When Arianne Zuker (Nicole) left...

When Arianne Zuker (Nicole) left Days of our Lives in January, the NBC sudser chose not to explain her absence. On Monday viewers finally found out what the heck happened to Nicole! She's gone to work for Austin's company in Los Angeles. "I didn't want her anyway," Austin told Lucas. "She fell in love with some soap-opera actor and wants to get married and have a baby."

Of course, that's a cute nod to Zuker's real-life husband, Kyle Lowder (ex-Brady, Days). The couple live in L.A., where they're both pursuing work in prime-time TV and films. And before you all start speculating, Days wasn't dropping any hints with that line about having a baby. The show's rep tells TVGuide.com that Zuker is not pregnant.