family on
the other side of the mountain in Pigeon’s Hallow. When she could finally
fend for herself, Di left in search of the thing that would make her life happy.
Written by DandTMartin4ever
Born: Diana Hunkle AKA: Di Di Kirby (name she was raised with) Diana Cole (alias given to her by David Hayward) Di Henry (2005 - present)
Mother: Unknown
Father: Seabone Hunkle
Siblings:
Will Cooney Cortlandt - half brother (deceased) Melanie "Lanie" Cortlandt Rampal - half sister Dixie Cooney - half sister Del Henry - brother
Occupation: Casino Hostess, Seasons East Casino
Di Henry’s life was a barrage of one lie after the other. Raised
by her Aunt in Crow’s Hollar, she had no idea that she had a whole other
family on
the other side of the mountain in Pigeon’s Hallow. When she could finally
fend for herself, Di left in search of the thing that would make her life happy.
Living on the streets of New York City, Di took odd jobs to make ends
meet. She sunk as low as to become an erotic dancer. Garrett Williams saw potential
in her and took her in. Garrett provided Di with the resources to better her
life. In close quarters, they became lovers. But, Di eventually learned of Garrett’s
life as a crime lord. She wanted to clean up her life, and left Garrett not
a moment too soon.
Del Henry contacted Di. He had startling news for her: she was in fact his sister,
and had a slue of other siblings. Del’s real motivation was that he needed
her kidney to survive. Del had received a kidney a few years earlier from their
sister Dixie Martin, but it was failing him. Di acquiesced to Del’s request.
The siblings bonded during recovery as Di inquired more about her other family
members. Del only really knew Dixie and sang his sister’s praises. Di
and Dixie began to share phone calls, until they abruptly stopped. Del told
Di the tragic news: Dixie had died in a car accident in Europe.
Di began a relationship with Kevin Sturgess, a successful businessman. When he was arrested for a white-collar crime, Di refused to testify against him. Instead, Di went to prison. Her sentence was to be served in Pennsylvania, not far from Dixie’s hometown of Pine Valley.
One day, Di was cleaning the visitor’s room when she overheard
a conversation between new inmate Krystal Carey and a man. She realized 
the
man she was talking to was Tad Martin, Dixie’s ex-husband. She realized
that she was coming close to Dixie’s old life. Di took it upon herself
to take care of Krystal while she was in prison, though she would soon be released.
Upon being released, she was almost run over by someone sent by Kevin to scare her. Di found safety in David Hayward’s cabin in the woods. David had visited her in prison and asked some very detailed questions about her. David remarked that she had an uncanny resembles to one of his old friends. Di realized he was talking about Dixie. David came up with a great idea for Di. He would give her a job, and money if she promised to impersonate Dixie to the Chandlers, Dixie’s son, JR’s, family. She was to convince JR to give joint custody of his son to his daughter, Babe Carey. Though at first hesitant, Di wanted to get to know more about Dixie’s family and needed someone’s help her make a fresh start.
Dying her hair blonde, and picking up some of Dixie’s mannerisms
from David, Di was set to become Diana Cole, nanny to the rich and famous. She
was hired as Dixie’s grandson, Adam Chandler III’s nanny. Immediately,
she bonded with JR and little A. Tad was growing suspicious after David planted
evidence that Dixie may have survived her crash. Tad was falling for David’s
trap. Di did one better than David could have planed when she fainted of fatigue.
A test revealed that it was linked to the fact that she had given away a kidney,
just like Dixie. David began to second-guess his own plan. Eventually, there
were too many suspicions going around the Chandler home. In a heated confrontation,
Di buckled under the pressure and claimed she was Dixie.
At first shocked, Tad, JR, and Jamie Martin all accepted her as their lost matriarch. David applauded Di, until she convinced him that she wasn’t lying. On the day they were to mourn the death of Dixie and Tad’s daughter Kate Martin, Krystal and Adam arrived with a revelation. Krystal told everyone Di was a prison inmate, not Dixie. Cornered Di challenged them to test her DNA. Three separate samples were tested. Di anxiously waited for her deception to be revealed. But, her DNA matched Dixie’s close enough to fool the test.
As Dixie, Di patched up Dixie’s broken family. She found herself falling in love with Tad as well. Del arrived in Pine Valley to see his long thought dead sister, only to find another one of his sisters in her place. Di explained what she did for Dixie’s family, and Del agreed to go along with her plot as long as he could stay with her at Chandler Mansion while he finished a book.
But another man from Di’s past threatened to ruin her. Garrett was threatening Julia Keefer’s life. Tad was trying to get the bottom of who the “Dragon” crime lord was. Di gave Stuart Chandler a special note that was never to be read unless she died. Then, she went after Garrett to leave Pine Valley. Garrett was not going to leave as long as Julia was alive. Di unknowingly bought enough time for Julia to strike Garrett. Garrett was dead, and Di believed her secret to be safe. But, Tad arrived on the scene. Stuart had given him the letter that outlined how she knew Garrett and the fact that she was not in fact Dixie.
Di was an outcast in the family she had pulled together. JR went out
of his way to make Di pay for her lies. She surprisingly found an ally in 
Julia.
She allowed her and Del to move in Wildwind. The women decided to embark on
their new chance at life together.
Around the holidays, Dixie’s family fell into deep depression missing her. Di knew a lot of their feelings were her fault. There was only one way for her to write her wrongs. She got on a plane trip to Europe and arrived in a quaint European home. She addressed the woman standing by a window: it was Dixie. Di filled Dixie in about the current state of affairs in Pine Valley. She begged Dixie to come back with her, but she was not ready. Knowing her pleas were falling on deaf ears, Di wished Dixie a Merry Christmas and left for the airport. She left her a small Christmas present: a current family photo with Tad, Jamie, JR and Little A.
Di continued to have feelings for Tad. At her new job in Greg Madden’s clinic, she found a very in depth family history file of the Martin family. Di gave Tad the news who grew suspicious of Greg’s motivations for it. Though Di lost her job, she and Tad continued to investigate. Their budding romance came to heads when Di was thrown into a frozen lake. Tad saved her, and stood by her side while she hovered on the brink of death. Tad was beginning to forgive Di for her deception. The couple knew fishy things were happening in Pine Valley, and where going to get to the bottom of it.
Portrayed by:
Kelli Giddish (2005-present)