Hope is the daughter of Douglas Williams and Addie Horton, an officer with the Salem Police Department and mother to Shawn Douglas and Zack Brady. She married Larry Welch, but the ceremony was interrupted by Bo Brady and he took Hope from the church. The following year, Bo and Hope were married in England while British royalty picked up the tab. Two years later, Hope gave birth to Shawn Douglas Brady. Shortly after the birth of their son, Bo and Hope bought a boat, "The Fancy Face" and the three of them packed their things and left Salem.

Two years later, Hope was thought to have been killed in an explosion when she was trapped in a cage in Ernesto's lair. Four years after Hope's death, Kristen, John, Marlena, Roman, Bo and Billie went to Maison Blanche, the DiMera's Louisiana home. There, they discovered a woman who looked very much like Hope Brady. Her name was believed for some time to be Princess Gina VonAmburgh, however the woman was later discovered to be Hope Williams Brady. While Hope believed she was Gina, she became pregnant with Zack who was later discovered to be her second child with Bo.