A legend has left the building.
Kristian Alfonso, one of the the most recognizable and longest-tenured stars on all of television, has announced that she’s leaving Days of Our Lives…
… a soap opera on NBC she joind way back in 1983.
“I feel blessed and honored to have been invited into people’s homes for over three decades. However, it is now time for me to write my next chapter,” Alfonso said in a statement to Deadline.
Following the reveal that this beloved drama will resume filming again on September 1 — following a hiatus related to the COVID-19 pandemic — the actress added:
“I will not be returning to Days when it resumes production in September.
“I’ve already filmed my last episode several months ago.”
Continued Alfonso, who came on boarrd 37 years ago in the role of Hope, via Instagram:
Days of Our Lives has been a vital part of both my personal and professional journey.
I am forever grateful to NBC and the late Betty Corday, who took a chance on me many years ago and changed my life. I have built some lifelong friendships with my extraordinarily talented castmates.
Days has one of the hardest working crews in all of television, many of whom have become part of my extended family.
I feel blessed and honored to have been invited into people’s homes for over three decades.
Without specifying the nature of her impending plans, Alfonso concluded as follows:
However, it is now time for me to write my next chapter…
To the incredibly loyal fans of Days, many of you have been with me on this journey from the beginning.
I cannot thank you enough for your generosity, love and support. I could not have done it without YOU!!!
The entire Days of our Lives cast was released from their contracts as a cost-cutting measure last year, three months before NBC renewed the soap opera for a 56th season.
It’s unclear at this time whether Alfonso’s exit is related to that controversial move.
But she did state above that she shot her final scenes months ago… so you can form your own conclusions.
While the character of Hope Williams Brady has been part of the long-running drama since 1974, Alfonso was the first actress to play her as an adult and has been playing her — with just two breaks — since 1983.
She left the show for two years in 1987 and returned briefly from April to July 1990, which culminated with the town of Salem believing that Hope had passed away.
Alfonso then returned again in 1994 as Gina, an amnesiac who had a stark resemblance to Hope.
The character turned out to be Hope after a complicated storyline involving the evil Stefano DiMera, who had brainwashed Gina into believing she was Princess Gina Von Amberg.
Hope, a prominent detective in the Salem Police Department, was the one to finally kill Stefano, a decision with repercussions that weighed heavily on her conscience for many years.
Really.
These were storylines on Days of Our Lives and now we’re left to wonder why we haven’t been watching every day for the past several decades.
We wish Kristian Alfonso the best of luck in all future endeavors.