“The Bold and the Beautiful” original cast member Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke Logan) and co-stars Don Diamont (Bill Spencer) and Jack Wagner (Nick Marone) appeared on the Monday, March 21 episode of “The Talk” to discuss the daytime soap and the celebration of its 35th anniversary. The pair sat with co-hosts Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell, Sheryl Underwood and guest co-host Margaret Cho and revealed what fans can expect later this week when the soap airs a special anniversary episode. Fans also got a glimpse at Lang’s audition tape, learned how Diamont’s characters on “B&B” and “The Young and the Restless” got named, and how Wagner responded to being back at the Television City studio where the daytime drama tapes.
First things first: While original cast member John McCook (Eric Forrester) was a no-show despite being scheduled to appear, it turns out he’s the reason Lang got the job as Brooke Logan. “I credit John McCook for getting me that part, honestly,” said Lang of her audition test opposite McCook. “I was so lucky to be able to do that screen test with him. He made me so comfortable and so confident.”
While Diamont has been on “B&B” for a number of years playing Dollar Bill Spencer, he actually got his soaps playing Brad Carlton on “The Young and the Restless.” He shared, “I played Brad on ‘Y&R’ and [the late] Bill Bell [co-creator of ‘B&B’ and ‘Y&R’] named my character after his son Brad [Bell; ‘B&B’ executive producer and head writer]. And now Brad hired me to play Bill on ‘Bold and the Beautiful’ 13 years ago. So my entire adult life I have worked for the Bells.”
Returning to the “B&B” set for the first time since 2012, Wagner said of the experience, “I was actually pretty blindsided just by driving to CBS because I was on the show for 8 or 9 years. Just driving there and walking down the halls at CBS, and then up to the dressing room and reconnecting to the actors, it was unbelievable.” He added, “Like you know, when you see a high school friend and you just jump right back like time hasn’t passed. It’s so great to be back on the show again.”
Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS
Lang teased what fans can expect from the special standalone episode airing on Thursday, March 24, wherein Brooke reminisces over each of her five true loves, including Eric, Bill, Nick, Ridge Forrester (Thorsten Kaye) and Thorne Forrester (Winsor Harmon). “I’m so lucky to work with these wonderful actors and people, these gorgeous men. It’s been such an honor. I was a little nervous…but it’s a beautiful show,” she said.
Watch their appearance on “The Talk” below, including Lang’s audition tape.
“The Bold and the Beautiful” was recently picked up for an additional two seasons by CBS which will keep the daytime drama series on the network through at least the 2023-2024 television season. The soap airs weekdays at 1:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT on CBS.