DAYS Scribe Ron Carlivati Talks Abigail’s Death, Bo/Hope, and More

Ron Carlivati and his team at Days of our Lives picked up their second Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing Team on Friday night. (Carlivati also has a golden girl for head writing One Life to Live.) Soap Hub was on both the red carpet and backstage to talk to the scribe about his victory and also got him to answer some burning questions about your favorite characters including – Abigail Deveraux DiMera, Bo and Hope Brady, EJ and Belle, and more.

What Ron Carlivati Submitted to Win Best Writing

Carlivati was actually nominated for two different shows in the Best Writing category this year; he received nods for both DAYS and for the peacock series Days of our Lives: Beyond Salem. “Choosing episodes for Beyond Salem was easy,” he tells Soap Hub. “For DAYS that’s harder because you’re picking two out of 250 episodes. We chose episodes from the Devil possession storyline. We debated but came to the conclusion that this was the show’s big storyline.”

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Daytime Emmys, Beyond Salem, and More

The head writer was thrilled to take home the gold and applauds the actors who made the ballot. After the noms had come out in May, however, he couldn’t help but give a special shoutout to two of his cast members who surprisingly didn’t make the cut this year – Deidre Hall (Dr. Marlena Evans) and Bill Hayes (Doug Williams). Both performers were, needless to say, integral to the show’s possession storyline.

“That’s not to take anything away from anybody,” Carlivati states. “I just thought Bill – at the time, 96, and now he’s 97 – playing possessed by the Devil was amazing. Deidre is still killing it.”

Off With Her Head – or Not

Speaking of ‘killing’ it, we asked Carlivati if he’d read the online rumors that Abigail Deveraux DiMera (Marci Miller) was going to meet her maker by being (gulp!) decapitated. Laying the rumor to rest once and for all, Carlivati tells Soap Hub, “No. It was never the intention to decapitate Abigail. I have no idea where that came from.”

Ron Carlivati on Twitter

As #SoapTwitter is well aware, Carlivati is active on social media. How does he balance keeping in touch with the show’s fans on social without being too influenced by the feedback he receives from passionate devotees? “It’s tough,” he admits. “[Social media] is a double-edged sword. It’s great to be able to interact with people and hear their excitement. You don’t want to lose that. But I can’t write [the show] on what an individual or even what a [small] group wants. We have to go with our instincts. We write our story and we hope that people will like it and accept it.”

What’s Next in Salem, Beyond Salem, and EJ, Belle, and Sami

Carlivati says this summer the action and drama on DAYS will focus on Abigail’s murder and finding out who sent her to that great soap in the sky. In addition to there definitely being some “twists and turns,” Carlivati previews, “We’re playing the family grieving and, at the same time, the mystery unravels. We keep building up the suspects and then, knocking them down.”

Carlivati also says that he discovered some nice chemistry when he paired EJ (Dan Feuerriegel) and Belle Black Brady (Martha Madison), “but what takes it to another level is that it’s [with] Sami’s [Alison Sweeney] sister.”

As for the highly anticipated Bo Brady (Peter Reckell) and Hope Williams Brady (Kristian Alfonso) reunion on Beyond Salem, Carlivati teases, “This is a super-exciting chapter for Bo and Hope fans. I hope they will be happy.”

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.