Days of Our Lives’ Drake Hogestyn Approved John’s Death, Funeral Filmed While Star Was Still Alive
Days of Our Lives (DOOL) spoilers reveal that John Black’s (Drake Hogestyn) loved ones will have to say a devastating goodbye. When Drake Hogestyn passed away in September following a pancreatic cancer battle, fans began to wonder about John’s memorial episodes and when they were filmed.
The show tapes several months in advance, so Days was in a tight spot trying to explain Hogestyn’s absence while he was busy fighting his real-life illness.
In the end, Executive Producer Ken Corday decided to kill off John while Hogestyn was still alive. Let’s look at what Corday had to say in an interview with SOD.
“And I made the choice to, ‘Okay, let’s tell the story.’ He hadn’t been on [the show] in nine months. We needed a reason [for John’s absence],” Corday admitted.
That’s why Corday reached out to Hogestyn to offer updates on the plan and get his approval on John’s demise.
“I wanted to make sure Drake signed off on this, and he was totally in favor of it. He trusted me,” Corday insisted.
Corday also clarified that if Hogestyn had managed to beat his pancreatic cancer, there would’ve been a spot waiting for him at DOOL.
Hogestyn would’ve reprised his role and Days would’ve let John return from the grave, but things sadly didn’t work out that way.
The decision to move forward with John’s fatal storyline was a rather controversial and difficult one for the cast.
Stephen Nichols (Steve Johnson) didn’t agree with doing this while Hogestyn was still fighting for his life, but he made peace with it after Hogestyn gave his blessing.
As for Deidre Hall (Marlena Evans), she told SOD that despite how tough John’s death story was, she kept her real-life emotions out of it since Hogestyn was still living at the time.
It’s good to know that Hogestyn was informed and respected throughout the process.
Perhaps Days fans can take some small comfort in that once John’s funeral hits the screen.
Days of Our Lives spoilers say John will ultimately go missing before his grim fate is revealed, so we’ll bring you more predictions on all the sad news to come.
