Cherie Jimenez Opens up About Being the New Gabi on DAYS

All of Stefan’s wheeling and dealing to set Gabi free on Days Of Our Lives pays off this week when Cherie Jimenez makes her debut in the role on Thursday, June 27.

Although Jimenez is new to daytime, she’s not exactly new to the role of Gabi, created by Gabriela Rodriguez in 2009 and played by Camila Banus from 2010-2023. “Funny story: I actually auditioned for the role of Gabi when it was first created 15 years ago,” Jimenez told Soaps.com . “It just wasn’t meant to be. I was 22. I had just moved to L.A. a couple of years prior at 19 and the audition came into my life.”

While Jimenez wasn’t meant to play the part of Gabi then, the character stuck with her throughout the years. “[It] always just stayed in the back of my mind,” she confessed.

Several months ago, a casting notice for a “powerful, feisty, spicy, no-nonsense female” on DAYS pinged Jimenez’s attention. “It was under a different name, so I didn’t know that it was for Gabi Hernandez,” she explained, adding that it wasn’t until she went in for a screen test that she pieced together that Banus was exiting the soap , and her character was being recast.

Taking an opportunity when one presented itself, Jimenez let casting director Marnie Saitta know that she’d auditioned for Gabi years ago. “She said, ‘Yes, I know. I was actually looking for your tape,’” Jimenez recalled. “It’s such a beautiful thing that it wasn’t meant for me when I was 22, but for whatever reason, at 36, it came back into my life. It’s a dream role.”

Jimenez trained at The Professional Performing Arts School and SUNY Purchase Acting Conservatory. Her prior credits include a recurring role on Cinemax’s Banshee, NCIS, Pretty Little Liars, and the Lifetime films Angie: Lost Girls and its sequel, Maya .