Why did Ciara leave Days of Our Lives?

FOR YEARS, Ciara Brady was a fixture on the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives.

Throughout the airing of DAYS' 57th season, fans repeatedly called Ciara's future on the show into question, and it looks like they got their answer.

Why did Ciara leave Days of Our Lives?

Season 57 of Days of Our Lives saw Ciara Brady, played by Victoria Konefal, navigate pregnancy, marriage, death, and close encounters with demonic possession.

Ciara's pregnancy with her husband Ben Weston was a key plot point in the season's storyline.

Before she and Ben welcomed their child together, the Devil showed up to possess several characters in an effort to get close to the pair.

The Devil's ultimate plan was to possess Ciara and Ben's newborn.

For the entity to enact its plan, the demon took over the body of Ciara's cousin, Allie Horton.

While under demonic possession, Allie kidnaps the couple's newborn and tricks Ciara into thinking Ben is dead.

With some help from ex-boyfriend Tripp Dalton, Ciara and Ben track down the demonically influenced Allie and rescue their baby.

As season 57 continued to go underway, it was rumored that Ciara's actress Victoria Konefal had plans to leave the series.

While stopping by Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig, Victoria confirmed that she was leaving after the 57th edition of the program.

The actress told Grace: "They wanted me back for another year and I was like, ‘Hey, I can’t do it. I did quit for a reason.'

"'I love y’all, appreciate you so much, but understand me and where I’m coming from.’

She added: "My artistic integrity was no longer being fulfilled.

"I do have something on the horizon. I can’t really talk much about the title or the storyline, but I like it."

On July 1, 2022, Victoria's departure from the show was also confirmed by the DAYS team.

On Friday, July 8, viewers got the chance to see how the sequence of events unfolded as Ciara, Ben, and their baby started a new life away from Salem, Illinois in Montreal, Canada.

The episode that aired on Monday, July 11, was the last time fans saw Ciara on DAYS.

Who is Victoria Konefal?

In 2017, Victoria Konefal signed on to play Ciara on Days of Our Lives.

Regarding Victoria's decision to leave the series, DAYS head writer Ron Carlivati gave details to Soap Opera Digest.

He told the publication: "She really just wasn't available on a regular basis.

"In the way our show works and how you have to schedule people, it just became less feasible to keep her in that status."

The writer shared: "The couple is so popular, you want them to have a happy ending.

"It's really very hard for us. It is always painful to lose one person."

When it comes to Victoria potentially returning as Ciara and continuing the storyline between her, Ben, and the rest of Salem, Ron said: "The door's always open for them to come back."

For her work on the series, the New York-born TV star took home the Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Performer in a Drama Series in 2021.