Why did Alison Sweeney leave Days of Our Lives? Explained

Days of Our Lives actor Alison Sweeney was announced to return to the soap opera on August 6, 2024, per reporting from TVLine. Alison played the character of Sami Brady, the daughter of Roman Brady and Marlena Evans.

First introduced in 1984, the character was rapidly aged to a teenager in 1993, which is when Alison Sweeney began to play her. Alison consistently played the character for most appearances before announcing her departure on January 20, 2014.

In a January 2014 interview with The Ellen Show, she shared that she left the show to focus more on her family and manage hosting duties for the reality TV series The Biggest Loser. She also wanted to focus on her writing career, with her second book coming out at the time.

She has, however, made recurring appearances on Days of Our Lives since her original departure, with her most recent appearance being in 2022.

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Alison Sweeney left Days of Our Lives to focus on her family and The Biggest Loser

Alison Sweeney's first tenure on Days of Our Lives ended on October 30, 2014, with her announcing her departure from the show in a January 30, 2014 interview with The Ellen Show.

Alison said her reason for leaving the soap was to focus on raising her family, and because she didn't want to keep balancing her hosting duties on The Biggest Loser with the demands of her role on Days of Our Lives. As she put it to Ellen DeGeneres:

“For seven years I’ve done both shows. I’m really just excited to be with my kids and be with my husband and, I don’t know, have fun. And I write. My second book’s coming out. I love directing and just finding things to do.”

Alison would depart from hosting The Biggest Loser in 2015, once its 16th season ended, and shift her focus to Hallmark Original movies, specifically those of the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries series.

Alison did not leave the soap permanently, however, as her character would continue to reappear in a recurring capacity from October 13, 2017, onwards.

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Who is Sami Brady in Days of Our Lives?

Sami Brady is the daughter of Marlena Evans and Roman Brady. She was played by Alison Sweeney in 1993 when the character was rapidly aged to a teenager. Since Alison took over, Sami was characterized as a troublemaker "love to hate" character.

Sami's character arc began with her becoming traumatized by her mother, Marlena's affair with John Black, and developing a vendetta against her sister, Belle, who was born from the affair. Sami went to the extremes of abducting Belle and trying to sell her on the black market before John managed to rescue her.

Sami went on to get involved in other affairs over time, including with Austin Reed and Lucas Roberts. She also developed an adversarial relationship with Lucas's mother, Kate Roberts, who once framed her for murder and almost had her sentenced to death. Sami's other prominent love interest throughout her time on the soap opera has been EJ DiMera.

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Alison Sweeney's upcoming return to Days of Our Lives in its 2025 run is the latest in a long line of recurring appearances she's made since 2017. The soap opera is available on Peacock.