Days of Our Lives Classic Couple Spotlight: Bo and Hope
Jack Ori
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Days of Our Lives currently has Hope stuck in an on-again, off-again relationship with fellow detective Rafe Hernandez, who is always competing for her affections with an attorney with a secet
But back in the day, Hope was half of one the most popular couples in daytime!
Bo and Hope's love story began when Hope was a bored 17-year-old rebelling against her upper-class family's expectations, and Bo was a working-class rebel on a motorcycle.
Over the years, Bo and Hope's relationship was sometimes rocky, but Bo became a beloved member of the family who gave Hope four beautiful children (sadly, only two survived to adulthood).
Check out our Days of our Lives slideshow tribute to Bo and Hope, then head over to the comments to share your favorite "Bope" memory!
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1. Bo and Hope meet when she is a teenager.
Bo met Hope in the bar Shenanigan's. He was intrigued by her and offered her a ride on his motorcycle, which she took despite the disapproval of her chaperone. Hope wouldn't give Bo her name, though he realized she was only in high school. He gave her a ride home anyway.
2. Hope's 18th birthday and Doug's heart attack.
Bo realized Hope was only 17, so he couldn't fully be with her until she was of age. On her 18th birthday, the pair admitted their love to each other and were going to make love for the first time, but Doug walked in. The shock caused Doug to have a heart attack and a guilty Hope broke up with Bo.
3. Bo stops Hope's wedding to Larry Welch.
Hope was all set to marry Larry Welch, a sleazy DA that wanted her trust fund, but Bo knew how unhappy she was. In one of DAYS' most famous sequences, he tricked Larry Welch, replacing Hope under the veil with a man, and spirited her away on his motorcycle. At first Hope was angry, but eventually she admitted her love for Bo. Unfortunately, Larry Welch's goons caught up with Hope and threatened to kill Bo and the rest of her family if she didn't marry Larry so she pushed Bo away and married a man she didn't love instead.
4. Roman "dies" in Bo's arms.
Hope eventually admitted her true feelings to Bo and the two conspired to expose Larry as the scum he was. Their plot led to a misadventure in which they were both imprisoned on one of Stefano's islands. Unfortunately, Bo's brother Roman fell from a cliff while trying to rescue them and a bereaved Bo, believing Roman to be dead, pushed Hope away again.
5. Bo gives Hope a reason to live.
Hope joined the police force to forget Bo after Roman's apparent death. She was injured in the line of duty and became severely depressed. Bo professed his love to her and even proposed to her!
6. Bo and Hope finally make love for the first time!
Bo and Hope went to New Orleans in search of a stolen prism but they found something much more valuable: each other. After spending a night in period costumes in Oak Alley, Bo carried Hope to the bedroom and they finally made love for the first time.
7. A regal wedding.
Bo and Hope worked together to unseat a criminal, and in return the British government gifted them a regal wedding! Everyone flew in from Salem, but the happy couple's wedding day might have been their last if Shane Donovan hadn't squashed an assassination attempt.
8. Bo learns he is Victor's son.
Hope was there for Bo when he learned his father was not the beloved Shawn Brady but instead the dastardly Victor Kiriakis. However, Bo became determined to bring Victor down and went undercover, moving into Victor's house and living as his son. Hope was pregnant with their first child at the time, but she miscarried while Bo was away and her grief caused her to again push him away.
9. Bo and Hope leave Salem after Shawn Douglas is born.
Hope and Bo soon reconciled and tried again to have a baby. This time, Hope carried to term and gave birth to a beautiful boy who she and Bo named Shawn Douglas after Shawn Brady (who Bo considered his father) and Hope's father. Soon after Shawn Douglas' birth, Bo and Hope left Salem to sail around the world with their newborn son, but their story was far from over!
10. Hope apparently dies and Bo attempts to move on.
In 1990, Hope was supposedly killed in an explosion on the Cruise of Deception. A heartbroken Bo returned home and tried to move on with Carly Manning, but something always stopped them from getting married. Later, Bo developed an interest in Billie Reed.
11. Hope returns and competes with Billie for Bo
In 1994, a mysterious woman calling herself Gina was found in Maison Blanche. She looked just like Hope but had no memories of her past, and Bo and Billie -- who were about to marry -- were skeptical of her claims. Hope eventually proved to Bo who she was after she was able to recite a love letter she had written him. At first, Bo refused to break up with Billie because he wanted to honor his commitment to her, and Hope granted him a divorce to be with Billie. However, Bo's heart belonged to Hope and Billie eventually divorced him and returned to Paris.
12. A misunderstanding pushes Bo towards Billie.
Bo and Hope were set to be remarried, but on the eve of their wedding, Bo fell into some frozen water and nearly died. Billie undressed him and lay with him in bed to try to prevent hypothermia, but Hope walked in on what she thought was the pair having sex and called off the wedding.
13. Bo marries Billie.
Bo (now played by Robert Kelker Kelly) was forced to marry Billie while the pair was undercover. Bo's heart belonged to Hope, but he didn't believe she returned his feelings so he consummated the marriage, resulting in the birth of Georgia (aka Chelsea). Many years later, Chelsea would return to Salem in a tragic storyline involving Bo and Hope's young son, Zack.
14. Princess Gina replaces Hope
Hope was kidnapped and switched with her evil lookalike, Princess Gina. Nobody realized it until "Hope" shot Shawn Douglas! Soon after, Bo rescued her, only to discover she was pregnant with a baby that could not possibly be Bo's.
15. Zack's birth and a complicated baby switch story.
Bo knew Hope's baby wasn't his, but planned to raise the child with her anyway. There was a complication, however: Hope's baby was switched with a baby belonging to Stefano's henchman, Marlo -- while Abe and Lexie were raising Hope and Bo's son. Eventually, Marlo got his son back and Bo and Hope got custody of Zack, who they finally discovered was theirs biologically even though neither of them remembered conceiving him.
16. A tragic death.
Bo found out that his and Billie's daughter Georgia was alive and now going by the name of Chelsea Benson. Unfortunately, after Chelsea returned to Salem she was involved in a tragic accident: on New Years' Eve she was texting while driving and hit and killed little Zack. Bo chose to keep Chelsea's involvement in the accident secret, causing a rift between him and Hope when the truth came out.
17. Bo vs. Patrick Lockhart
While Bo and Hope were on the outs, Hope turned to Patrick Lockhart. She became pregnant again and believed Patrick to be the father. Meanwhile, Bo suspected Patrick was involved in illegal activities and began investigating him even after being kicked off the police force for going too far. He turned out to be right -- Patrick kidnapped Hope and Bo arrived just in time to help her give birth and learn that her baby girl, who they named Ciara Alice, was his.
18. Bo nearly dies of pancreatic cancer.
When Bo developed pancreatic cancer, his only hope of survival was a partial transplant from a living donor. Chelsea was a perfect match, but Bo refused to consent to the procedure. Eventually, he went into a coma and Hope signed off on the transplant to save his life. Victor's godson, Daniel Jonas, came to Salem to perform the procedure.
19. Ciara's kidnapping tests Bo and Hope's marriage.
Bo and Hope's marriage was again tested when their three-year-old daughter was kidnapped from the park during a birthday party. Bo initially blamed Hope for the loss of Ciara, while Hope feared that Ciara would die at the age of three just like Zack did. The kidnappers demanded a $5 million ransom, which Victor gave to Hope for his granddaughter's safe return, but Bo sabotaged the plan by offering the money as a reward to anyone who had information. Sadly, after Ciara's safe return, Hope took her and moved in with Justin Kiriakis because she needed space from Bo.
20. Bo Rekindles an Old Flame
Justin began to develop feelings for Hope, but Hope's heart still belonged to Bo. However, Bo reunited with his old flame, Carly Manning, and kept a major secret about her from Hope, causing Hope to distrust Bo. When Hope found out that Bo and Carly were involved, she decided to focus solely on work and raising Ciara.
21. Bo puts his divorce on hold after Alice's death.
Hope's beloved grandmother's health began to decline and it was clear Alice was going to die. Jennifer, Hope's cousin and best friend, returned for Alice's funeral and accidentally found some divorce papers Bo had been planning to file. However, when Hope confronted him about it he said that Alice's death was more important and they would discuss this later.
22. A stressed out Hope needs Bo -- in jail.
The stress of her impending divorce plus Alice's death caused Hope to crack. She took sleeping pills and became evil while under their influence, committing crimes and attacking powerful people. When Hope learned of her crimes, she pled guilty and was sent to prison. While there, she discovered an organ trafficking ring and was forced to reach out to Bo for help. He broke her out of prison and the two went after the organ traffickers while on the run.
23. Bo and Hope discover Fake Rafe.
Bo and Hope reconciled and both returned to the police force, where they investigated why Rafe was being so sloppy and discovered he had been replaced by a doppelganger named Arnold. Arnold was willing to testify against Stefano and EJ, but some inmates thought he was Rafe and beat him to death. Bo had to resign as commissioner as a result of this mess.
24. Hope is brainwashed again.
Bo and Hope found a key to a safe deposit box that Alice and Stefano both had. They found a marriage certificate in the box showing Hope was married to John during the Princess Gina kidnapping, thus rendering her marriage to Bo invalid. Hope and John went to Alamania to dissolve their marriage and were kidnapped and brainwashed by Stefano, but John broke the brainwashing and helped Hope free herself by showing her a photo of Bo. Hope escaped just in time to find out Bo was in a coma and rush to his side.
25. Hope moves on after Bo is MIA for three years.
After Caroline was diagnosed with Alzheimers, Bo left Salem to get her treatment out in California. Soon afterwards, Bo decided to leave Salem in search of Stefano. His phone calls became more and more infrequent, leaving Hope frustrated and lonely. After several years, Hope decided to move on and began dating a widower named Aiden Jennings who had gone to law school with Justin.
26. One last dramatic rescue.
Shortly before Aiden and Hope were to wed, Aiden was revealed to be working for the Dimeras, and Andre Dimera kept trying to force Aiden to murder Hope. Meanwhile, Steve had a weird feeling about Bo's disappearance and went looking for him. He found Bo had been kidnapped and was being tortured in Mexico. Steve rescued Bo while Caroline tried to stall Hope and Aiden's wedding. Bo returned home just in time to find a man who Hope believed to be Aiden trying to strangle her (it later turned out this was a doppelganger and Aiden had also been kidnapped by the Dimeras). Bo killed the would-be murderer.
27. Bo dies in Hope's arms.
Bo and Hope reconciled, but Bo soon began getting headaches. He resisted getting treatment for as long as possible, but after he collapsed he had no choice. It turned out Bo had a brain tumor and was soon going to die. Bo began getting his affairs in order and asked Rafe to take care of Hope after he was gone. Soon after, Bo died in Hope's arms. But since he and Hope have both cheated death before, could he someday come back again and pick up where he and Hope left off?
