” Alfonso says, recalling Hayes as a “very loving, very welcoming” scene partner. “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.”

It doesn’t sound like Hope will be relocating back to Salem permanently, but Alfonso will neither confirm nor deny any future plans she may have with the Peacock soap. All she’ll say for now is: “I feel incredibly grateful that I ever had the opportunity to be a part of such an incredible show and the legacy that it holds. I’m very blessed. I’ll always be very blessed, regardless if I ever return to do more shows or finish the storyline or not.”

In other words, stay tuned!

Now filming, Days‘ tribute to Hayes is set to air in December. Alfonso is one of several Days vets returning for the occasion, including Victoria Konefal as Ciara, Brandon Beemer as Shawn, Sal Stowers as Lani, Lamon Archey as Eli, Martha Madison as Belle, Maree Cheatham as Marie, Matthew Ashford as Jack and Melissa Reeves as Jennifer.

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