DAYS’s Linsey Godfrey: Sarah and Xander Will Never Be ‘Done Forever’ (Exclusive)

Xander and Sarah have crashed and burned again, this time after Xander went off the rails and beat his brother Philip to a pulp, ultimately leaving him comatose. “Xarah” fans aren’t the only ones distraught over the Days of Our Lives couple’s latest breakup. So are DAYS actors Linsey Godfrey (Sarah) and Paul Telfer (Xander). Godfrey spoke to Soap Opera Digest about Sarah’s turmoil, the possibility of her character moving on with a new man, and her true feelings on the Xander-Sarah split.

Digest: When you saw this latest Xander-Sarah breakup coming in the script, what was your initial reaction?

Linsey Godfrey: Paul and I get sad when they’re about to rip us apart. We love working together, although we’ve said many times, “As long as we’re working together, I guess it doesn’t really matter if we’re a couple or not.” But we also love Sarah and Xander. We do root for them as a couple. So when you see this, you’re kind of ready and inner skilling yourself to tell this story.

Digest: As Sarah was tossing Xander out of the house, she did make a point to say, “I will always love you.” What were your thoughts about that?

Godfrey: Sarah and Xander, to me, are soulmates in a way. Something about them has always brought them together. There are some fan accounts that have been posting old videos of us. To go back and see what our dynamic was, you really see why Sarah and Xander are who they are today. I think that the deep, deep love that they have for each other is why they can go so big with being mad at each other. So I felt it was so important for both of us for Sarah to say, “I will always love you. I just cannot be around you right now.”

Digest: You’ve mentioned before that you consciously avoid social media. Did Paul bring anything to your attention regarding comments from viewers about how powerful those breakup scenes were?

Godfrey: Yeah, Paul told me, and also our director, Scott McKinsey, who directed that episode. And then fans reached out to me personally, and that was very nice. Whether it was in Instagram messages or TikTok or whatever it was, it was very nice to hear all of that.

Digest: Did anything in particular stand out among the messages you received?

Godfrey: Just really lovely stuff. They just spoke very highly of the material and the possibility that it opens up for the [Daytime Emmy] awards next year. It was just very kind. I was very grateful to people [who] take the time to go out of their way to have sent me a message. I really was grateful because those scenes mattered very much to me, and they mattered very much to Paul. We worked really hard on them.

Digest: How would you categorize Sarah’s headspace at the moment as far as where she goes next and the possibility of her moving on?

Godfrey: It’s an interesting thing. Xander will get drunk and move on very quickly. Sarah has never [done that]. Sarah’s only ever been with… She came in with Rex, she briefly dated Eric, and then every other time it was always Xander. Anytime they split, Sarah has never moved on. So I think it’s that thing where Sarah doesn’t start looking for anybody else. She immediately is like, “I have to heal from this pain. I have to protect my daughter.” That’s really where her headspace is, just wanting to move forward with her life, make sure that her daughter is safe, happy and healthy, and make sure that she’s safe, happy and healthy. So it’s definitely about protecting herself and her daughter.

Digest: Would you like to see Sarah eventually move on with another man? And, if so, is there anybody on the canvas that you have your eye on?

Godfrey: I’m always open to playing whatever stories they want us to play. I don’t ever get any lofty opinions on things like that just because I never know what’s coming down the pipeline. I just really enjoy playing truly whatever they’re going to queue up for me, and I want to play it to the best of my ability. There will be connections made with people in different forms. You’ll see friendships that will develop into stronger friendships, and you never know what path anybody’s going to go down. And so it’s just that kind of waiting game of, “Are they making eye contact more than normal?” I mean, if Xander is going to move on this time, I definitely want Sarah to do the same, because it felt so sad in the past. Every time Xander moved on, Sarah was like, “Oh well.”

Digest: Poor Sarah’s had to watch and pretend it wasn’t breaking her heart!

Godfrey: And wait for Xander to pull the trigger on the thing that they both knew was going to end. And so did any partner that Xander has ever had. They all knew that he was still in love with Sarah.

Digest: Before Sarah can move on, she has to resolve the Victoria situation. Right now she’s willing to talk to Xander about their daughter, but not let him see her. Why?

Godfrey: Sarah knows that Xander is the one that beat up Philip. She saw Philip when he came to the hospital and how badly he was [hurt]. Just the idea that somebody she loved could do that to somebody else, let alone a family member… She doesn’t want her daughter to grow up around someone that could potentially hurt somebody like that or be in a dangerous situation because her father is somebody that hurts people like that. It’s all about safety for Sarah. She’s also afraid that if Xander gets arrested for what he did to Philip, then Victoria would lose her father to the prison system. I think it’s a lot of her just being mad at Xander, too, and wanting to punish him. But also just the fear of, “What are you capable of?” It’s that mama thing where she’s kind of like, “I don’t think you should be around our kid right now with what you’ve just done.”

Digest: Do you and Paul get to hang out with each other as much now that you’re apart on camera?

Godfrey: We still work a lot together, so that’s nice. We still get to run lines and chat and all that. And then even when we get pulled further and further apart, we’re still working together quite a bit.

Digest: Will we be seeing any loving glances between Sarah and Xander as this story progresses?

Godfrey: Not for a while. Sarah’s still really mad at Xander. She’s really mad at him for a bit. Eventually they get to the point where Sarah and Xander can talk very honestly about their relationship and the connection that they have, but still be like, “We don’t know that we work.”

Digest: You and Paul have such great chemistry as romantic partners. Is it easy to translate that chemistry into being adversaries now?

Godfrey: Yeah. If you open yourself up for any big emotion, it opens you up for the opposite emotion. Sarah and Xander have this huge love and massive support for each other. So when Xander screws up or something happens between them, it allows them to be just as angry at each other as they were in love with each other.

Digest: A lot of fans are crushed over Sarah and Xander’s breakup and fear that they’ll never be able to get back together. Do you still have hope that they could find their way back to each other at some point?

Godfrey: I don’t think there’s ever a situation where Sarah and Xander are done, done forever. I just don’t. I think it’s very similar to any of the great soap couples. They might go off and get married to someone else or have a baby with someone else, but at the end of the day, these two characters have this deep connection that just will not go away.