Joy’s return to Salem on Days of Our Lives already turned Alex’s life upside down, mostly because he found out he’s apparently a father now. Between the shock, Stephanie standing there trying to process it all, and half the town immediately side-eyeing the timeline, things got messy fast. But now AlexAnn Hopkins stepped in as her character on social media to explain exactly why Joy kept the truth quiet and why she finally returned now.
Key Takeaways
- Joy admitted to lying about Kelsey but insisted she “meant well.”
- She said Alex’s reaction to the pregnancy scare influenced her original decision to leave.
- She returned because she wanted Kelsey to know her dad.
- Joy admitted co-parenting with Alex “will be a struggle.”
- Fans immediately questioned the Salem paternity test results.
Why She Came Back to Salem
DAYS shared a video on Instagram with the caption, “Salem Confessional: Joy knows how this looks, but she has her reasons.” The clip featured Hopkins fully in character as Joy, speaking directly to fans while defending her choices about Alex and baby Kelsey. Right away, she admitted, “Lying was wrong, but I promise I meant well,” before explaining why she stayed away for so long.
Joy said she never wanted to “blow up Alex’s marriage” to Stephanie (Abigail Klein) and explained that Alex’s reaction to the original pregnancy scare stuck with her. “Do you see his face? I mean, come on. The look of relief once I told him it was a false alarm,” she said, adding that she did not want Kelsey growing up feeling unwanted.
Once the rumors started spreading that she lied about Alex being the father, though, Joy sounded genuinely stung by it. “Why would I lie about that? Especially with how easy it is to get a maternity test, which clearly shows that Kelsey is Alex’s daughter.” The video also made it clear that Joy believes she did the right thing, even if she now admits the timing was messy.
READ THIS: See who’s about to get blindsided in Salem.
Joy Thinks She Did the Right Thing
“The whole reason I left in the first place was to give him and Stephanie a chance to figure out whatever it is they still have going,” she explained, before later admitting that her judgment might have been off. She also explained, “I want Kelsey to have the chance to know her father.”
She owned up to the fact that keeping Alex in the dark hurt people, but she also sounded convinced she had reasons for doing so at the time. Hearing that Alex eventually wanted a family changed things for her, and once that happened, she saw returning to Salem as the right move, even if it dropped a live grenade into Alex and Stephanie’s marriage.
She also sounded surprisingly realistic about what comes next. Joy admitted co-parenting with Alex “will be a struggle,” but still said she hoped they could eventually make it work for Kelsey. That uncertainty honestly helped the whole thing feel more believable.
Wilson jumped into the comments with, “Co-parent of the year 🥃,” while fans immediately split into full Salem conspiracy mode.
One follower wrote, “Paternity tests are never right the first time in Salem,” while another joked, “Maybe someone switched the results…” Other viewers were simply happy to see Joy back, with one fan posting, “Glad Joy is back. Like her with Alex, better than whiny Stephanie.”
