Why Peter Reckell Is So Beloved As Days of our Lives’ Bo Brady

When Bo Brady died in Hope Brady’s arms in 2015 after bringing the character to life off and on since 1983, we prayed that wasn’t the last we saw of him on Days of our Lives. After all, Peter Reckell had made it clear he had no intention of returning to the role that made him a soap opera household name. Of course, we know, never say never because seven years later, Reckell and Bo made their way back to our screens, and the hero we held out for returned.

Peter Reckell Embodies Bo Brady

There are few soap characters more memorable than Beauregard Aurelius Brady and few soap actors who are more identifiable in a role than Reckell. He arrived on the Salem scene after a brief stint as Eric Hollister on As the World Turns and personified the rebel with a cause character that Bo became. With a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, Reckell’s Bo found immediate chemistry with Kristian Alfonso’s Hope Williams, and the rest is DAYS and soap opera history.

From recent merchant marine who made his arrival back in his hometown with a stolen microwave to give his brother, Roman Brady (then played by Wayne Northrop) as a wedding gift to private detective and then eventually, husband, father, and cop in that order, Reckell and Bo grew together on the DAYS set. Although he left the soap a few times to pursue other things in life, we always knew he would be back, but a seven-year drought was quite enough.

When news broke in the spring that Reckell would step into Bo’s shoes once more on the Peacock mini-series spinoff Days of our Lives: Beyond Salem, DAYS fans couldn’t wait for July to come and see how the writers would pull this off since Bo did seem really and most sincerely dead. However, we got an early surprise in May when Bo’s spirit arrived to bring the Devil possession story to a close. It was a preview of what was to come.

By summer, we got an entire week of Beyond Salem that was a pure love letter to Bo and Hope fans and reminded us why we loved Reckell so much to begin with, going all the way back to that first scene at the Salem PD with the stolen microwave. Even as an angel in heaven, Bo was still Bo, smiling, joking, and willing to give up anything for his Fancy Face, Hope.

Now, we know Bo was only on ice for the last seven years, cryogenically frozen by high school sweetheart Megan Hathaway (Miranda Wilson), who finally found a way to resurrect him. That tells us Peter Reckell and Bo will indeed be on again one day, and we can’t wait.

Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Salem, check out all the latest that’s been posted on DAYS spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.