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A Match Made In Heaven: Peter Reckell (Bo) and Kristian Alfonso (Hope) are reuniting on DAYS.
It’s official: Bo and Hope are returning to Salem!
TV Insider was the first to report the exiting news that one of Days of Our Lives ’s signature supercouples is poised for a new chapter in their epic love story — and the outlet also shared a first look of their portrayers, Kristian Alfonso and Peter Reckell, together on the Days of Our Lives set. While it was already established that Alfonso had signed on for a return trip to DAYS as Hope to help say good-bye to Doug Williams, Hope’s father, played by the late Bill Hayes, Reckell was not slated to participate in that particular set of episodes, which will air later this year. Happily, though, Reckell has now signed on to rejoin the cast for an arc alongside Alfonso that will air in 2025. "This ride is one we know the fans are really going to love," Reckell told the publication. "Surprise!" Alfonso touted in an Instagram story. On X (formerly Twitter) longtime DAYS fan Julie Dove (Connie) posted, " Love waking up to this news. Ready now for Bo to wake up too! What do you think #Days fans? #Bope forever."
Bo and Hope’s romance kicked off in 1983, when Alfonso and Reckell first joined the DAYS cast. Hope was a teenager and at first developed a crush on Bo’s big brother, Roman, which was unreciprocated. Soon, though, Bo and Hope were finding it difficult to ignore their growing feelings for one another. Memorable moments of the courtship include Bo kidnapping Hope from her would-be wedding to Larry Welch and the adventurous duo consummating their relationship in New Orleans.
In 1985, Bo and Hope wed for the first time, in a splashy ceremony filmed on location in England, after they brought down a notorious criminal known as the Dragon. “I never thought I could have someone in my life that could make me so happy,” the groom told his bride. Back in Salem, the duo welcomed a son, Shawn-Douglas, in 1987. That same year, with Shawn-Douglas in tow, the couple set out on the Fancy Face to sail around the world, as both Alfonso and Reckell opted to depart the show.
Both actors were lured back in 1990, but Alfonso’s shorter stay came to a tragic end for Bo and Hope, as she was presumed dead aboard The Loretta at the hands of the villainous Ernesto Toscano. A grieving Bo moved on with Billie Reed. Alfonso returned to DAYS in 1994, by which time Bo was being played by Robert Kelker-Kelly, but as an amnesiac Hope who believed her name was Gina. Reckell reclaimed his role in 1995, and in time, Bo and Hope found their way back to one another. After a slew of complicated obstacles, they remarried in 2000, and expanded their family to include son Zack (who was tragically killed in a car accident caused by Bo’s daughter with Billie, Chelsea) and daughter Ciara. After another divorce, the duo said, “I do” again in 2009.
When Reckell exited DAYS again in 2012, Bo left town with his mother, Caroline, and Hope divorced him in 2014. But in 2015, Bo resurfaced in time to help save Hope from a murderous Aiden Jennings look-alike. The lovers’ reunion was sadly short-lived, however, as Bo was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and passed away by year’s end. Alfonso left DAYS in 2020.
A miracle was in store for Bo and Hope, however: In 2022, on the DAYS spinoff Beyond Salem that streamed on Peacock, it was revealed that Bo was actually alive. With both Alfonso and Reckell on board, the Bo/Hope saga resumed yet again in 2023, and Bo emerged from the cryogenic state he had been confined to and finally reunited with Hope — only to be shot (by his son, Shawn, no less) and rendered comatose. Alfonso and Reckell left again at the conclusion of that storyline.
What are your hopes for Bo and Hope when they return to the canvas next year? Sound off in the comments below!
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