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.”
Days Kristian Alfonso Peter Reckell Bo Hope flashback
“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.”
