Rachel Melvin Returns to DAYS as Chelsea to Honor Victor Kiriakis

Days of our Lives is recalling the days when characters came back to shows for big family events. Rachel Melvin is reprising Victor’s granddaughter Chelsea for the Kiriakis’s memorial. The actress was last seen on the show in 2009.

Rachel Melvin Is Back as Chelsea

“I had kind of put it out into the ether when John Aniston [ex-Victor] passed away that he meant a lot to me because he did,” the actress shared with Soap Opera Digest, which broke the casting news. “He was one of the people that I had the most fun with on set, and I just really enjoyed him. I had talked to Martha Madison [Belle] and said, ‘I know you’re on the show right now. If you hear of any funeral arrangements or anything like that, please let me know because I really want to pay my respects.'”

Happy DAYS for a Sad Occasion

Melvin isn’t sure how exactly the decision was made to invite her back, but a call was made to the actress’s representative. “[M]y manager was calling and said, ‘Hey, DAYS would like to invite you back for a memorial episode,’ which, of course, I was more than willing and excited and happy to do,” Melvin says.

Chelsea is the daughter of Bo (Peter Reckell) and Billie. While Lisa Rinna is most associated with the part of Billie, actress Krista Allen (Taylor, Bold and the Beautiful) was playing the part when Chelsea was born. Originally named Georgia, Billie and Bo believed that their daughter had died in a bayou in Louisiana. In reality, she’d been adopted by the Benson family.

Rachel Melvin: Her DAYS Doppelganger Role

Years later, when Julie Pinson was playing Billie, it came to light that Georgia was alive. Ironically, Melvin played a red herring when Bo and Billie searched for their daughter, who was first played as an adult by Mandy Musgrave. After Musgrave exited the role to join the cast of South of Nowhere, DAYS recast the part with Melvin.

A standout storyline for Melvin was when Chelsea drove the car that killed Bo (Peter Reckell) and Hope’s (Kristian Alfonso) toddler son Zach, who was killed in a vehicular accident in 2006. Later, Chelsea and Max (Darin Brooks, now Wyatt on B&B) fell in love. They moved to England. Last year, there was a reference that Chelsea was expecting a baby.

Since exiting DAYS, Melvin has played a regular character Alex Norwood in Season 4 of Sleepy Hollow. She also appeared in Dumb and Dumber To, Chicago Med, and Bones. Watch for Melvin to reprise Chelsea on Thursday, September 7.