Days of our Lives Star Mary Beth Evans Honors Her Real-Life Mother

Days of our Lives star Mary Beth Evans, who plays Dr. Kayla Brady Johnson, has long had a reputation of being one of the nicest folks in the soap opera world. Now, the actress is sharing a bit of her own personal history, which helps explain why this is — she has one terrific mother.

Mary Beth Evans Reveals Her Real-Life Family

“Yesterday, I went to visit my Mom, and as I journeyed the 1.5 hours to where she lives, I reflected on ‘our journey,'” Evans wrote in an Instagram post featuring a photograph of her and her mom, which can be seen below.

“My parents divorced when I was 6 years old, and my Mom become a single mother of four young children,” Evans reveals. “Having never worked, she needed to reimagine her life and how she would support her kids. She ended up putting herself through nursing school, which was a good choice for her since she has always liked taking care of people.”

Sounds like Evans’s real-life mom is similar to her TV mother, the late Peggy McCay, whose character Caroline Brady also loved her family very deeply.

Mary Beth Evans Shares Her Real-Life Backstory

“Although my parents did not part as ‘friends,'” Mary Beth Evans says, “my mother understood the value of our relationship with our father, and to this day (she’s in her 80s) she has never said a negative thing about our father – nor him of her – because she inherently knew the damage it would cause us kids, who were already dealing with the trauma of a fractured family.

As Thanksgiving Approaches

“When I arrived at her house, I thanked her for this,” says the actress, who celebrated her 35th anniversary on DAYS earlier this year. “She said he gave her four beautiful children, and she loved her kids so much she couldn’t imagine saddling them with the burden of her anger towards him. I left our visit appreciating her maturity and selflessness, and with a renewed understanding of her self-control and the sacrifices she made for us.

“So, thanks to my Mom – life is hard and divorce is not easy, but I appreciate all you did to ensure that your kids were not only surrounded by the love,” Evans concludes, “but also free of the burdens of anger.”

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.