that he was literally contacted by the series to briefly reprise his role the following week after he finished filming scenes in March 2015. "It was very top secret" he remarked. A month later, he was contacted again about details of his return and informed that Will Horton was being killed off. "It was the last thing I would have imagined." Due to the nature of his swift return, "It felt like I was away for a long weekend." Smith filmed four episodes which started airing on October 12, 2015. He last aired on October 22 as a grief-stricken Sonny leaves town again as it is too painful to remain in Salem. "With Will being gone, I felt like there was a closure" Smith said of his return. In an interview with AfterBuzz TV, Smith revealed that Guy Wilson had contacted him in secret to inform him of the decision to kill of the character and he was officially contacted by the network after. Smith felt the need to explain his prior statements about how he felt "closure" at the end of the story. "The good closure not on the love story, but the closure in the sense that Sonny has to go back to see his husband. If he didn’t go back – it’s terrible that he died – no one wants that – but as the character, you would obviously go back and see your husband. It was just an interesting end to the whole thing." Return (2016) On February 3, 2016, a picture of actor Vincent Irizarry and Judi Evans on set showed a person resembling Freddie Smith working in the background. Though Irizarry claimed that the person was just a stagehand, many immediately speculated that Smith was set to return to the series. Soap Opera Digest officially confirmed the news of Smith's return in April 2016. Michael Fairman of On-Air On-Soaps reported that Smith had been filming new episodes for several months which would begin airing in July 2016. Smith gave a statement to the magazine about his return. "I am beyond excited about returning home to Salem. Sonny is back and it's going to be amazing!" On May 27, 2016, Smith's official fan account on Twitter announced that the actor had signed a new deal with the soap. Soap Opera Digest announced that Sonny's return to the canvas was slated for July 26. Of his