- Days of Our Lives
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Curtis Harding
Thursday, May 16th, 2024
Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI
Just as we’re ramping up to Days of Our Lives’ Gabi to finally return, one thing has become pretty darn clear: Camila Banus will likely never be back in Salem. The actress exited the show after 13 years of playing Gabi Hernandez back in November as her character was shipped off to prison.
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She first announced her exit the May before (due to how far in advance Days of Our Lives shoots), saying she wanted more time off and wanted to move on to the next chapter of her life, which included starting a family. A few months later, though, the soap was embroiled in controversy as allegations of abuse and harassment from now former producer Albert Alarr emerged, culminating in a cast petition to have him removed.
Then, back in January, Arianne Zucker announced she’d essentially been fired from the show and is suing Days of Our Lives showrunner Ken Corday, Corday Productions, Sony Pictures and Alarr himself. She alleges they failed to take action against the former executive producer as he harassed and degraded women both on the show and behind the scenes and retaliated against her for speaking up. “So for all my coworkers who said they were scared to say anything out of fear of being fired,” she shared in a statement. “Well, you all were right.”
But beyond that, Zucker claimed that this also caused an exodus of female talent. And now, it seems Banus’ exit may have been at least in part due to what was going on behind the scenes as well.
Yesterday, on May 15th, the actress shared on her Instagram stories what seemed to be a particularly pointed message, writing, “I will never understand all the people at my previous place of employment that are friends with snakes. Just know this. I remember all, I will continue to remember how those snakes treated me and how others allowed and perpetuated their behavior. I remember times where everyone just stayed quiet, knowing what was happening was wrong. Men and women.”
And following the statement were two emojis: a teapot and a cup of tea.
In other words, it seems we may still be learning of the fallout of what was going on behind the scenes for some time to come.
Before heading out, take a look at Banus’ most memorable moments as Gabi in the photo gallery below.
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Image: Jill Johnson/JPI (2)
1/14
<p>Ironically, Banus was not originally cast as Gabi, Gabriella Rodriguez was. “They told me that they wanted to go a little bit younger for the part,” Banus told TheCelebrityCafe.com. “So I put it out of my mind.” A couple of months later —wonder of wonders — the NBC soap decided that they wanted Banus after all. “I actually said no,”she recalled. But the show was so persistent that eventually, “I felt there was something there and that I had to do this.” The rest, as you well know, is history.</p>
Image: Paul Skipper/JPI
2/14
<p>As anyone would, Gabi became smitten with local hottie Will Horton. But after they spent their first night, ya know, <em>together</em>, he pulled away. Rather than so much as glance at the writing on the wall —her boyfriend was so gay, Pride floats were already being constructed in his likeness —Gabi continued to pursue him with a tenacity that would have dinged anyone’s ego. Well, anyone <em>else’s</em>!</p>
Image: Paul Skipper/JPI
3/14
<p>Once Gabi gave up on Will —bye, Felicia! — she retraced her steps to her ex, Chad DiMera (then Casey Diedrick), who was so into Melanie Jonas that he wouldn’t have known she was alive if he’d pressed a stethoscope to her chest. So Gabi did what any self-respecting gal would do and… wait, <em>whaaat</em>? She invented a stalker, then hired someone to play the part who was <em>so</em> perfect for it, he planted a rat in her food and took Melanie hostage. Way to commit, bro! Sick and all kindsa wrong, sure, but still…way to commit!</p>
Image: Paul Skipper/JPI
4/14
<p>It died. Yep, Gabi had no sooner moved on with Nick Fallon than she discovered that her night of bummer sex with Will — only her second time with him <em>ever</em> —had left her with a bun in the oven. She and her new boyfriend convinced Will that it would be best for all concerned if they just let everyone think that Nick was the babydaddy. And it might have worked, too, had Chad not revealed the truth on the day of the “parents-to-be’s” wedding.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
5/14
<p>Gabi’s relationship with Nick continued to be a source of…well, whatever the <em>opposite</em> of comfort is. They tied the knot, only to annul the marriage after a run-in with the prison inmate who’d raped Nick. On one hand, he couldn’t handle being with Arianna’s mother; on the other, he couldn’t handle being apart from her. Ultimately, they had an altercation in the woods that left him dead — or so she thought —and, thanks to an assist from unlikely allies Kate Roberts and Sami Brady, residing at the bottom of the river.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
6/14
<p>… and you’re to blame. Yes, Nick, you gave love a bad name. After Gabi’s ex rose from his watery grave, he needed to be put down yet again. (No one in Salem ever seems to <em>stay</em> dead, do they?) So Gabi did the deed, afterwards owning up to it and accepting a sentence of 10 years behind bars. (Or 10 years more than <em>General Hospital</em> mobster Sonny has ever served!)</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI
7/14
<p>Owing to a sentencing error — thank you, terrible court clerk! — Gabi didn’t wind up spending a decade behind bars. Once sprung from the pokey, she dated JJ Deveraux, who cheated on her with Lani Price, then moved on with “late” bestie Abigail DiMera’s “widower,” her own ex, Chad. Big mistake. Having never read an article like this, Gabi was unaware that no one in Salem ever <em>really</em> dies, so she was completely unprepared for Abigail’s resurrection and subsequent reunion with Chad.</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI
8/14
<p>From there, things only got worse for Gabi. Her subsequent romance with Eli Grant was done in when she learned that he’d two-timed her with Lani — her <em>again</em>?!? On top of that, Andre DiMera stole from Gabi her design firm, dang it! Bad as all that was, it was only the tip of the iceberg! Gabi was sent back up the river for Andre’s murder — Abigail’s alter, “Gabby,” did the deed (and not with a cellphone, as this image suggests) — resulting in her being beaten so badly that Arianna was destined to be an only child!</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI
9/14
<p>Once freed, Gabi entered into a marriage of convenience with the Abby-obsessed Stefan DiMera that, to everyone’s surprise, turned into the real deal…just in time for him to take a meeting with his maker, courtesy of…Oh, you have <em>got</em> to be kidding! <em>Lani</em>?!? Incensed, Gabi deployed a heart-attack app (that no matter how many times we’ve looked, we’ve yet to find!) to threaten Eli’s grandma, Julie, and scare her nemesis outta going through with her marriage.</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI
10/14
<p>Gabi was stunned — and by this point in her life, it took a <em>lot</em> to even move her to <em>remark</em>! — when she caught sight of an alive-and-well Stefan… or, rather, Jake Lambert, the twin brother that neither he nor Gabi nor his mother, Vivian Alamain, had known that he had. And as rare as it is for lightning to strike the same place twice, it freakin’ <em>did</em>: Before Gabi skipped town, Jake succumbed to her charms just as surely as Stefan had!</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI
11/14
<p>The course of true love ran anything <em>but</em> smoothly for Gabi and Jake. If it wasn’t one thing (his affair with Kate), it was another (the devil slipping into Johnny DiMera’s body and daring Gabi to keep her hands off). The one thing that remained constant throughout the couple’s travails? Whether they wanted to admit it, what they wanted most of all… was each other.</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI
12/14
<p>For as long as they’d been circling one another, it was inevitable that Gabi would get naked with mover and shaker Li Shin. What was less certain was whether he’d be able to hurry her down the aisle to form the ultimate power couple before she found out that in the wake of Jake’s death, the <em>true</em> love of her life was had been given a new lease on his.</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI
13/14
<p>Talk about weird science! Though when Dr. Wilhelm Rolf plopped Jake’s heart into Stefan’s body, it continued to beat for Gabi, Li ordered the mad genius to reprogram the organ to instead have palpitations anytime the hirsute Lazarus heated up a warm thought of old flame Chloe Lane.</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI
14/14
