What Happened to Ben on DAYS OF OUR LIVES
Ben Weston on DAYS OF OUR LIVES has been trying to make a fresh start in Salem, but some newer fans might find themselves wondering who this hunky guy is and why so many people seem to dislike him so much. Well, that’s where we come in! We’ll explain his background and why redemption has been so difficult for him to achieve (may have something to do with all those folks he killed…).
Who plays Ben on DAYS?
The character was introduced in February of 2014 with Justin Gaston in the role, although he was replaced with Robert Scott Wilson in April of that year. Wilson got his big break as the first male model on THE PRICE IS RIGHT and later played Peter Cortland in the online revival of ABC soap ALL MY CHILDREN before joining the cast of DAYS. The character was written off in 2015, but Wilson returned to make further appearances in the years since, returning full-time in 2018. Unfortunately, in July 2022, Ben exited the soap again with the actor returning to the canvas as a new character.
What happened to Ben?
Shortly after his arrival in Salem, Ben became smitten with Abigail Deveraux, and comforted her after her cousin, Nick, was murdered. Despite everyone trying to keep them apart by revealing Abigail’s sordid past, Ben assured her he didn’t care. But when Chad DiMera provoked him by mentioning his romantic past with both Abigail and Ben’s sister, Jordan Ridgeway, Ben snapped and beat him up!
Although Abigail convinced Chad to drop the assault charges, that wasn’t the end of Ben’s legal troubles because the FBI wanted him for his past connection to a gambling ring in Florida. Luckily, his father, Clyde, had plenty of underworld connections and managed to get the club manager killed in prison before he could testify against Ben.
Who did Ben kill?
Although Ben resumed his romance with Abigail, he grew obsessively jealous and learned that she’d slept with Chad. But convinced that she had chosen him in the end, Ben proposed to his love and was thrilled to learn she was pregnant. Chad became a suspect in the murders of Serena Mason and Paige Larson, but the truth was that the Necktie Killer was actually Ben!
When Will Horton stumbled upon the truth, Ben was forced to strangle him as well. Confronted by Chad, Ben beat his rival into a coma, then claimed self-defense. To protect Abigail from Chad, Ben took her to a secluded cabin where she went into labor. After a midwife helped deliver the baby boy, Ben killed her and buried her in the woods. Chad arrived to rescue Abigail, so Ben tied them both to the bed and set it on fire before taking off with the baby!
Thankfully, Ben was captured and Chad and Abigail escaped to rescue her son, who was later revealed to be Chad’s baby, not Ben’s. Ben faked being incoherent and suffering from a breakdown, so he was put on a suicide watch and later sent to a mental hospital where he was locked up. Later, Abigail began to see hallucinations of Ben and was even more shocked when the real one showed up, having escaped the facility where he was imprisoned. Abigail seduced Ben until she could stab him with some scissors and tie him to a bed to set him on fire! Chad showed up in time to save the villain’s life, but he was badly burned. Ben was convicted of his crimes and sent away.
How did Ben get out?
In September of 2017, Ben escaped the mental hospital and crashed Chad and Abigail’s double wedding with Sonny and Paul to stun everybody with the news that Will is really alive! Unfortunately, when Will was brought back to Salem, he had amnesia, and Sami had the crazy idea that having Ben re-enact his murder of Will would help bring back her son’s memories! Naturally, it didn’t work, and Ben was locked away again.
Ben and Ciara
But then Ben was released with a clean bill of health, and everyone was skeptical that he was genuinely cured. He found Ciara Brady on the side of the road after she crashed her motorcycle, and nursed her back to health in an abandoned cabin. She was initially terrified of the killer but soon came to believe he was actually cured, even defending him when the cabin caught fire and he was suspected of nearly killing her. As Ciara and Ben grew closer, Hope Brady grew more determined to protect her daughter from the psycho.
Ciara wasn’t thrilled when he took a job working at the DiMera mansion for Stefan DiMera. And even though Ben and Ciara have tried to steer clear of each other, neither of them were able to resist their feelings and finally gave in and made their relationship official. Ben’s sister, Jordan, returned to Salem and believing her brother to still be dangerous, kidnapped Ciara and tried to burn her alive herself! Jordan was diagnosed with a psychotic break and sent away for treatment. Claire Brady also tried setting Ben up for a series of crimes, but once exposed was also sent away to a mental hospital.
Did Ben kill Jordan?
Jordan returned again, given a clean bill of health herself, but she was still up to her old tricks, attempting to poison Ciara and landing Rafe in the hospital. But after a time jump of one year, Ben was in prison for Jordan’s murder! Ciara was desperate to get her true love out of jail but the judge sentenced him to death by lethal injection! With his father’s help, Ben was able to escape from prison and Ciara tried to help him but Rafe found him and brought the convict back to prison to face his death sentence. Ciara learned the identity of Jordan’s real killer — Christian Maddox, who was now calling himself Evan Frears — and quickly called to stop the execution before it was too late!
Now a free man again, Ben got himself a job at a garage working alongside Stefan look-alike Jake Lambert, who was later revealed to be the DiMera’s long-lost twin brother. He also popped the question and got engaged to Ciara but as their wedding neared, he grew suspicious that Claire, who claimed to have reformed, was actually the one behind all the sabotage! But things took a decidedly deadly turn when someone planted a bomb at the church that went off just after Ben and Ciara became man and wife!
Ben was abducted by Eve Donovan, who wanted revenge and tried to brainwash him back into being a serial killer so he would murder Ciara and know what it felt like to lose someone you love. Thankfully, he was able to overcome her suggestions but then Ciara was abducted by Eve’s henchman, Vincent, who had his own reasons for wanting revenge on Ben. But when Vincent claimed to have shot Ciara and left her to die in a car explosion, it was Ben who wanted vengeance!
How did Ben rescue Ciara?
Unable to accept that Ciara was truly gone, Ben was given hope when Susan Banks insisted she had a vision she was still alive. Eventually, he managed to track down where she was being held prisoner but the building was blown up before he could get to her! After rescuing Ciara from the rubble, Ben was heartbroken that she had lost her memories of their love and was terrified of him because she still believed him to be a killer. Although he did everything he could think of to try and restore Ciara’s memories, Ben also grew close with Claire Brady and they shared a kiss. Ben refused to sign divorce papers so Ciara annulled their marriage and got engaged to Theo Carver. Ben arranged to kidnap her from the wedding and finally sparked her memories to return.
Although thrilled to be reunited with Ciara, Ben was less excited when she wanted to have a baby, fearing he could pass his mental illness on to their child. Eventually, he took Marlena Evans‘ advice and got Ciara pregnant, not realizing that the shrink was possessed by the devil and had evil plans for their baby! As the devil ran around Salem, Ben moved into a new apartment with Cira and reluctantly allowed Clyde to stay with him as a condition of his parole.
Eventually, the devil made Ciara believe that Ben was dead but he reunited with his love in time to rescue their newborn son, who they named Bo. When Ben and Ciara were given a boat by Hope, they decided to leave Salem and sail around the world as her parents did years ago.
Stay tuned to see if this is the last we see of Ben!
