Already have an account?
Get back to the
NBC

What Happened to Kristen DiMera on DAYS OF OUR LIVES

Tags:

Kristen DiMera on DAYS OF OUR LIVES is nothing but trouble! Eileen Davidson originated the role back in 1993 and after leaving in 1998, returned periodically over the years until 2017. Then, Stacy Haiduk (ex-Patty, THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS) stepped into Kristen’s (and Susan’s) shoes in August 2018, though in May 2020, she spoke out about her exit. However, by September, she was back in Salem for more! And for those viewers who aren’t up on their DAYS history or simply need a refresher on all the wild things Kristen has done in the past, don’t worry — we’ve got you covered!

Kristen first appeared in 1993 when John Black rescued her from a mugger. The two were immediately drawn to each other, but the fact that she was raised by Stefano DiMera complicated things. She was promised to marry Tony DiMera, but it was later revealed she’d actually tied the knot with his look-alike, André! At Maison Blanche, Kristen was taken captive by a presumed-dead Stefano to force John to come to her rescue.

Days of Our Lives Marlena Possession
Kristen always had a hard time competing with Marlena, especially when she could float!Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank

Kristen’s plan to marry John was kiboshed when she learned he was actually a priest. When Marlena Evans was possessed by a demon, she assisted John in the exorcism. After John was released from his vows, the couple finally got together, and although she was told she was infertile, Kristen was delighted to learn she was pregnant. But worried that John would leave her for Marlena, Kristen helped Stefano fake her rival’s death.

Unfortunately, after being caught in an explosion that killed her mother, Kristen lost her baby. Stefano returned to Salem with Susan Banks, a woman who looked remarkably like Kristen, to carry a child she and John could raise together. But when John married Kristen when she went into labor, he actually wed Susan! Kristen plotted to get rid of her rival, but Susan turned the tables and locked Kristen up so she could take over her life. Kristen escaped, but her schemes had cost her John’s love.

Days of Our Lives Kristen and Brady
Kristen found herself falling for Brady in spite of herself!Paul Skipper/jpistudios.com

After all the chaos of Susan and Kristen impersonating each other back and forth, Kristen retired to Europe, but Stefano convinced her to return. She tried to make amends, but John and Marlena weren’t having any of it. At least, not until she saved Brady Black from a mugger. Everyone was appalled when Brady fell in love with Kristen and wanted to marry her. Kristen was delighted when John plotted to have sex with her so Brady could find them together, but then she realized she actually did love Brady and didn’t go through with it.

But after Marlena revealed that Kristen had hired the mugger that attacked Brady, he called off the wedding. To take revenge, Kristen drugged and seduced Marlena’s son, Eric Brady! But she changed her plans to expose the video she’d taken of the encounter when Brady decided to give her another shot. Unfortunately, it was on their wedding day that Marlena played the video! Kristen tried to make a run for it, but got in a car accident and disappeared.

Days of Our Lives Kristen's Wedding interrupted
Kristen and Eric’s sex tape was an unusual choice of wedding entertainment!Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

Later, Kristen resurfaced when she kidnapped Daniel Jonas in St. Louis hoping to use him to lure Brady to her. But Daniel turned the tables on her and brought Kristen back to Salem where she was arrested. In order to stay out of jail, she offered the formula for a miracle drug that would wake John from his coma. Unfortunately, her hopes of reuniting with Brady were dashed when he caught her in bed with Daniel! A devastated Kristen overheard Theresa Donovan saying she was pregnant with Brady’s baby, so she ordered the young woman kidnapped and arranged for a transplant so she could carry Brady’s child herself!

Living in Italy, Kristen gave birth to Theresa and Brady’s baby, naming him Christopher. But the ailing infant required a bone marrow transplant, and in her quest for a donor, the truth about her insane scheme was revealed. When Brady confronted her, Kristen claimed the child was Daniel’s but he insisted on DNA tests for conclusive proof. Kristen had Theresa abducted so she could be the bone marrow donor and left Brady and Melanie to die. But Kristen was shocked to find John and Marlena on her doorstep, and as the two women struggled over a gun, Kristen fell through a window into a bay. No body was ever recovered, but the authorities pronounced Kristen dead.

Days of Our Lives Marlena and Kristen fight
Marlena thought Kristen didn’t survive this fight, but clearly, she has more lives than a cat!sean smith/jpistudios.com

However, Kristen was very much alive, and in the fall of 2017, made a secret appearance in Susan’s home in Memphis to laugh to herself about how Susan tricked Will Horton into believing he was EJ DiMera when she could’ve had the real EJ all along. She then returned to Salem in 2018 hot on the heels of Sami Brady, who had escaped her clutches. She tried to seduce Brady, who reluctantly went along with it to find out what she was up to. He tracked her to a warehouse where he found a semi-conscious patient he suspected could be EJ, as well as other rooms with initials on them that could be other presumed-dead Salem residents. Kristen was working with Xander Cook, and they tried to keep Brady quiet, but before anyone could discover the truth about what was going on there, a terrible explosion left everyone believing Xander, Kristen, and Nicole Walker had perished.

It appeared that Xander and Nicole had survived the explosion, but it was soon revealed that Nicole was actually Kristen in an elaborate disguise! Kristen was once again determined to seduce Brady, even if she had to wear Nicole’s face to make it happen. She also tried to get her share of the DiMera family business and tried to marry Tony (as Nicole) to make it happen. After Kristen’s disguise was exposed, she struck a deal to stay out of prison and next plotted to steal Sarah Horton‘s unborn child. But she was stunned when Dr. Rolf revealed he couldn’t place the embryo in her because Kristen was already pregnant!

DAYS Kristen Brady
Kristen and Brady were crushed by the loss of their daughter.XJJohnson/jpistudios.com

After the time jump of a year, Kristen was living as a nun with Lani Price and trying to atone for her sins after her baby had been stillborn. But she agreed to return to Salem with her friend and resumed her life, reconnecting with Brady while also getting mixed up in Stefano’s return (he had Steve’s face!). Then, everything changed when it was revealed that Kristen’s baby had been stolen by Xander and Victor Kiriakis and given to Sarah, whose baby actually had perished in a car accident last year. Furious, Kristen stabbed Victor and with Lani’s help, fled Salem and tracked down Sarah, who had absconded with the baby girl she didn’t want to give up. After confronting Sarah and convincing her to give up Rachel, Brady joined her and the family was finally reunited.

Unfortunately, Kristen didn’t think she could return to Salem because she would go to prison for stabbing Victor, and so decided to go on the run with Rachel. Brady wanted to go with them but she couldn’t ruin his life as well so mother and daughter went on their own. Brady did eventually join them but returned to Salem when John was near death after suffering from an aneurysm. Soon, Kristen came back to support him and left Rachel with Lani so they could spend time together. Unfortunately, Eli Grant found Rachel with his wife and learning that Kristen was back in Salem, quickly moved to arrest her for attempted murder, secretly recording her confession!

While languishing in prison, Kristen became jealous of Brady’s renewed closeness with a recently-returned Chloe Lane. So she convinced Susan to temporarily take her place behind bars so she could pretend to be Susan and keep an eye on Brady! When Sarah discovered her ruse, she silenced her by abducting her and shipping her out of town on the eve of her wedding! Disguising herself as Sarah, Kristen then slept with Philip Kiriakis and dumped Xander to make sure nobody went looking for her! Then, after discovering that Sami had cheated on EJ with Lucas, “Susan” revealed her disguise and demanded Sami help her keep Chloe away from Brady or she’d tell EJ the truth!

DAYS Kayla Steve Kristen
Kristen wasn’t the best hostess…XJJohnson/jpistudios.com

When Kate uncovered her ruse, Kristen then knocked her out to impersonate her and break up with Jake DiMera! Susan accidentally revealed herself to Brady and Kristen locked Sami and Lucas in the DiMera wine cellar before taking Chloe hostage. When arrested, she negotiated her freedom for Chloe’s location and then escaped with Ava’s help. While in hiding, Kristen wrote E.J. a letter about Sami’s affair which she tried to intercept, but it ended up passing through quite a few hands before making it to its intended recipient.

Months later, Steve caught up to Kristen and brought her back to Salem to face justice, and she blackmailed Ava and Gwen into helping her escape. Steve and Kayla went looking for Kristen at her convent but she turned the tables on the pair and added them to her hostages on DiMera island — Sarah and Abigail! Sarah, who had been drugged into believing she was really Renee DuMonde, prevented Kristen from drugging everyone else on the island. Chad and Tony rescued everyone, but Kristen escaped.

Kristen resurfaced in May 2022 when she called into a DiMera board vote to help Jake and Gabi retain control of the business. The following month, Kristen returned to Salem in person to face justice. But she wasn’t in prison for long as Orpheus blackmailed the governor into pardoning some notorious criminals and Kristen was on that list. Her next move was to force Gabi to let her run Basic Black where she and Chloe declared war on each other. When Jake was killed, Kristen and Rolf stole his body which the mad scientist used to bring Stefan DiMera back to life. Kristen informed Brady she planned to sue for shared custody of Rachel, but soon upped that to full custody. But after an ugly court battle, the judge ruled in Brady’s favor and Kristen blamed Chloe.

DAYS Brady Chloe Kristen
“You had your turn, Chloe.”XJJohnson/jpistudios.com

When Orpheus stole a deadly serum from Dr. Rolf to poison Marlena, Kayla, and Kate, Rolf gave Kristen the orchid from which the antidote could be made. Kristen then offered Brady the antidote if he would dump Chloe and be with her and Rachel as a family. Kristen moved into the penthouse and was delighting in making Brady squirm until he told Eric about the blackmail and the pair conspired to kidnap Rachel to force Kristen to give up the flower. Unfortunately, that backfired and worse still, when the three women fell ill again and required another dose, Kristen found the orchid had been stolen!

As the women died one by one, naturally, everyone blamed Kristen, who tried to kidnap Rachel and skip town but the police arrested her first. Even behind bars, she continued taunting Chloe, and Brady forced her to write a letter telling Rachel she thought it was okay for Brady to date Chloe. Of course, Rachel didn’t buy it for a second and sneaked in to visit her mother in prison. Kristen was surprised when Megan DiMera was locked up alongside her, and was stunned to learn that Bo Brady was still alive, though Megan swore her to secrecy. 

Stay tuned to see how Kristen’s story continues!

Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items. Use right arrow key to move into submenus. Use escape to exit the menu. Use up and down arrow keys to explore. Use left arrow key to move back to the parent list.