Days of Our Lives’ Billy Flynn Defends the Decision to Kill Abigail: ‘You Can’t Just Keep Writing Her Off’

The actor was as bummed as anybody that leading lady Marci Miller was leaving. But he understood why her character was sent to the grave.
Days of Our Lives’ Billy Flynn was as shocked and saddened as viewers when Chad’s wife was murdered. However, he got why the Grim Reaper had to make a guest appearance.
Since Marci Miller didn’t want to sign a contract, and neither did her predecessor Kate Mansi, the show was stuck. “You can’t just keep writing her off,” Flynn tells Soap Opera Digest. “I would rather have them do this than continue to make her go crazy and torture her in all these crazy ways.”

Their love story is over… for now, anyway.
Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI
For the actor, there’s a bit of a silver lining to Chad becoming a widower — if only for now. (Headwriter Ron Carlivati has already hinted that she may not be dead-dead.) “If Abigail’s around, it’s going to be tough for the audience to want him to move on,” he notes. “And you can’t really tell story for Chad if Abigail’s in limbo all the time.
“So selfishly, I haven’t gotten a whole lot of story over the last few years,” he adds, “because it’s tough to know what to do with Chad when Abigail is coming and going.”
What’s your hope for the character moving forward? Drop it in a comment below, and on your way there…
Relive the love story of Chad and Abigail in the tear-stained photo gallery below.
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<p>Chad and Abigail’s relationship (first portrayed by Casey Deidrick and Kate Mansi) has never been smooth sailing, or without third party distractions. In the beginning, it was Melanie and Gabi for Chad, and Cameron and Chad’s brother, EJ, for Abby. And don’t forget about that time Chad lied about having a brain tumor.</p> <p> </p>
<p>After seeking treatment in Boston for a heart condition he <em>did</em> have, Chad returned to Salem (played by Billy Flynn) to face their biggest obstacle thus far: Abby’s new beau, Ben. The Necktie Killer became obsessive, held Abigail prisoner, and left “Chabby” for dead in a burning cabin after Abby gave birth to her and Chad’s first child, Thomas. That ordeal sent Abby down her first of many dark roads.</p> <p> </p>
<p>Abigail and Chad got married after Ben’s reign of terror, but she was clearly affected by what transpired. When Ben escaped custody, she tried to repay his abuse by setting <em>him</em> on fire. However, Chad was there to extinguish the situation. Abigail, in turn, realized her mental health journey was far from over.</p>
<p>It was Abby’s turn to pull one over on Chad. She enlisted Andre to help her fake her death while she sought psychiatric treatment from her grandmother, Laura. When she returned to the land of the living, Abby (as portrayed by Marci Miller), discovered Chad had fallen for Gabi. She took the opportunity to marry Dario for immigration purposes, which she was none too pleased to learn he was lying about.</p>
<p>Chad and Abigail eventually reconciled and they even planned a <a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/days-of-our-lives/news/610528/days-of-our-lives-chad-abigail-double-wedding-anniversary" target="_blank">double wedding with good friends Sonny and Paul</a>. However, the ceremony was crashed by none other than Ben, who stunned the crowd by declaring his Necktie Killer victim, Will was alive. Abby was able to work out some aggression by punching her former tormentor in the face, and then got back to the business of marrying Chad. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Paul and Sonny, who abandoned their own nuptials.</p>
<p>The happy couple’s next big challenge came in the form of Chad’s long lost half-brother, Stefan. Well, Stefan and Abigail’s dissociative identity disorder, which was trigged by her accidentally killing Andre. Abby’s alter, Gabby, fell in love with Stefan who had no qualms taking advantage of Abigail in that state.</p>
<p>Abigail got healthy again, but thanks to Gabi, everyone thought Gabby was back — and that Stefan was the father of Abby’s second child. Baby Charlotte was eventually revealed to be Chad’s daughter, but the initial doubt caused a lot of chaos, including Abby marrying Stefan, Chad convincing him to have Abigail committed, and a whole lot of mistrust between the estranged couple.</p>
<p>After another actress swap, Abigail (Kate Mansi again) and Chad reunited, remarried, and had a couple of <a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/tag/chad-and-abby-in-paris/" target="_blank">adventures in Paris</a>. The latter involved more cheating allegations, but fortunately, it was just DiMera employee Juliette playing games with them. “Chabby” returned to Salem shortly after, where they dealt with Rolf’s attempt at resurrecting Stefano through Steve.</p>
<p>Since Chad got a long-lost brother (actually two considering Jake turned out to be the now deceased Stefan’s twin), Abigail (<a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/days-of-our-lives/news/588023/days-of-our-lives-interview-billy-flynn-chad-two-abigails/" target="_blank">Marci Miller once again</a>) got a sister she never knew about. But their connection wasn’t revealed until after Gwen set plans in motion to destroy Abigail, which included — what else — seducing Chad. Their night together resulted in Gwen getting pregnant and blaming Abigail for her miscarriage. Which was far from the case. </p> <p> </p>
<p>After leaving town to process everything that had happened, Abigail returned to Salem to work on her marriage with Chad. Love and happiness returned for the DiMeras, until Chad’s sister, Kristen kidnapped her, that is. Fortunately, Chad’s determination to find his missing wife led him to her island captivity and the two reunited.</p>
<p>Proving just how perfect they are together, Chad and his Mrs. managed to derail both Leo and Gwen’s individual plans to dupe Craig and Xander, respectively, into marriages. Unfortunately, doing so put the DiMeras in the bullseye as the steamed would-be-weds vowed revenge! </p>
<p>That need for revenge landed Leo and Gwen at the top of the suspect list after Abigail was stabbed to death. As expected, Chad was inconsolable, but since this isn’t the first time he has grieved his wife, <a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/days-of-our-lives/comings-and-goings/633687/days-of-our-lives-marci-miller-leaving-abigail-murdered/" target="_blank">‘Chabby’s’ love story could still be far from over</a>.</p>

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