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CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful has presented many contentious story arcs over the years. While some of them involve uncomfortable social issues like AIDS epidemics, others follow the soap trope of swapped babies and paternity tests. Over the years, one of the longest-running soaps has had to come up with many plots to keep the storyline engaging and interesting. However, some story arcs have been too controversial for fans to forget. This article explores some of them.
For newly indicted fans of The Bold and the Beautiful, the soap has taken up issues related to the contemporary topics of the times that it aired. The show premiered in 1987 and has covered more than three decades. As such, trends and issues have changed in these three decades, and the soap felt compelled to reflect some of them.
The Bold and the Beautiful: Baby swaps, gender issues and other controversial story arcs
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1) Douglas' birth and paternity issue
When young Caroline Spencer was briefly dating Ridge Forrester, she felt dumped and rejected. Thomas found her in an inebriated condition in a hotel room. Mistaking Thomas for Ridge, Caroline got intimate with him, leading to a pregnancy. Since Ridge had already had a vasectomy done, Caroline realized the truth about the baby's paternity and confessed to Ridge.
Ridge decided to keep the baby's paternity a secret for as long as possible. Later, convinced by Katie, the truth was revealed. While Thomas wanted to react violently, Caroline persuaded him to stay calm. The young couple united into a family after Caroline and Ridge divorced.
The controversy about this story arc on The Bold and the Beautiful was that Ridge was claiming paternity for his son's child. Also, Thomas clearly took advantage of his father's drunk partner, but no moral punishment was meted out.
2) Maya Avant's gender controversy
When Maya Avant, played by Karla Mosley, was introduced to The Bold and the Beautiful, it looked like another boy-meets-girl romantic story arc. Her relationship with Rick Forrester and her modeling career with Forrester Creations seemed to be challenged by her past prison stay.
However, more secrets tumbled out of the closet when her sister Nicole came to town. An episode in March 2015 found Nicole claiming Maya was not her sister at all. She declared that Maya was Myron, her brother. This claim brought to the fore the topic of transgenders. The views of Maya's father, Julius, who thought Maya was a bad influence on Nicole, clashed with Rick's, who proposed and accepted Maya as his wife.
As actor Karla claimed, the story arc was set up to educate and create awareness among the audience. However, the reception of the plot is yet ambiguous.
3) Brooke and Deacon's brief intimacy
This 1998 storyline on The Bold and the Beautiful enraged viewers as Brooke Logan's morality was questioned again. While Brooke had already made quite a reputation as a man-grabber by that time, her jeopardizing her own daughter's conjugal life came as a surprise.
As her marriage to Thorne broke down, a drunk and sad Brooke found sympathy in Deacon, who was her daughter Bridget's husband. As the duo chatted and drank, they soon fell into bed. The brief intimacy resulted in a pregnancy, and Hope was born to Brooke.
Also read: The Bold and the Beautiful (2024): Full cast list of soap opera
4) Taylor Hayes and Prince Omar Rashid
For many viewers, Prince Rashid's conduct may seem mysterious and improbable. As per the story arc of Taylor Hayes, she was kept captive by Prince Omar Rashid twice. The first time, the Moroccan prince rescued her from a plane crash and detained her. The amnesiac Taylor was made to believe she was Prince Rashid's Princess Laila.
After regaining her memory, Taylor escaped the prince and made her way back home. Again in 2002, Sheila shot her. A grievously injured Taylor died in Ridge's arms. However, it was revealed that Prince Rashid kidnapped the comatose Taylor. After regaining consciousness, she again returned to The Bold and the Beautiful.
5) The incredible birth history of Jack Marone
While The Bold and the Beautiful is replete with stories of stolen and swapped babies, as in other soaps, a swapped egg in an IVF procedure was a new concept. This was the case of Jack Marone's conception.
When Taylor and Nick Marone married, they wanted to start a family. They opted for in vitro fertilization to ensure the baby while Taylor would carry it to its full term. However, a mixup in the lab led to Brooke's eggs being used in place of the donor's. As such, Taylor carried Brooke's baby to its full term but failed to emotionally connect to baby Jack.
While Taylor resorted to alcoholism, she gave up Jack to Brooke, and she and Nick separated.
While many other characters have had challenging, dubious, or daunting story arcs, the plot of The Bold and the Beautiful continues to churn out situations that may grab the viewers' interest.
The Bold and the Beautiful airs on CBS on all weekdays unless specified otherwise.
