'Days Of Our Lives' :' Beyond Salem' 's Kristian Alfonso Is a 'Nervous Wreck' Returning As Hope Brady

Kristian Alfonso has butterflies as she steps back into the role of Hope Williams Brady for Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem.

"I was a nervous wreck my first day," Alfonso tells PEOPLE exclusively from the set of the chapter two spinoff. "And also maybe my second day too, which was today, because there's so much happening."

Having debuted on the show in 1983, the 58-year-old has always been a DOOL fan favorite, and even received a 2002 Daytime Emmy for America's Favorite Couple with Peter Reckell, 66, who played her TV husband Bo Brady. She has left and returned several times over the years and last appeared onscreen in October of 2020.

There's a lot of pressure to please the fans when she reunites with Reckell, who left the show in 2012 after his own 29-year on-off stint and briefly returned in 2015 when Bo was killed off and again as a ghost in 2016.

Not having worked with Reckell in more than five years, Alfonso is looking forward to their characters reuniting.

"I think, probably just the lead up of it all, I want it to be great," she says. "I put the pressure on myself. I am definitely looking forward to working with Petey."

"I have not worked with him since 2016, in an episode that, it was kind of like — I call it the 'Scrooge episode', but it has nothing to do with Scrooge," she explains. "Hope had some big decisions to make and was vacillating back and forth on what this decision was. So, he kind of just guided her through in her dreams. And of course, you don't know what's really a dream, until I see her sleeping."

The Bradys won't be the only characters returning to the daytime series, either.

According to a press release, fans can expect both past and present faces to pop in, including Deidre Hall as Dr. Marlena Evans, Drake Hogestyn as John Black, Stephen Nichols as Steve "Patch" Johnson, Mary Beth Evans as Kayla Brady Johnson, Lucas Adams as Tripp Johnson, Camila Banus as Gabi Hernandez, Victoria Konefal as Ciara Brady, Robert Scott Wilson as Ben Weston, and Remington Hoffman as Li Shin.

"In an epic, action-packed tale that spans the entire globe, from Monte Carlo to Hong Kong, beloved characters from Days of our Lives once again go Beyond Salem as they trade the comforts of home for an adventure of a lifetime!" reads a logline for the series. "Over the course of five thrilling episodes, heartwarming family reunions take a dangerous turn as a mysterious adversary wreaks havoc on their lives. The next chapter of Beyond Salem is story full of larger-than-life romance, jaw-dropping twists, and high-stakes drama – and it all connects back to a plot that long-time DOOL fans will surely remember."

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Although Alfonso can't reveal any spoilers, she promises that the five-episode trip around the world will leave fans pleased.

"The viewers are going to be so happy," she says. "And what they see, it's going to be super fun. They want to keep it a surprise because there's so many different things happening, and characters that are reappearing, that they wanted to be a surprise."

Chapter 2 of Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem will premiere on Peacock on July 11, with new episodes dropping daily until July 15.