When holiday time rolls around, it’s good news for nostalgic Days of Our Lives fans. It means Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes, long remembered and adored as supercouple Doug and Julie, will be back on screen. This year the couple are not only returning for the annual ornament hanging on the Horton Christmas tree, but they’ll also play a pivotal part in unraveling the Alice mystery.
So you two will be back for the show’s 2011 Christmas episodes?Susan Seaforth Hayes: Yes. We’re in for the holidays. We’re singing together on New Year’s Eve, too, unless that gets edited out between now and then. We’re singing...
Bill Hayes: (Singing) You belong to my heart, now and forever...
Susan Seaforth Hayes: But it might get cut, because it was recorded in haste. Fans always love seeing Doug and Julie. Do you have anything else more exciting coming up, story wise?
Susan Seaforth Hayes: We’re involved in Alice’s secret storyline coming up. [Our characters are] also going on a long journey from which they say we will return. Is it another cruise?
Bill Hayes: Not a cruise.
Susan Seaforth Hayes: They’re not calling it a cruise. The characters are going on a long journey. At the end of this journey, they will return with information about Alice’s secret. As far as I can understand, that’s it. Will viewers see the characters on the journey?
Susan Seaforth Hayes: So far, no. Budget, budget, budget realities. How do you get involved in helping with this secret?
Susan Seaforth Hayes: The mystery is beginning to unfold. We begin to do some searching on our own, and on our own we go off to Africa.
Bill Hayes: That’s where the answers to the secret appear to be.
Susan Seaforth Hayes: We’re not sure about that, because they don’t tell us anything, but we’re going to Africa. Bill Horton has been working there... There have been members of the Horton family shipped out, long ago, to Africa. How do you feel about this whole story and drudging up all these secrets that Alice was keeping before her death?
Bill Hayes: I think it’s great.
Susan Seaforth Hayes: I’m pleased that they have surrounded the most beloved character on the show with a plot that goes on. You know, in life you sometimes do remember your grandmother. Most people tend to remember their grandmother; often, positively. I’ve thought that it’s been funny throughout the years that someone who is not under contract and not on the show is no longer even mentioned. I believe Laura is still in an insane asylum. We never mention the name Laura... She came back for Alice’s funeral, but out of sight, completely out of mind. Life isn’t quite like that.
Bill Hayes: But not true with Alice.
Susan Seaforth Hayes: And I’m appreciating that. Part of that credit goes not only to the writers, but to all of our producers.
Bill Hayes: Alice is a beloved character, and we find that out wherever we go for the last many years. They always ask about Alice.
