Content advisory: This article contains mention of sexual assault.
Alison Sweeney returns to Days of our Lives this week to tell a story that she thought was buried in Sami's past. It's set to be an emotional ride for both the character and the actress as Sami finally sits down with Johnny and tells him what really happened the night he was conceived.
Days of our Lives digs into the past
When Sweeney was first presented with the story for her latest DAYS return, she was surprised that the soap wanted to dig so deep into Sami's history.
"It definitely caught me off-guard that they were playing out the story, just because it felt like it was in the past," Sweeney told TV Insider. "I liked the idea, but it seemed to me that it was common knowledge. I never thought about the idea that, right, people wouldn’t have told Sami’s kids."
Johnny (Carson Boatman) first learned that his father forced his mother to have sex one long-ago night during a snowstorm when she was trying to save Lucas' (Bryan Dattilo) life after Roman (Josh Taylor) blurted out the truth. Kate (Lauren Koslow) then told him the details of that night, leaving Johnny horrified and raging at EJ (Daniel Feuerriegel).
With EJ now in the hospital after taking a bullet to the chest, Sami returns to Salem from Europe to be with her ex-husband, but she also has to deal with her devastated son.
Sami's complicated feelings
Johnny is surprised when he enters EJ's hospital to find his mother sitting there confessing her feelings to an unconscious EJ. She still loves him and isn't deterred by hearing Belle (Martha Maidson) confess the same thing to EJ just moments earlier. Johnny does not understand how Sami could feel love for a man who did that to her.
That's when Sami finally tells Johnny everything that happened that one fateful night from her point of view.
"I felt such a responsibility to honor the storyline," Sweeney said. "I have so many conflicting feelings because there are so many Sami fans who have stayed with me and post on my social media, so I feel very connected to them. I remember what a huge uproar this storyline caused when it happened and how all the different fan bases felt about it. I know a lot of them still watch the show, and I felt immediately like I was neck-deep trying to tackle a Days of our Lives fan controversy, never mind the real-life controversy of this particular issue."
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Sweeney played Sami continuously from 1993 to 2014 but has returned to DAYS on multiple occasions for new storyline arcs and adventures. Sweeney will also be back this year for John's (the late Drake Hogestyn) memorial episodes, as well as for the show's 60th anniversary in November.
Catch all-new episodes of Days of our Lives this week on Peacock.
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