Chad’s mourning Abigail’s “death” and nursing a broken heart. Gabi’s at odds with JJ and reevaluating their relationship. The timing seems prefect for the two characters to head down a new romantic road on Days of Our Lives — together.

Well, it’s about to happen. That’s right. Get ready for Chad (Billy Flynn) and Gabi (Camila Banus), Days of our Lives’ surprise new couple.

Out of Nowhere
“We did not see this coming,” admits Camila Banus (Gabi), speaking for herself and new leading man, Billy Flynn (Chad). “We honestly did not expect it.

Banus was also a tad concerned when she first saw signs of the new coupling in scripts. “I thought, Oh no! I hope Gabi doesn’t go crazy,” says the actress, remembering a point in time when her character was so gaga over Chad that she did some questionable things like pretend she had a stalker to get his attention. “That’s the first thing I thought. She’s going to go blow up the town. Something crazy is going to happen.”

However, Banus’s fears were quickly assuaged when she started getting future scripts and saw the slow, logical way things were developing.

JJ Versus Chad
“JJ has been kind of MIA, lately,” explains Banus. “Gabi has tried calling and texting him, but he’s not really returning a lot of the calls. And if they do speak, it’s for no more than a minute or two. That’s really concerning to Gabi. She’s definitely in love with JJ, but really sad that things aren’t going the way she wants them to go.

“Meanwhile, Chad is there. He’s physically there for Gabi,” continues Banus. “That’s really important for Gabi, because of the experiences she’s had in her life. It wasn’t so long ago that she was in prison and alone. Chad also gave Gabi a job. He’s expressed an interest in having her succeed as a person and helping her provide for her child. He thinks about all of this. It just comes to him. Chad’s loving and giving. He just wants to help Gabi with nothing in return.”

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A Common Ground
The reasons why Chad and Gabi grow closer also make perfect sense to Banus. “These are two people that have been put in a really traumatizing situation, which is to lose a spouse and to lose a friend,” she explains. “They gravitate towards each other, because they’re missing the same person. They also both have children. There’s so much common ground there for them to understand and be there for each other.”

Viewers first saw signs of the forthcoming pairing the week of September 19, when Chad and Gabi found themselves locked in a panic room together.

Spark Ignited
“That definitely sparked memories in Gabi,” admits Banus. “She has that feeling that Chad’s going to save her all the time. There were other situations like that in the past with Melanie and the kidnapper where that happened. It’s sort of an obsession, when it comes to Chad. There’s something about him that Gabi just can’t deny.”

Look for Chad and Gabi’s friendship to start to shift in the upcoming months. “It is going to happen, but it’s not going to be in your face, which is what I really like about it,” says Banus. “It is going to happen in a very subtle, soft kind of way. It will take time, and something like this needs to take time. Some very small things will happen abruptly, but it will be okay. It won’t be too intense. There will be many loops and turns in this story. Nothing stays constant.

Big Moments Ahead
Following the panic room incident, the twosome will experience more moments where they’re thrown together. “It’s a small town. They’re always going to see each other,” notes Banus. “There will be situations where Chad and Gabi are going to be spending time together, where maybe they don’t think they should be spending time together, because they’re lonely or miss someone.

There will also be another situation, like the one in the panic room, down the line. “There’s a really big moment coming where Chad and Gabi are going to be in very close proximity, again,” teases Banus. “Whatever they’re doing, there’s a need to be in close proximity that’s out of their control. That will definitely stir things.

“It’s going to be a really exciting couple of months, especially with Marci [Miller, who’s been cast as the new Abigail] coming in,” promises Banus. “Just imagine all the family members that are going to be involved and all the repercussions of somebody who was gone coming back. There’s going to be a lot drama.”

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