With Bo and Hope set to renew their vows and sail off into the sunset, again, in the wake of John’s funeral on Days of Our Lives,, soap vet Peter Reckell talks to Woman’s World about his return to Salem and the magic of “Bope”—the super couple that made him a household name. Reckell also gets candid about how the daytime community on both sides of the TV screen has come together to mourn Drake Hogestyn, who played John Black, and so many other beloved soap opera stars who’ve passed in recent years. Plus, girl dad Reckell reveals what he’s been up to since leaving Days of Our Lives about a decade ago, and why he’s game to bring Bo back for more drama.
Days’ vet Peter Reckell reflects on Bo and Hope’s heyday: ‘What a lucky guy I am’
It’s been over a decade since Bo and Hope were a Days of Our Lives staple and even longer since fans voted for Peter Reckell and Kristian Alfonso to win the 2002 special Daytime Emmy Award for America’s Favorite Couple—but viewers have never gotten over this soap opera pairing. “You’ve got to give it to the writers and producers of that whole period of the ‘80s, ‘90s, and beginning of the 2000s,” Reckell marvels. “Kristian and I worked our butts off… but we had some great stuff to play, right? Our characters were so multi-dimensional, with so many relationships, that it wasn’t just a romance, it wasn’t just family, it wasn’t just adventure. There was no label you could put on it, because the writing was so full, so people were able to relate with it on so many different levels.”
“Coming back to the show, all the memories come up and fans put things on social media from the ‘80s and ‘90s,” he continues. “It was another lifetime. We were going out, going to New York, New Orleans, and London, flying in hot air balloons and riding motorcycles. It was also just astounding to be able to play this character with so much depth—and the people that I got to work with? What a lucky guy I am.”
Reckell mourns losing ‘powerhouses’ like Drake Hogestyn
For all his gratitude, this particular Days of Our Lives return wasn’t exactly fun and games as it marked yet another loss for Reckell and the show. “John Anniston passed, then Bill Hayes, then Drake Hogestyn, and then Wayne Northrop,” Reckell says, listing off the men who played Victor, Doug, John, and former Roman. “It’s just these powerhouses of daytime and Days of Our Lives! It’s been difficult for the production—not just the actors, but the whole team. That heartache is just… a lot.” In the world of Salem, Reckell’s character finally awoke from his coma to learn about the town’s string of losses, with the kicker being that John died retrieving the medicine that saved his life. “It was a gut punch for Bo,” says the actor. “The writers gave me some pretty amazing material, bringing in very personal things that Drake and I shared with each other.
“As characters on the show, we started out as enemies. We were fighting all the time and had all this physical stuff, but then,” he reminds, getting choked up, “we became basically brothers—and that carried into our real lives. Those emotional things you go through as actors, they stay with you. You pretended to love, and guess what? Even though it’s pretense and it’s not real, those feelings are there.”
On shooting John Black’s goodbye—‘It hit me hard’
John’s emotional goodbye was all the more challenging because when Days of Our Lives shot it last year, portrayer Hogestyn was still fighting pancreatic cancer. “He was in bad shape, but Drake was such a powerful man that you thought he would beat it,” Reckell confides. “That’s what we all kept hoping. So to play that in the alternate world, it hit me hard. When I finished Bo’s part of the memorial service, the director said, ‘Do you want to do it again?’ I didn’t know! Because from the time I started to the time I finished, I really had no idea what I said or what I did.
“Those were some pretty strong emotions,” he adds. “I don’t think there’s any way we could have done it, as actors, if he had already passed—and as the consummate actor that he was, Drake signed off on this whole storyline. I mean, what a freaking monster he was! Such a huge heart.”
The soap star celebrates ‘Days’ fans who are ‘supporting us [and] each other’
With this story finally airing over the past few weeks, all that emotion has surfaced yet again, and Reckell has been touched by the support he’s received and seen on social media. “The fans are not only supporting us, they’re supporting each other—and that is such an amazing thing,” he says. “When you’re in people’s living rooms two, three, four times a week, you become a part of their family, so getting through Drake’s passing is extremely difficult for them, too. “With the craziness that’s going on in the world right now, it’s nice to see this camaraderie, the holding of hands, and helping each other.”
The girl dad reveals where he’s been since Bo left Salem
Meanwhile, with the drama shot months ago, Reckell, who’s always looked great on a motorcycle as Bo, has been enjoying a whole different kind of riding in his real life. “I just got back from a mountain bike ride,” he explains. “I’m in Fairbanks, Alaska, so I was out discovering new trails, and I got lost. I’m a little muddy.” Almost a decade ago, after his daughter Loden finished in preschool, Reckell and his wife, musician and award-winning documentary director Kelly Moneymaker, decided to make a huge life change—namely, to leave Hollywood behind.
“When I left the show, it was kind of like retiring to spend time with my daughter,” he says. “We’ve been in Alaska for about three and a half years, and before that, we were in New Zealand for around six years. I thought I’d be relaxing—‘All I have to do is hang with her, make her lunches, go to her basketball games and her concerts at school.’—and I have been busier than ever! I have not enough hours in the day.” That, however, has been changing.
“Loden’s 17, so she’s becoming more independent, has a boyfriend, and all that,” Reckell shares. “She is growing up, and it’s difficult. You put so much into your kid, and now they have to leave… and you gotta let them. You have to watch this love that just consumes you slowly develop her own life and go on off into the sunset. I think I need some help with this breakup!”
As ‘Days’ Bope sails into the sunset again, Peter Reckell isn’t done with Bo Brady
As Peter Reckell stares down the empty nest, this Days of Our Lives fave has an idea of what might help him get through it—the end of his ‘retirement’! “Going back to Days of Our Lives and doing something that is just part of me will never fill the space that my daughter holds… but it’ll help,” Reckell tells Woman’s World with a wink. “The last time I was on the show, I noticed several of the actors don’t live in LA, and I’ve got friends I can stay with there, so if there’s something long-term, I could make it work.” After all his years away, Bo still has a LOT of catching up to do in Salem! For now, however, after he and Hope renew their vows, the super couple will sail off into the sunset, yet again.
“After this short reprise of Bo and Hope, I don’t know that this ‘goodbye’ is something that the fans are looking forward to,” Reckell admits. “But the first time we sailed off sunset, we came back after a couple of years, so hopefully, the writers and producers will bring us back! It’d be pretty cool.”
