Days of Our Lives' Cherie Jimenez 'Cried a Bunch' After Facing 'Bullying' for Replacing Camila Banus as Gabi

Cherie Jimenez shares her experience with cyberbullying.

In an interview with Women’s worldthe actress spoke about the public’s reactions to her taking on the role of Gabi Days of our lives after the release of Camila Banus. Admitting that her transition into the role was difficult, Jimenez said she was dealing with fan backlash.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, I cried at the beginning,” she revealed. “I was actually bullied by the fan base. People miss Camila and even though I tried to bring elements of her into the role, I’m not Camila. I was torn in so many different ways – and people reached out to me. It really hurt.”

“Abuse is not okay, in any form,” she continued. “And I choose to change the narrative and what I confess. My life is very full. I am blessed. I am so grateful.”

Camila Banus appears to be calling out her ex Days of our lives The ‘behavior’ of colleagues after leaving the show

Cherie Jimenez.

Vivien Killilea/Getty

After shifting her focus to work and the support she received from her colleagues, Jimenez said she was able to tune out the outside noise. After that, things started to change.

“I’m also proud of my work,” she said. “My producers and bosses let me know that I exceeded their expectations and now I have fans too. I would say it’s 50/50, so I focus on the viewers who give me a chance and show me love.”

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Jimenez first auditioned for the role of Gabi in 2009, so her role is a full-circle moment, she said. The actress also said that she auditioned last year but was not aware that she was even ready for the role.

“When I got the contract and found out that I had been auditioning for Gabi the whole time, I couldn’t believe it, because what are the chances?” Jimenez said. “Coming back to this after 15-plus years is such a wild experience. I cried with gratitude and it changed my life. I’ve been there for almost a year and I love it.”

“I stepped away from acting for a while because I wanted to focus on motherhood and that’s exactly what I did,” she added. “But the universe had other plans for me.”

Jimenez lived in Texas before the reservation days of our lives so moving with her 2-year-old son Phoenix and husband Sean Faris — who is also an actor — to Los Angeles was a big change. She praised Faris, saying he was “amazing” and had handled the transition brilliantly.

Sean Faris and Cherie Jimenez.

Getty

“We basically reversed the roles,” she told the newspaper. “Now he’s the one who stays home with our little one while I go to work. He’s an amazing actor, but we don’t have family here, so he stopped taking opportunities outside of LA. We had to make sacrifices because this opportunity brought stability in an industry where anything can happen.”

Even with her busy schedule, she said she makes time for family activities whenever she can.

“If I get off work early, we’ll go to the zoo, Descanso Gardens, or a little adventure,” she said. “And if I’m at work all day, I live down the street, so I’ll try to find him at the park or hang out with him at home.”

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Days of our lives can be streamed on Peacock.

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Source: HIS Education