Billie Reed
Billie Reed is a fictional character from the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, originated and most notably played by Lisa Rinna. Created by writer Sheri Anderson, Billie did not know her mother was Kate Roberts until a court hearing after being accused of murdering her father, Curtis Reed. Billie's relationship with Bo Brady was famous to the character, and was a key reason she became such a popular character. The two share a daughter, Chelsea Brady.
Casting
The role of Billie Reed was originated by actress Lisa Rinna. She first aired on September 18, 1992. After three years, Rinna vacated the role on September 28, 1995. The show recast the role, which led to Krista Allen assuming the role from September 6, 1996 to November 5, 1999. When Allen vacated the role, rumors arose that ex-Port Charles actress Julie Pinson would claim the role of Billie. However, Rinna was announced to reprise the role for a short-term stint. Rinna returned to the role on July 3, 2002 and once again vacated on January 8, 2003. In 2004, two years following the online rumors, Pinson was hired into the role. She accepted after Rinna declined to return to the show. Pinson debuted as Billie on September 13, 2004 and vacated the role four years later on February 5, 2008.In 2011, it was announced that Rinna would reprise the role of Billie and returned on March 9, 2012. In August 2012, it was confirmed by Huffington Post that Rinna would once again leave the series to develop a panel-focused talk show. Rinna taped her final episode on October 9 and her final episode aired on January 30, 2013.
In September 2017, it was revealed that Rinna will once again return to the role of Billie, airing some time in 2018. Rinna made her return from February 13 to 22, 2018.
Storylines
1992–99
Billie Reed first comes to Salem in 1992 as a professional singer, but her cocaine addiction ruins that opportunity. Billie believes her father is dead and has never known her mother. Her only known relative in Salem is her brother Austin Reed. Luckily, Carrie Brady befriends her and gives Billie a place to stay. It took a while before Billie can get clean and rid her life of past demons.Eventually, Billie decides to turn her life around and starts her own cosmetics company, Countess Wilhelmina. Kate Roberts buys out Countess Wilhelmina to spite Billie. Later that year, Billie befriends Tony DiMera. He brings up 49% of Titan Industries and then brings Billie in to run the Countess Wilhelmina division.
Billie's father Curtis Reed, who had been presumed dead, returns. Curtis, who got Billie addicted to drugs as a young girl and raped her, is eventually murdered in Nov 1993, and Billie is arrested for killing him. However, Billie refuses to tell Bo Brady how she knows Curtis and she makes her brother, Austin, keep quiet. Billie thinks that if Bo learns the truth, he won't love her. Nevertheless, Bo falls in love with Billie during the trial and is determined to prove that she is innocent.
Billie and Austin are both shocked when they learn Kate was married to Curtis Reed. Eventually Billie admits that Curtis is her father. Stefano DiMera had killed Curtis in self-defense and framed Billie. Billie is let go and Bo tells her that he loves her no matter what. Billie and Austin are also reunited with Kate, the mother they thought abandoned them. Kate tells them that Curtis had taken them from her and she believed they had all been killed in a car crash. Curtis has actually faked their deaths and changed their names, after abandoning Kate at the side of the road, pregnant with their half-brother Lucas Roberts.
In May 1994 Bo and Billie discover a woman named Gina who looks just like Bo's first wife, Hope. She has no memories of her past and Bo is convinced there is no way Hope could have survived the explosion all those years ago. Bo and Billie become engaged Dec 1994
Bo and Billie try to marry in Jan 1995, but the "Desecrator" struck and a falling chandelier almost kills them. They try again, but learn that they could not marry if there was any chance that Gina could be Hope. In order to help them, Gina signs a paper declaring that Hope is dead and Bo and Billie are finally married in Feb 1995. Gina opens a puzzle box and is proven to be Hope Brady, Bo's wife. Bo and Hope get a divorce so Billie and Bo can marry legally. But soon after the divorce papers are signed, Billie realizes that Bo is still in love with Hope, his one true love, so she leaves Salem in September 1995 to let them be together as a family with their son.
Billie returns a year later in September 1996 and moves into the Kiriakis Mansion. She begins to date Franco Kelly, which upsets Bo, who is now getting ready to remarry Hope. Bo insists Franco is dangerous, but Hope accuses him of being jealous. The night before Bo and Hope's wedding, Bo gets caught in the middle of a massive storm and ends stranded on an island with Billie. Desperate to make it to his wedding, Bo tried to swim to shore, but almost drowned. Billie rescues him and helps him back to the cabin. Bo was in a hypothermic state, so help his get warm, Billie strips all their clothing and snuggled close to Bo. Hope, looking for Bo, arrived in time to witness the close encounter and jumped to the wrong conclusion. Upset, she calls off the wedding, much to Bo's despair, and he vows to get Hope back.
Billie soon discovered that Bo was going undercover in an effort to expose and bring down drug lord J.L. King in Feb 1997. Billie gets in over her head with JL King and was forced to play along as Bo's girlfriend or risk Bo getting killed. They were also forced to keep up their ruse in front of Hope, otherwise their cover would be blown. Bo reminds Billie that he only sees her as a friend and Hope is the only woman he loves.
Bo and Billie were forced to travel to Rome with King, where he had arranged a wedding for them to test them. Coincidentally, Hope and Franco were also in Rome during that time and King invited them to the ceremony. To prove loyalty to JL, Bo agreed. The wedding went off without a hitch, to Billie's delight and Hope's devastation.
King was arrested in Rome soon afterwards. One of his goons, Max, kidnapped Billie and tied her to a bed where he injected her with heroin and other drugs. While under the influence, she saw visions of her dead father Curtis, who tormented her. Bo found Billie and saved her from becoming hooked on drugs again. Bo, believing Hope had moved on and no longer loved him anymore, made love to Billie. As a result of their lovemaking, Billie discovered she was pregnant.
Despite Billie's pregnancy and his commitment to be there for the baby, he still longed for Hope and told Billie this. Billie taunted Hope about her and Bo being lovers in Rome, even though she knew Bo really only loved Hope. Hope began looking for her missing years as Gina and Bo started helping her. Bo and Hope begin to reconcile. When she was around five months into her pregnancy, she followed Bo and Hope to New Orleans and was accosted by two young men. As a result, Billie went into premature labor and gave birth to a stillborn daughter, whom she named Georgia. She buried her daughter in the swamp.
She then faked a fall after a fight with Hope and blamed Hope for her miscarriage. The guilt Hope had about Billie losing her baby kept Bo and Hope apart. Bo was there for Billie during the loss of their daughter, but still told her that Hope was the one he loved and wanted to build a future with, not Billie. Billie was outraged. Then everyone found out she had lied about the miscarriage and Bo would have nothing to do with her. He kept trying to win back Hope. Billie stayed in Salem a little longer, and dated Roman Brady. After then being rejected by Nicholas Alamain, who was in love with Kate, she decided she had enough of Salem and moved back to Paris in Oct 1999.
2002–08
Hope's disdain for Billie only grew over time. When Billie returns to Salem in 2002 and joins the police force, it only gets worse. Billie swears her motives are pure and not to create more trouble for Bo and Hope. She has a short-lived relationship with Jack Deveraux that never really gets off the ground. However her real reason for returning is to cause more problems for Bo and Hope. She assists Larry Welch in kidnapping Hope and Zack because she believes Larry is working for the ISA. However, she can't stand seeing what this was doing to Bo and when she goes to stand up against Larry, he shoots her. Fortunately she survives and leaves Salem when she is released from the hospital in early 2003 to join the ISA in London.When the Salem stalker murders began she has a message for Bo saying she knows who the killer is but she goes missing along that same time.
When Bo helps rescue the victims of the Salem Stalker, he bumps into Billie on the mysterious island. Together they help rescue the others, and upon their return to Salem, Billie makes the shocking discovery that their daughter Georgia, who she thought had died in childbirth, is still alive. In fact, she is Chelsea Benson, one of Abby Deveraux's friends. When Chelsea's adoptive parents are killed in a car accident, Billie reveals the truth and has Chelsea move in with her.
Hope is not thrilled by yet another link between Billie and Bo, but tries to remain supportive. However, when Bo and Hope's son Zack is killed in a car accident, everyone soon learns that Chelsea was the driver, and thus responsible. Billie is desperate to protect Chelsea and Bo is torn between the two women in his life. At one point, Chelsea manipulates Billie into making it appear that Bo has slept with her in a hotel and arranges for Hope to discover this truth. Billie deeply regrets this and admitted to it in court when Hope tries to divorce Bo.
Billie has repeatedly stated she believes Bo and Hope belong together and will not try to get back with Bo, against Chelsea's wishes. Recently, she finds herself involved with another man who is not exactly available: Steve "Patch" Johnson. Steve feels very pressured by Kayla's hopes that he will remember their past, and he rebels by starting to see Billie.
While she is drunk, she has sex with Nick Fallon, who has developed strong feelings for her daughter Chelsea. Her falls from the wagon didn't last long. She makes amends with Chelsea and is working at Salem University as head of security. She uses her connections to help her younger half brother Philip Kiriakis find his missing son, Tyler. She works on finding the campus rapist. Unbeknown to her, Ford Decker is already dead.
Billie leaves town in the wake of the death of Ford Decker. Victor gives her a job at Titan in England, after she is fired from the university. Billie is in a car accident, and has to have her mom, Kate and her daughter, Chelsea come over to London to help her recover. Chelsea stays with Billie while Kate goes back home. Chelsea then returns home to Salem and reunites with Max. They get engaged and leave the show with the storyline of living in London with Billie, helping her to get better.
2012–13
In March 2012, a fully recovered Billie came to Salem, seemingly to help her mom run Countess Wilhemina Cosmetics. However, it was soon revealed that Billie was back working for the ISA and was assigned to get information on Stefano. Billie convinced her mom to let her move into the DiMera Mansion.But, Stefano was actually working as a CIA informant, so her investigation came to a halt. And, when Stefano and Kate's relationship fell apart, Billie stayed in town to support her mom and work with her at Mad World Cosmetics. But Billie and Kate eventually grew apart. Frustrated with Kate's scheming, Billie decided to take a new job in Europe. But, she made peace with Kate before she left.
On May 22, 2013, Kate asked Gabi if she took pictures of Arianna, since her great-aunt, Billie, wanted to see her.