‘Days of Our Lives’ star Kristian Alfonso announced in the summer that she is leaving the show, and despite not having a proper send-off, she’s bidding goodbye to the fan-favorite character, ‘Hope’.
Almost four decades ago, viewers were introduced to Hope Williams Brady on Days of Our Lives, and Kristian Alfonso is perhaps not known by her real name after portraying the character since she was in her early 20s. She made headlines in the soap world over the summer when she announced she was leaving the show to “write a new chapter” in her life.
In the spirit of Thank God It’s Friday, Alfonso, 57, shared a page from the latest Soap Opera Digest issue, providing a first look at her final appearance on the long-running show which is scheduled to air on Wednesday, October 14, on NBC. And according to the captions accompanying the photos, Hope is receiving news about her presumed-dead daughter, Ciara [Victoria Konefal], from her son Shawn [Brandon Beemer]. And it’s as emotional as it gets, judging by the photos.
‘Vincent’ had previously claimed he shot ‘Ciara’, but without proof.
Photo Source: Kristian Alfonso, Instagram via Soap Opera Digest
Alfonso made the decision to leave the show over the summer while mentioning she’d shot her last scenes last winter before the COVID-19 shut down the production of the series. So, the scenes she did back then probably doesn’t have a ‘Goodbye Hope‘ portion for her, leading to an abrupt end for the character, but whether it’s a good one or not shall be determined when the latest episode airs.
The abruptness is even more pronounced to the executive producer, Ken Corday, who had huge plans for Hope. Although, the plan he had also likely affected her decision to leave permanently. He’d suggested pulling her from the show for quite a few months to bring her back with a new storyline.
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Speaking on how she came to decide on leaving the show for good, Alfonso revealed that the space she could be out for from Days of Our Lives was what triggered her to say goodbye to Hope. “I was taken aback when he said that they wanted to take me off camera for four to five months,” she told ET at the time. “It was not something that had ever been discussed but that’s what it was, and to come back in five to six months, or four to five months — whatever that time frame was — I just thought, “You know what, it’s time to really write a new chapter.”
Corday was understandably “dismayed” at her decision, reavling bits of plans he had for Hope. “In order to launch a new story — and we had a great story for her, we still do — I needed her off-camera for three or four months,” he told EW in an interview afterwards. “During that time, something very interesting happens so she comes back to Salem with a secret. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.”
She’s hashtagged ‘thankful’ with the photo, and regardless of how she is going out, Alfonso admits she wanted to give the closure fans wanted for her character. “I would have liked to have given the fans that have been so devoted to Days all of these years a final goodbye,” she says, “and not, ‘Oh, she’s out looking for someone,’ or ‘She’s upstairs cleaning her room’ or ‘She’s taken a trip.’ ”
Either way, fans do not have any hard feelings for Alfonso as there has been a surge of support and nostalgia among them since her recent social media post. Some have been watching since their childhood. And if not, millenials and later generations were introduced to Hope via Joey Tribbiani of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. So there’s a little something for her from everyone.
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