What Happened to Belle on DAYS OF OUR LIVES
Belle on DAYS OF OUR LIVES comes and goes so often these days it’s understandable if some fans aren’t completely up on her long history in Salem. But hey, that’s where we come in! After a series of child actresses, the character was aged into a teenager and played by Kirsten Storms from August 1999 until July 2004. Charity Rahmer briefly stepped in for a few months in 2004 until Martha Madison took over in August. She remained until March 2008 but has made frequent returns in the years that followed and is currently embroiled in some serious drama!
Belle Black is the daughter of Marlena Evans and John Black, although when she was first born, she was believed to be Roman Brady’s child. After her birth, Belle was kidnapped by Sami Brady, who tried to put her baby sister up for adoption! John rescued the infant and his affair — and Belle’s true paternity — was revealed.
As a teen at Salem High School, Belle dated Philip Kiriakis but soon fell in love with Shawn-Douglas Brady. But their relationship hit a snag when he agreed to marry Jan Spears to help her cover up her rape and pregnancy. When the truth eventually came out, Belle forgave Shawn and they reunited at the “Last Blast” school dance. That summer, Belle and Shawn also thought they discovered aliens but the “Gemini Twins,” Rex Brady and Cassie Brady, were later revealed to have Earthly origins.
Now attending Salem University alongside her friends, Belle planned for a future with Shawn and worked as an intern at Basic Black. She was excited when her fashion designs were set to be featured but then the Salem Stalker struck and killed multiple people before being revealed to be Marlena! Belle lied to Shawn to help provide an alibi for her mother, and he soon left town. But what she didn’t realize was that Jan had abducted Shawn, giving Philip a chance to get closer to Belle. By the time Shawn returned and he and Belle realized their true feelings for each other, she was already marrying Philip.
After Philip returned from active duty injured, Belle stayed married to him and later gave birth to Claire Brady, who was eventually revealed to be Shawn’s daughter. When Belle became pregnant again, doctors warned the baby wouldn’t survive, and she was heartbroken when Philip decided to terminate the pregnancy. Belle left her husband and moved in with her parents as she reconciled with Shawn. After Victor Kiriakis kidnapped Claire, Belle and Shawn battled to get their daughter back and once the family was reunited, Shawn proposed. But even though they married, she still had lingering feelings for Philip. In 2008, Belle sailed away from Salem with Shawn and Claire to start a new life together.
In 2016, Belle and Shawn returned with their now-teenaged daughter and were in the process of getting a divorce as Belle had cheated on him. Claire was also upset at her mother for wrecking their family. Belle was creeped out by Andre DiMera, who also brainwashed Chad DiMera into trying to seduce her and find out where some money was hidden. Belle then rekindled her relationship with Philip, which upset Claire even more. Using the money Sami had given her, Belle bought Victor’s old club so Claire could have a place to sing, but she wouldn’t let her mother buy her love.
Ultimately, Belle and Shawn found their way back to each other, and in 2016 they moved to Hong Kong where she worked for DiMera Enterprises. The following year, Belle returned to Salem to help Claire move and Chloe Lane hired the attorney to help her sue for custody of Holly. She resurfaced again with Shawn for the holidays that year and in March 2018 to help Hope draw up annulment papers and get drug possession charges against Chad dropped. Later that summer, Belle and Shawn attended Marlena and John’s wedding and when her mother was shot and lay near death, Belle tried to enforce her advance directive she not be kept alive on life support. Thankfully, Marlena recovered, and Belle went on to represent Bonnie Lockhart in a custody dispute.
In 2019, Belle and Shawn were on hand when Claire’s rampage against Ciara was stopped and their daughter was committed to Bayview. And in 2020, when Claire was released, Belle and Shawn worried that she could still be unstable. Belle also got mixed up in more baby drama when she warned her sister, Sami, to butt out of Allie Horton’s decision regarding her newborn child. Things were looking up when Shawn and Belle decided to remarry, but then Jan abducted the bride to take her place at the ceremony! Thankfully, the crazy scheme was thwarted, and the pair finally re-tied the knot on Christmas Eve.
Belle was horrified when Claire’s new beau, Charlie Dale, turned out to be the guy who had raped Allie, and when he was shot dead, defended Sami against murder charges. But then Belle found herself arrested for the crime when a button from her coat was found at the scene of the crime! Eventually, she deduced that Jan had framed her and with Shawn’s help, tricked her into a confession!
Jan’s reign of terror came to an end when she shot Chloe and was knocked unconscious by Philip. Belle tried to prove Jan was faking by turning off her life support, but Shawn confirmed the coma was legit. After returning from a trip to South Africa, Belle was shaken to see Marlena dressed as the devil and helped Julie get Doug’s power of attorney. She was shocked to walk in on herself in bed with Shawn and it was revealed that the devil had transformed Jan into Belle so she could seduce her husband into bed! As Belle represented EJ DiMera in court when he was accused of kidnapping Sami.
After Marlena was exorcised, Belle was led to believe the devil had moved into her a possessed Johnny arranged for another exorcism, this time a fake. The devil also planted evidence that led Belle to believe that she had been plotting to steal Ben and Ciara’s baby, forged Jake’s signatures on business documents to ruin things between him and Gabi, and transformed into EJ to put the moves on Abigail! Belle then got another shock when Jan revealed that she was pregnant with Shawn’s baby! Upset that Shawn hadn’t told her he’d had sex with Jan that night, Belle turned to EJ for support.
Stay tuned to see how Belle’s story continues!
