This week will mark Kristian Alfonso’s “very bittersweet” return to Days of our Lives — one which will see her alter-ego join a cavalcade of other returnees in laying her play father to rest, a consequence of the real-life passing of star Bill Hayes.

Kristian Alfonso On Emotional Return

The actress relayed to Soap Opera Digest that she vividly remembers getting the call alerting her of Hayes’s death: ““I was in the car and I was on my way home and it was raining and I found myself not being able to make my way home…. I was just driving around because I couldn’t believe it.”

Taking part in the onscreen memorial was a no-brainer. “I knew how difficult it would be, but I was very happy and elated that they reached out to me to include me since I was no longer on the show. They didn’t need to; they could have said [in scripts], ‘Oh, Hope is somewhere else.’ So I really very much appreciate that.”

Unfortunately, issues with scheduling will preclude Alfonso from joining her fictional kin in the early days of their grieving. “[Hope’s] trying to get there, and there’s been a lot of conversations [with her loved ones back home].

“[DAYS] were trying to figure out how to do that, because Hope would never leave [Bo’s] side, yet Hope would never not say good-bye to her father…I’m getting choked up because she called Doug ‘Daddy,’ always, which is what I called my dad, so there’s that very close connection that always made [Doug and Hope’s relationship] feel real for me. So they did figure that out, and Hope does find out on camera … and then something takes place that Hope can’t immediately head to Salem.”

But once back in Salem, the reunions come fast and furious — and so does an unsettling development. Previews Alfonso:

“Hope runs across so many people who will be in those episodes, of course, and I got to work with Josh Taylor [Roman Brady] and Mary Beth Evans [Kayla Brady Johnson]. And then, there is a new character that makes Hope’s back immediately go up and she is not very trusting of.”

On said reunions, Alfonso mused: “[It was all] very bittersweet. It’s always lovely to see everyone, but the circumstances were extremely sad. So sad, because it was so real. [Hayes] was such a huge part of the show.”

And what about Hope’s other half? Will we be getting an update, possibly a return in the flesh? “Possibly — with an exclamation point and a question mark!”

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