#Kristian Alfonso Reveals Why She Left ‘Days of Our Lives’ After 37 Years

Chris Haston/NBC

After shocking fans with the announcement of her exit from Days of Our Lives after 37 years, Kristian Alfonso is revealing the reasons behind her decision.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the actress opened up about some of the reasoning behind her departure, including a change for her character and the ongoing pandemic. Alfonso has played Hope Williams Brady on the soap since 1983 and even once appeared as the character in a 2000 Friends episode.

According to Alfonso, Days executive producer Ken Corday revealed to her that they were going to write her character off the show for a period of four to five months. Her return would include a storyline involving a Navy Seal but that’s where Alfonso put her foot down and decided to make a real change.

“At that moment I thought to myself, you know what, it’s time for a change and it was the perfect moment to make that decision,” she said of the revelation. “I was taken aback when he said that they wanted… to take me off camera for four to five months.”

“I just thought, you know what, it’s time to really write a new chapter,” Alfonso continued. “I’ve had an incredible run there. I’ve had so many amazing friends and memories. I cannot say enough how I’ll miss so many people working there,” she added, praising the people she’s worked with all these years.

The actress also noted that the coronavirus pandemic influenced her, as she said, “It really made me pause and think about life and to really appreciate our health every single day and never take it for granted and that was part of my decision.”

For the time being, Alfonso has no plans to return to the soap in the future, but stay tuned to see what she might do next.

Days of Our Lives, Weekdays, NBC