As Days of Our Lives Makes the Theresa Switch, Jen Lilley Says an Emotional Farewell
As Days of Our Lives Makes the Theresa Switch, Jen Lilley Says an Emotional Farewell
Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI
While we weren’t entirely surprised to learn that Theresa was coming back to Days of Our Lives for Victor’s funeral, nor that she’d be sticking around for an extended story, we were surprised when we found out Jen Lilley would only be returning for the first part of the visit. And we were downright shocked when we found out how it all went down!
It wasn’t entirely clear, though, how long Lilley herself would be in the role before it switched over to the new person. She’s got Victor’s mystery letters in hand and a plan to use Alex to drive Brady crazy. (Yeah, we don’t see her listening to Shane’s advice to let Brady go, either!) But it now looks like Friday, September 22 will be her last day in the role. Spoilers have Theresa on-screen until then and Lilley herself took to Instagram to let fans know this would be it.
“Last week of me exploring this girl’s shenanigans on screen,” she wrote. “Playing Jeanne Theresa Donovan off and on for the last 10 years has taught me so much about empathy and grace. I have enjoyed every moment of her hilarious sass and ferocity, layered with brokenness. To the cast and crew at Days of Our Lives, I love you forever. You’re my family.”
From Salem to Greece, Alex, Brady and even Shane, Lilley shared moments from her return below.
Lilley’s fans showed an outpouring of love, with many echoing Maysam’s comment as she wrote, “Seriously, when thinking of Theresa Donovan, you are the only one I can think of playing her!”
And that’s completely understandable as so far, Lilley has been the only one to portray Shane and Kimberly’s adult daughter! Fortunately, we did get both Lilley and Charles Shaughnessy in scenes together in some oh-so-brief father/daughter scenes before the recast.
The show has been completely mum on who’s taking over the role, but Lilley herself dropped a number of hints that seem to indicate that Emily O’Brien will be stepping into the role. If that’s the case, though, it seems hard to imagine that it’ll happen right when Lilley’s exit does as Gwen’s currently smack in the middle of bringing down Leo and Dimitri.
Whoever it ultimately ends up being, Lilley urged fans to “be kind” to her recast, as she herself knows how tough it can be stepping into another’s shoes. Whether Lilley ever steps back into the role or not remains to be seen, but as she took her bow this week, she made sure to thank all those who’ve been there cheering her on, “supporting me on this decade-long journey.”
