What Happened to Nicole on Days Of Our Lives
Nicole has been at the center of so much drama on Days of Our Lives it can be hard to keep track of it all! Arianne Zucker made her debut in the role back in 1998 and after exiting in 2006, came back for more in 2008. Although her departure was announced in 2017, the actress was back on screen for a brief appearance in October 2018 before returning fully in April 2019. During her time on DAYS, Zucker has received five Daytime Emmy Award nominations in both the Supporting and Lead Actress categories. Unfortunately, in 2024 it was announced that Zucker’s contract with the soap was not renewed, and Nicole was on her way out again.
Nicole Walker arrived in Salem with dreams of being a model. She fell in love with Eric Brady, who convinced his sister, Sami, to give the newcomer a modeling contract and put her on the cover of Bella Magazine. Smitten with the blonde, Lucas Horton tried to steal Nicole away from Eric. She agreed to marry Lucas in exchange for five million dollars, but when Victor Kiriakis took the money away from her, she realized her horrible mistake. She then cozied up to Victor and married him next, faking his death to enjoy his fortune as the grieving widow and pursue his grandson, Brady Black. In order to keep Brady for herself, Nicole tried to disfigure his first love, Chloe, but Sami exposed her scheme forcing Nicole to run away to Los Angeles.
Returning a couple of years later, Nicole tried to insist she was still married to Victor but then learned that marriage and her one to Lucas were invalid because she was still married to her abusive first husband, Trent! After sleeping with EJ DiMera, Nicole became pregnant, but when she miscarried, she continued to fake the pregnancy so he wouldn’t leave her. She tried adopting Mia’s baby to claim it as her own, but her lies were exposed and she was sent to prison.
Anna helped get Nicole out of jail, and assisting EJ with his run for mayor of Salem brought them back together again. But she dumped him after learning he’d cheated on her with Sami! Nicole learned she was pregnant again, and Rafe Hernandez stepped in to claim he was the daddy to protect them from EJ. But sadly, Nicole lost this baby as well and forced a fight with Jennifer so she could fall down a flight of stairs and blame her for losing the baby. After the truth was exposed, a distraught Nicole tried to take her own life but was stopped by Rafe and Daniel Jonas.
When Eric returned to Salem as a priest, the fact that he was now a man of the cloth made Nicole wary of the feelings she still had for them. Although they briefly became engaged, Nicole dumped him for Daniel, but he died in a tragic car accident that Eric was responsible for. Chloe Lane had agreed to act as a surrogate for Daniel and Nicole and while the first attempt failed, the second worked. But Chloe claimed the baby as her own because Nicole had gotten involved in a relationship with Deimos Kiriakis, and she didn’t want the child anywhere near that villain. After the truth came out, Nicole absconded with little Holly, and nearly went to jail for kidnapping. But Chloe agreed the girl should be with her mother, and Nicole was reunited with her daughter.
When Deimos was murdered, there were plenty of suspects, but it turned out that Nicole was the guilty party, and her confession was even caught on tape! Also caught between Brady and Eric, Nicole opted to run away, breaking Eric’s heart to save him the pain of losing her. But when Eric learned the truth about why Nicole really left town, he tracked her down and was stunned to find out she’d married Xander Kiriakis! She explained she had no choice because Xander had the tape of her confession and forced her into becoming his wife. Eric and Nicole plotted to get away from Xander to live happily ever after, but after an explosion at a warehouse, Nicole found herself trapped in the rubble as the fire blazed out of control. She managed to pass Holly to Eric, but couldn’t escape herself as the building exploded again!
Everyone was happy when Nicole turned up very much alive but stunned when it was revealed that it was really Kristen DiMera in an elaborate mask! Once her scheme was exposed, Kristin bargained for immunity from her crimes by claiming that she’d saved Nicole from the explosion. Eric tracked down Nicole in Chicago and brought her and Holly back to Salem where Xander agreed to sign divorce papers. Although Nicole discovered Sarah Horton was pregnant with Eric’s baby, she agreed to keep the secret from him. After a year passed overnight, Nicole was still struggling with keeping Eric from his daughter and after he proposed to her, she finally caved and confessed that Mackenzie was his child. Eric was furious and split up with Nicole, who found herself drawn back to Brady, though they ultimately chose to remain in the friend zone.
As Nicole and Eric found their way back to each other, she also discovered the shocking truth that Xander and Victor had switched Sarah and Kristen’s babies! Nicole told Eric that his child with Sarah had died and Mickey was actually Brady and Kristen’s daughter they had been told died at birth. Although the truth hurt, Eric had Nicole to support him and he popped the question. They married in a lovely small ceremony, but Sami crashed the wedding!
Nicole had bonded with Allie Horton and Sami was enraged when Allie wanted Nicole to raise her baby when it was born. After some nasty back and forth, Sami allowed Nicole to help raise Henry if Allie moved in with her. Eric had returned to work in Africa, and when he couldn’t come back to Salem for the holidays, Nicole grew closer to Rafe. Nervous, she then pushed Ava and Rafe together but then ended up having a drunken one-night stand with Xander that she immediately regretted!
Sami paid Xander to confess to the affair at Nicole and Eric’s anniversary party which spelled the end of their marriage. Rafe had fallen for Nicole but she was concerned about making Ava jealous and instead tried turning her attention to E.J.. However, they couldn’t resist their feelings for each other, and Rafe and Nicole ultimately slept together. Nicole tried to push him away and even slept with E.J., but Rafe wouldn’t give up on her. When Rafe was arrested for being a dirty cop, Nicole was determined to prove Ava had framed him. When Eric returned to Salem, he wished Nicole well with Rafe, but before he could confess his true feelings, she’d already eloped with the cop!
Nicole had a close moment with Eric after he rescued her from a mugger in the park, and they later had sexy dreams about each other. She got jealous when Eric moved on to a relationship with Jada Hunter, and Rafe eventually confronted his wife about her closeness with her ex. Feeling conflicted, Nicole fired Eric from Basic Black, but soon rehired the photographer and even modeled for him, which set off further sparks!
After Eric and Nicole confessed their feelings for each other, they then went on to inform Rafe and Jada of the truth. When Jada revealed she was pregnant, Nicole urged her to think about it and Eric was later horrified to learn that Jada had had an abortion. Nicole turned to EJ again, and moved into the DiMera mansion. As Eric moved on with Sloan Petersen, Nicole shared a kiss with EJ.
As 2023 began, EJ and Nicole began dating officially but she was still very clearly jealous of Eric’s relationship with Sloan. As she continued to help EJ scheme to take over DiMera, Nicole also found herself drawn back towards Eric and they ended up sleeping together after eating drugged biscuits from the bakery! They agreed to keep quiet about it but the truth naturally came out. Which is also when Nicole discovered she was pregnant! She tried to keep it hidden but Sloan found out and tampered with the paternity test so Eric wouldn’t be named the father.
Nervous about being able to carry the baby to term, Nicole was relieved when the doctors assured her she would. When Nicole had another genetic test run, Sloan once again tampered with the results. Nicole accepted EJ’s proposal and they were married in November. When Dimitri von Leuschner crashed his car into Nicole’s, she went into labor and Leo Stark helped deliver the baby. But instead of taking the infant to the hospital, Dimitri took it to Sloan, who hatched a plan with Melinda Trask to adopt the baby as her own! Told their baby had died, EJ and Nicole were heartbroken.
A distraught Nicole believed that Eric’s son, Jude, was hers and accused Sloan of stealing him. She even briefly abducted the little boy before being convinced she was mistaken. Then Nicole had even more problems when her daughter, Holly, overdosed on pills on New Year’s Eve and spent the beginning of 2024 accusing Tate Black of giving them to her! Thankfully, Holly emerged from her coma and eventually cleared Tate’s name, but Nicole remained overprotective of her daughter and forbade her and Tate from seeing each other.
Nicole started working at the newspaper and gave Chad a notebook of Abigail’s she found at the mansion. She also began working with Eric and shared a drunken kiss with her ex which EJ witnessed but kept quiet about. Nicole was then stunned when Eric showed up to give her Jude, explaining that he had just found out that Sloan and he had been raising her and EJ’s baby! She was overjoyed to be reunited with her son, and blasted Sloan for stealing six months of her baby’s life from her.
Stay tuned to see what happens next!
