Exclusive: Molly Burnett Dishes Her Return to Days of Our Lives

What the hell has she done now? Days of Our Lives' Melanie Jonas, the heart-tugging crisis queen played by Molly Burnett from 2008-2012, will return to the NBC soap Nov. 21 — and she's in big trouble! TV Guide Magazine gabbed with the dishy, delightful, two-time Emmy nominated Burnett to get the lowdown. Make sure to check out the exclusive clip below!

TV Guide Magazine: Glad to hear you're back in Salem. Your exit from Days two years ago really annoyed a lot of people. We finally got to like Melanie and then she split!
Burnett: That reaction was a very big step for me because Melanie wasn't too popular at first, I guess because she was quite the little pain in the butt. I'll never forget my first big Days public appearance. They called my name to come out on stage and everybody was booing me! I didn't understand. I'd never been to any event of that caliber, and I looked out at my dad, who had come to see the show, and he's looking like he's about to fight people. "That's my kid! Stop booing her!" I look over at Darin Brooks, all confused, and he's, like, "Don't worry. It's all good." He grabbed my hand and I stood next to him and tried not to feel completely horrible. It was an eye-opening experience.

TV Guide Magazine: And now it is "all good"!
Burnett: Hopefully, I was able to show that Melanie is a real person — someone who started out bad but grew and was positively influenced by the people in her life. She's still impulsive and makes crazy decisions without thinking them through, but she did evolve a bit. When I left the show, Melanie went off to Europe to be with her mom after all the fallout with Chad and Abby. She really needed some alone time to clear her head and reboot.

TV Guide Magazine: A lot of the fans think — or hope — that Melanie had Chad's baby while she was away. Did she?
Burnett: That would be crazy. [Laughs] "By the way, Chad, here's your kid!" I don't think that's going to come to fruition — but how fun would that be? We do need more DiMeras. We just lost Kristen and it was so hard watching EJ go down. Such a beautiful man. Ali Sweeney just killed those scenes!

TV Guide Magazine: So why is Melanie back in Salem?
Burnett: She's homesick. You go back to what you know — her dad, Daniel, and Parker and Maggie and Brady, all the people she loves. But, also, she may have impulsively made a little mistake. Okay, a big mistake. She needs to get out of Europe ASAP.

TV Guide Magazine: Is she a wanted woman?
Burnett: A little bit, yes.

TV Guide Magazine: Did she do something illegal? Did she piss someone off?
Burnett: Yes.

TV Guide Magazine: Which?
Burnett: Both. She made a very typical Melanie mistake. I'm serious when I say she's grown and evolved but a person doesn't change too much. Maggie hasn't been there to smack her around.

TV Guide Magazine: No one in Salem knows what she's done?
Burnett: Nobody. Why would she tell anybody when she could hide it? It's a soap! But the people who really know her — Daniel, Maggie, Brady — are suspicious. They love her and trust her but something seems off. She's not lying to them to be conniving. She did some dumb things while she was away and doesn't want her loved ones to know. She really hates letting people down.

TV Guide Magazine: Will she rekindle her romance with Chad?
Burnett: I think she's pretty much let him go. This is very different kind of Chad we have now — literally! Billy Flynn is fantastic and super talented and really cool to watch. He brings an interesting evil to the character that is really rich, and Melanie picks up on that right away. It's not that she doesn't give a hoot about him but, after everything that happened with her and Chad and Abby, she's just tapped out. [Laughs] Besides, her life is in danger and that takes priority.

TV Guide Magazine: I'm hearing your character has cute, funny meetings with Ben and J.J. Is either a potential beau for our girl Mel?
Burnett: I'm all about the physical comedy and the stuttering and rambling and just being an idiot, and there's lots of that. She meets them both in very inappropriately awkward ways. I think J.J.'s a little too young for Melanie, don't you? She already went down that road with Chad.

TV Guide Magazine: Well, he wasn't too young for Eve!
Burnett: That's true. I watched those scenes and they were hot! But I think Melanie is trying to steer clear of all that. But there is someone. I'm not allowed to say who it is yet, but it's fantastic! Someone I sure didn't expect it. It's a really awesome, awesome thing.

TV Guide Magazine: Could it be Brady?
Burnett: Well...I don't know. Brady's her best friend in the world. I guess friendship does sometimes turn to love.

TV Guide Magazine: Is Melanie hip to all that went down with Brady and Kristen and the sex tape with Eric and that whole hot-mess, booze and drug-fueled thing between Brady and Theresa?
Burnett: Oh, yes, she's been talking to the folks back home on Skype! And I would imagine that if Melanie ever ran into Theresa or Kristen she would kill them. Holy cow! Melanie is very loyal to Brady so, yeah, she hates them both. And Theresa is still in Salem, so just wait until you see what goes down when they meet up. [Laughs] Trust me, Melanie is not passive about it!

Here's an exclusive TV Guide Magazine preview of Melanie's homecoming:

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