Ashley Puzemis Holly, and Behind the Scenes with Days of Our Lives

October 2024 · 4 minute read

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Fans of Days of Our Lives right now are feeling a bit… put out with Holly. They’ve been waiting months for her to wake up from her overdose coma and come clean about the drugs she took. That would get Tate off the hook, out of the halfway house and safe from EJ’s single minded determination to destroy him. But instead, she’s played dumb, preferring to preserve her image and save Nicole heartbreak over stopping Tate’s life from being utterly derailed.

To say folks are disappointed in her would probably be an understatement. But she’s still a scared teen and we’d be kidding ourselves if we thought they always made the best decisions let alone in Salem where they have such horrible role models!

In her bedroom, Holly gives EJ and imploring look as he holds a phone to his ear. An anxious Tate stands behind Holly.

And yet there is one surprising role model who might be able to set Holly straight, though we never even thought of it until Ashley Puzemis took us behind the scenes for a hilarious encounter with Paul Telfer (Xander) and Linsey Godfrey (Sarah). Days of Our Lives handed the reigns of their Instagram over to the young actress for a day and she gave us a peek at life on the soap. And that included a history lesson about Holly and Xander!

In one of the clips (which you can check out below), Puzemis tells a tickled Telfer, “I heard that you kidnapped Holly when she was a baby!”

In between laughing, Xander’s portrayer points out a very important detail: “Look, the one thing that’s been consistent through all of my kidnappings is that my victims always become my friends later! One of them even married me!”

“Yeah,” Puzemis laughs, “we’re besties!” Well maybe not yet. But if the show stays consistent and they do end up being friends, that could be a gamechanger!

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After all, Xander was (kind of) her stepdad at one point when he forced Nicole into marriage. And honestly, there’s no one better to set Holly on the straight and narrow. Maybe Xander could be like an older brother (but, please don’t go to the same direction as with Johnny, Days) who convinces her to fess up to what she did and become a better person.

It’s something he’s learned the hard way, so he could keep Holly from making the same mistakes as he did over and over again. Also, we have a feeling derailing EJ’s plans for Tate would be icing on the cake for Xander. Then Holly can redeem herself, win back Tate’s trust and affection and we’d have a full-blown legacy romance on our hands. And it would all be because Xander kidnapped Holly when she was a baby! Kind of.

Is it crazy soap logic? Absolutely! But we’d so be here for it.

Of course, Godfrey and Telfer weren’t the only run-ins Puzemis had during her behind-the-scenes day, as she chatted it up with everyone from Abigail Klein (Stephanie) to Billy Flynn (Chad) who learned all about “Girl Math!” What is Girl Math, you ask? Well, it’s a tongue in cheek social media trend used to justify unnecessary purchases that, um… maybe just watch the video below.

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So while fans may be pulling their hair out at how Holly’s destroying Tate’s life, it’s clear after getting to know Puzemis is a bit better that she and her character are nothing alike! Let’s just hope Holly didn’t use Girl Math to justify her drug purchase…

At the end of the day, Puzemis wrapped up her Instagram takeover by highlighting just how crazy things can be in Salem. “I’m on a soap opera,” she cheerfully explained, before switching over to her character. “Of course I was into an older guy who was married! But then he became my stepbrother and then I used the guy who actually likes me to break them up. But that didn’t work out, but then I decided to take drugs, but then I overdosed and I was in a coma for two months. But then I woke up, but, ‘I don’t know how I got the drugs…’ But then, to be continued!”

Well, that about covers it! You can check out all of Puzemis’ behind-the-scenes fun on Days of Our Lives’ Instagram page here, from hair and makeup to her sushi and root beer lunch. OK, that’s a combo we never tried… Kind of like Xander and Holly!

Refresh your memory on the kidnapping with our photo gallery of Holly’s mom, Nicole

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