Kate Mansi’s Final Farewell as Abby Escapes Out the Window

There’s no Salem man more devastated than Chad DiMera today. The poor “Days of Our Lives” hero just found out his beloved wife escaped the mental institution and is out there in the great unknown. For DAYS fans, it’s a hard loss as we say goodbye to Kate Mansi, a beloved actress who brought a legacy character to life for five years.

We’ve known since January that Mansi had taped her last scenes back in December–and it was definitely a long goodbye. We watched poor Abby descend deeper into madness until she finally snapped. By the time she left, we could hardly believe it and neither could Mansi.

“There were moments that I felt the end was near,” the actress told Michael Fairman Soaps. “I was very aware of what I was leaving behind..incredible fans, the opportunity to work with great actors, and to have a great story, and to be in a place that you were comfortable and knew how to work.”

Not only did Mansi’s last scenes air Friday, but so did actor Robert Scott Wilson. It was something the actress didn’t even realize until her last day of taping.

“Rob was there that last tape day as a figment of Abigail’s imagination, but I think we realized he was finishing his last day that morning,” Mansi said.  “It all kind of had escaped us somehow that it was his last day, too. When he finished, he gave me a big hug.  I went, ‘Wait, this is it! This is your last day.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, it is!’  Everyone paused and gave him a moment. I am so lucky that both of us got to have a parallel experience that day.”

Mansi admitted to being very emotional during her last few weeks taping. However, she took comfort in that one happy scene when Abby fantasized about a reunion with Chad (Billy Flynn) and Thomas.

“It was really cool that the writers did that,” Mansi told Fairman. “I forgot there was a fantasy scene to tape that day. I am so glad my mind protected me because it would have been too much for me to prepare for that. The writers were dead on for writing it, and it was there for a reason. They knew it was so powerful that reading it felt so powerful. It’s very simple, straight forward, and perfect. It’s exactly how we all would want it to end.”