All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Soaps.com may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Fall is finally here, which means we’re getting into the thick of Days of Our Lives‘ Fall Preview. As our regular readers know, we released our previews and predictions for Days of Our Lives and the rest of the daytime world. There’s “Abigail” and Chad developments (yup, that wedding is heading our way), Johnny and Chanel drama (courtesy of Body and Soul), and unease in the Kiriakis household. (That one goes without saying.)
But there were also a few other Days of Our Lives tidbits that have been released that caught our eyes — and one of them is that Rafe and Gabi’s cousin, Javi, will be arriving in Salem. Learning that solved one of the show’s more recent mysteries as back in April, before the show confirmed that Cherie Jimenez was, indeed, taking over for Gabi, Days of Our Lives released an image on-set from Rafe’s house of her and actor Al Calderon.
The show asked who they could be, and while we got one half of the answer at the beginning of the summer, we had to wait a bit more for the other half. But we’re pretty sure we’ve got a handle on it now, especially after Soap Opera News has confirmed that Calderon will be debuting at the end of this month on October 28. Seeing as how the only photo we have of Calderon onset is with Gabi in Rafe’s house, and knowing from fall preview that their cousin Javi is showing up in Salem soon, it seems pretty likely that the two are one and the same!
But hey, we’re always open to being surprised. Still, now would be a great time for Gabi to have some extra family around. Her marriage to Stefan is coming to an end and, while she and EJ are growing closer (much to the surprise of all of us), Rafe is far from supportive of this latest development. In fact, when he found out about their affair, he called EJ to threaten him personally.
Gabi could use someone to talk to who wouldn’t judge her or approach her situation with preconceived hatred towards anyone. Rafe means well, but sometimes he can take the protective big brother thing a bit too far. A supportive cousin, though, could give her the sympathetic ear Gabi needs! Plus, expanding the Hernandez family once again is something we’ve long been clamoring for (we included that in our list of changes for the new writers to make), and we know Cherie Jimenez is likely thrilled about the fact!
When Soaps.com spoke with her a little while back, she said she’d love to see the Hernandez family return and was “excited to see where the writers take that.”
It looks like she’s getting her wish, though not quite in the way that we expected! The next question, though, is what brings their cousin to town… and who will he be mixing it up with? Depending on how old he is, he could be mixing it up with a newly single Holly. For now, at least, it looks like Sophia’s plan on splitting them up is working.
Of course, there’s nothing to say he’s straight, so maybe Leo might want to keep an eye out, provided he’s moved on, finally, from Dimitri! Let’s just hope, though, he doesn’t get into as much trouble as cousin Dario did while in Salem and is sticking around for a bit!
What are your thoughts? Do you think Calderon is playing Gabi and Rafe’s cousin? Are you excited that the Hernandez family is expanding again?
