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Jen Lilley Quits ‘Days Of Our Lives’ — How, Why, And When Will Theresa Donovan Leave Salem? [Spoilers]

By Taylor Rios
Published on: 14:26 PST, May 28, 2016

Days Of Our Lives has been losing characters like crazy. Either the actors are written off the NBC soap opera or they decide to leave on their own. It turns out that another major DOOL character is leaving Salem. Jen Lilley, who plays Theresa Donovan, is reportedly leaving Days Of Our Lives.

Warning: Possible spoilers for Days Of Our Lives are ahead.

Theresa Donovan is a character that fans either love or hate. In 2013, Jen Lilley arrived in Salem as troubled Theresa, the daughter of Kimberly Brady (Patsy Pease) and Shane Donovan (Charles Shaughnessy). She got in some trouble back home, but a new location didn’t seem to help the young woman. She got in all sorts of mischief and caused some real problems for other characters on Days Of Our Lives. Jen’s character partied hard, drank a lot of alcohol, and did drugs. She also had some serious crushes on men that were unattainable, which led to some wild scheming. A few people affected by Theresa’s actions were Dr. Daniel Jonas (Shawn Christian) and JJ Deveraux (Casey Moss). Later, she even sent Daniel’s daughter, Melanie Jonas (Molly Burnett), away in order to get back together with Brady Black (Eric Martsolf).

However, after finding out Lilley’s character had a son, which was taken out of her womb by Kristen DiMera (Eileen Davidson), Theresa slowly improved her behavior. She is still wildly jealous and insecure. As the Inquisitr previously reported, Theresa Donovan often freaks out at the tiniest hint of abandonment. Even so, Theresa’s response to “threats” has improved. She recently confronted Summer Townsend (Marie Wilson) about her intentions with Brady, but so far, it has just been verbal.

It turns out the Days Of Our Lives character wasn’t evil at all, just an insecure girl who had a habit of hurting others before they could hurt her.

Now that Theresa Donovan has actually become a likable character, fans are shocked that Jen Lilley is leaving Days Of Our Lives. The news was reported by Daytime Confidential, who heard about Lilley’s exit from multiple sources. Apparently, this was Jen’s decision, which was made months ago. Patsy Pease and Charles Shaughnessy will return to Days Of Our Lives to play Theresa’s parents. The two actors will be part of Theresa’s exit storyline, which is supposed to be later this year. As for why Jen Lilley is leaving DOOL, the actress reportedly needs a break from the intense filming schedule.

As fans may or may not know, soap opera stars have grueling schedules. Unlike primetime TV shows, there are no breaks in between seasons. Also, instead of just airing once a week, soap operas are on television five days a week. It is an intense schedule, especially when an actor or actress does it long-term.

How will Jen Lilley leave Days Of Our Lives? According to Soap Hub, Larry Poindexter, who plays Father Louis, tweeted set photos. Patsy Pease, Charles Shaughnessy, and Eric Martsolf were tagged in the pictures. However, the website noted that it was odd Jen Lilley was not mentioned. The media outlet speculated that this might mean Theresa Donovan could be killed. If so, could this have anything to do with Soap Central‘s DOOL spoilers stating that scandals and another disaster are coming to Salem this summer? Could these have anything to do with Theresa’s final storyline?

Are you surprised that Jen Lilley is leaving Days Of Our Lives? How do you think Theresa Donovan will exit the NBC soap opera? What would you like to see done with the character before Lilley’s final scene?

Days Of Our Lives airs weekdays on NBC.

[Photo by Chris Haston/NBC]

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