Abigail Johanna Deveraux, a fictional character from "Days of Our Lives," has captivated audiences with her storylines centered around young love and family drama. Created by scriptwriter Sheri Anderson and executive producer Ken Corday, Abigail is a member of the esteemed Horton family and the daughter of super couple Jack Deveraux and Jennifer Horton. This article explores her journey, focusing on her relationships, particularly with Chad DiMera, and the actresses who have brought her to life.
Early Life and Family
Introduced in 1992, Abigail was born in the Horton cabin after her parents' car veered off the road, leading Jennifer into labor. Her early life was marked by a health scare when she contracted aplastic anemia at 8 months old due to polluted well water, necessitating a life-saving bone marrow donation from Austin Reed. This event led to the revelation that her father, Jack, was responsible for the toxic dumping, causing him to leave town out of guilt.
Abigail's upbringing included time in Ireland with her mother before returning to Salem in 2000. Despite her parents' initial separation, they eventually remarried. The Deveraux family faced further turmoil when Jack was presumed dead after being hit on the head by the Salem Stalker and later in a car accident. However, he returned each time, reuniting with his family, including Abigail's younger brother, Jack, Jr.
Young Love and Relationships
As Abigail grew older, her storylines began to focus on young love. She spent time with her best friend Chelsea Benson and dated a guy named Josh. After Jack's death, Abigail struggled with her mother's relationship with Frankie Brady and even considered sleeping with Josh, despite planning to wait until marriage.
Abigail soon develops a crush on Max and begins displaying jealous feelings towards Max's relationship with Mimi Lockhart. When Mimi leaves town, Max is available again. Max soon admits his crush on Abby, and the two start dating, but only briefly. Abby's aunt, Maggie Horton, and Jack push her to not go out with Max.
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The "Chabby" Phenomenon: Abigail and Chad
In January 2011, it was revealed that Abigail would become Chad DiMera's new love interest. The onscreen pairing of Chad and Abigail became very popular among fans and garnered the squish name, "Chabby".
The dynamic between Chad and Abigail was likened to Romeo and Juliet, with an "instant attraction" complicated by family disapproval. Mansi revealed that Stefano and Kate would also interfere in the romance forcing Chad and Abigail to "fight for their relationship," which makes them stronger. Throughout the spring of 2011, the head writers teased a relationship between the two, however Abigail was "turned off" because Chad is a DiMera, before realizing he isn't like his family.
After Jack dies, Abigail begins to fall apart, asking Cameron to sleep with her, though she would always turn him down. Later, Abby begins bonding with Chad again, and their feelings are rekindled. They spend New Year's Eve together and, ironically, a year after they break up, they end up sharing a few kisses, and decide to get closer.
When Chad ruins the wedding (which he attends as Abby's date) by revealing that Nick is not the father of Will Horton's baby Arianna, Abigail then tells Chad she is done with him. They then reconcile and on September 17, Chad and Abigail make love for the first time, resulting in Abigail no longer being a virgin. After Chad leaves town with Stefano to recover from the shooting, Abigail begins having sex with Chad's older brother EJ DiMera.
In September 2014, Chad returns to Salem and immediately places anger towards Abigail over her affair with EJ. In June 2015, Abigail sleeps with Chad, despite being in a committed relationship with Ben. Later, believing herself to be pregnant due to morning sickness, she takes an at-home pregnancy test, which returns a positive result. As she has just slept with Chad, she is unsure if the father is Chad or Ben. She gets Kayla to secretly perform a paternity test, which reveals that Ben is the father after Ben's father Clyde Weston threatens the paternity doctor.
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Abigail goes into early labor and gives birth to her son with the help of a midwife, but Ben kills the midwife after the birth. Chad arrives and Ben ties them to the bed and sets it on fire before leaving with the baby. However, they escape and Ben is found and arrested. She renames her son Thomas Jack Deveraux. Afterward, Abigail and Chad start to plan a future together.
After being brainwashed to do his family's bidding, Chad cruelly breaks up with Abigail. After Thomas gets sick, it's revealed that Chad is his father, not Ben. At this time, Abigail begins to believe she is seeing hallucinations of Ben; in an attempt to confront her fears, she sets traps to see if she can catch him. When confronted by Ben, Abigail begins to question her own sanity and in a stint of absent-mindedness, she ties up and tortures Ben. As a result, Chad commits her Shady Hills psych ward; while there, she continues to be threatened by hallucinations of Ben. Becoming overwhelmed, she withdraws herself from her family, and event breaks out of Shady Hills.
Abigail and Chad reconcile, however, but shortly thereafter Chad and Gabi are locked in a meat locker by Deimos Kiriakis and Chad tells Gabi he loves her. Abigail, with the help of Gabi's brother Dario Hernandez, who has developed feelings for Abigail himself, rescues them. Chad tells Abigail that he still has feelings for Gabi, but that he loves her and Thomas and wants to keep his marriage and family. He eventually decides he must remove Gabi from his life entirely.
The day that Chad decides to tell Gabi this, Deimos kidnaps Abigail and Gabi and poisons them both and gives Chad only enough antidote to save one of the women, forcing him to choose which woman would live and which would die. Abby later realizes that Chad and Gabi used to play baseball together, and believes that Chad only saved her first because he knew that Gabi would catch the vial. She breaks up with Chad and marries Dario after he lies to her about the need to marry, so he won't be deported.
Chad and Abby reconcile and plan to remarry in a double wedding with Sonny and Paul, but they're interrupted by Ben, who announces that Will is alive. Chad and Abby later remarry in a private ceremony with Andrè and Jennifer in attendance. Abby realizes Andrè has feelings for Kate and encourages him to come clean to her. Chad and Abby's New Year's Eve party is crashed by Vivian Alamain and her long-lost son with Stefano, Stefan.
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Abby has a hard time dealing with Andrè's death and Stefan discovers Abby has dissociative identity disorder after meeting Abby's alter, Gabby. After Stefan helps Gabby come to terms with the fact that she isn't the real Gabi Hernandez, another alter, named Dr. Laura, emerged.
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Actresses Who Played Abigail
Over the years, several actresses have portrayed Abigail Deveraux, each bringing their own interpretation to the character:
- Meghan and Michael Nelson (October 19, 1992 - December 8, 1994)
- Paige and Ryanne Kettner (December 20, 1994 - June 5, 1998; October 13, 2000 - January 2, 2001)
- Ashley Benson (2004-2007)
- Kate Mansi (March 2011 - June 2016; November 2018 - February 2019; November 2019 - May 2020)
- Marci Miller (November 2016 - November 2018)
Both Mansi and Miller's performances have been met with favorable reception from audiences and critics. Mansi won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Abigail in 2017 and received a nomination in the Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series category in 2019.
Recognition
In 2020, Charlie Mason from Soaps She Knows placed Abigail at #21 on their list of the 35 most memorable characters from Days of Our Lives, saying that "Even if it hadn't been for that whole murdering-André thing, Kate Mansi and Marci Miller's character was always bound to develop a split personality: She is, after all, the offspring of a saint (No. 27 [Jennifer]) and, however repentant, a born sinner (No.
The character of Abigail Deveraux has left an indelible mark on "Days of Our Lives," thanks to her engaging storylines and the talented actresses who have portrayed her. Her relationship with Chad DiMera, known as "Chabby," remains a fan favorite, and her journey continues to captivate audiences.
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