Kristian-Joy Alfonso was born on September 5, 1963 in Boston suburb of Brockton, Massachusetts, to her parents Gino and Joanne. As a child, Alfonso was always smiling, having an agreeable nature and sunny disposition which charmed her family and strangers alike. When she was a young girl she liked to ice skate and dance, and was always a good athlete. She became a gold medalist figure skater and a contender for the Olympic Games. She was also approached by modeling agents but she turned down their offer, expressing that she was more interested in skating more than anything else. However, her dream of pursuing professional ice/figure skating was shattered when she got into an accident, massively hurting her leg. This was the time she turned to modeling. At fifteen years old, she became cover girl for Vogue and Bazaar, among thirty other international magazines. On television, her first appearance was on The Starmaker in 1981. In 1983 she was cast for the role of Hope Williams on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. In 1987 she was cast for another soap opera, Falcon Crest and stayed for its last two seasons. She also appeared shortly in an episode of Friends, as her character Hope Brady in Days of Our Lives.

Hope Alice Williams-Brady is played by Kristian Alfonso in Days of Our Lives. Hope was born to Doug Williams and Adelaide Horton who is deceased. She has three half-siblings from both parents and has married twice, once to Larry Welch who died, and to Bo Brady whom she soon divorced and married again.