Days of Our Lives star Deidre Hall has opened up about the passing of her co-star Drake Hogestyn and how she and her fellow castmates have been coping since he died September 28 at 70 years old.

As the cast of “Days of our Lives” gathered on set to celebrate its 59th anniversary, it was without late star Drake Hogestyn, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in September. Now, Deidre Hall – his leading lady of 38 years – shares her memories exclusively with Access Hollywood in her first sit-down TV interview since the death.

“We were rolling the dice, because it’s difficult to tell a story of someone’s death or a character’s death while the actor is still alive; albeit [Drake] was fighting, like a tiger, a very difficult disease,” Corday told Soap Opera Digest of the goodbye episodes that will air next spring. “And I made the choice to, ‘Okay, let’s tell the story.’”

In spite of hard times, Hall encourages the "Days" audience to "stick with us, we're always going to be your family."

While John Black's heartbreaking and dreaded Days of our Lives death is not here yet, the soap had to think about whether to kill off the character while Drake Hogestyn was still alive.

Days of our Lives's Deidre Hall reflects on her days with Drake Hogestyn, and his iconic character, John Black, during a sit-down interview with Access… The post Deidre Hall Remembers Drake Hogestyn,

Days of our Lives star Deidre Hall (Marlena) teared up while remembering Drake Hogestyn (John) during the hit Peacock soap’s 59th-anniversary celebration. Deidre and the rest of Drake’s Days family were rocked to their core following his passing in September from pancreatic cancer.

"Truly, we don’t talk about it," she told the outlet. "There isn’t even really as much as somebody walking by and putting their hand on you." Describing the cast's reaction to Hogestyn's death on Sept.