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NATAS President and CEO, Adam Sharp, Shares Details On Digital Drama Daytime Emmys, Ceremonies During COVID-19, and Keeping Winners A Secret

By Michael Fairman

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Photo: NATAS

On Tuesday, The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced the hosts for the upcoming final two, of three, Daytime Emmy virtual ceremonies.  First up on July 19th is the Digital Drama Daytime Emmys with Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’s Jai Rodriguez presiding over the night.  Then look for The Real’s Loni Love to take us through the Children’s, Animation and Educational Emmy Awards on July 26th.

Coming off a successful 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards back on broadcast TV for the first time in 11 years, and doing it during COVID-19 where everything had to be done remotely was no easy feat, and it was no easy task of ensuring the winners names would not leak before air in a pre-taped ceremony. But, NATAS President and CEO, Adam Sharp, and his team put together some safety measures that kept the drama alive of just who would win come Emmy night.

Now, heading into two more shows, Sharp chats with Michael Fairman TV and gives some Intel on what to watch for and look forward to on these upcoming ceremonies and just how the CBS broadcast of the Daytime Emmys came together and much more.  Here’s what Adam had to say.

Photo: CBS

So, let’s talk for a minute about the Digital Drama categories.  How many categories will you be doling out that night?  The Bay took home Outstanding Digital Drama Series already at the 47th Annual Daytime Emmys.

ADAM:  Seven: Two Leads, Two Supporting, Guest Performer, plus writing, and directing for a Digital Drama Series.

My understanding is that the Digital Drama Daytime Emmys will be live; as opposed to how the 47th annual Daytime Emmys were pre-taped?

ADAM:  Yes.  That’s the plan!

Phoo: CBS

How do you feel about that?  It certainly can add some unpredictability to the show.  I think people are a bit more forgiving in the imperfection of trying to deliver programming during COVID; because they’re now used to seeing their favorite performers on Zooms or whatever platform is being used.

ADAM:  I think with the telecast, from a production standpoint, we certainly played it somewhat safe, at least technically – in that everything was pre-taped and so on.  With our near decade away from being on a network and in primetime, I think there were a lot of advantages to that.  The program moved really quickly because you didn’t have to keep waiting for people to walk down the aisle.  I think it was great seeing the stars in their homes as well.  It felt really warm and intimate, which is important for Daytime because it is the most intimate part of television.  It isn’t something that you binge for 12 hours, and then wait a year to see what they offer next.  It a part of your daily life and you make a connection to these people.

How do you feel the response was to the 47th annual Daytime Emmy Awards on CBS?

ADAM:  The feedback we’ve been hearing has been really positive.  I think people liked the feel of the show, the earnestness and that intimacy, and I think people appreciated the steps we took to at least try to be at as close to tradition as possible; in that a lot of people sort of rolled their eyes initially when we said, “Everyone is going to record an acceptance speech,” but then, I think when the show actually aired, and people realized the nominees still didn’t know if they won, the presenters didn’t know who won, the hosts didn’t know who won.

Photo: CBS

Is it true that the presenters also recorded different, “The winner is” versions?

ADAM:  Yes.  The presenters each did five envelope opens, and we internally used a video-sharing application across the production team, and there was a sort of going from government parlance – the classified and the unclassified system – where most of the production team could not see anything that divulged a winner.  While there were eight editors working on the show, there was only one, and then in the last day, two, editors who actually could see who those winners were and fill in those holes throughout the show.  I think that the fact that you then had stars reacting on social media in real-time to their winning, it brought some of live excitement to Emmy night, because I think fans started to realize, “Oh, my God! She really didn’t know she won.”  For example, Kelly Clarkson, who did a very emotional tribute to her mother in the acceptance speech, shared her reaction to her win on social media where you experience the screaming, and jumping up and down on the chair moment.

Yes, that and others provided some very real moments.  When I chatted with some of the winners via Zoom (immediately following the broadcast) those also were so were so raw, and emotional.  I was thrilled that I was able to do that and sort of emulate what the “Winner’s Walk” backstage looked like in a virtual setting.

ADAM:  I think there is a certain aspect that when you are in the auditorium with all of the lights, with everyone there, you’re walking up on the stage to someone, you are so aware that this is a performance, you are so aware of the glare of the lights, and the cameras, and so on, that sometimes it can feel like you don’t have permission to emote. I think in many cases, when people can be at home, I actually thought most of the acceptance speeches seemed a lot more relaxed.  I thought they seemed a lot more natural.  I felt like you were seeing much more of the person as opposed to the performance.  So, that’s something we are going to try to capture on the 19th with the Digital Drama Awards. The envelopes are being sent sealed from the accountants to the presenters.  The control room is not going to know ahead of time who the winners are.  That is going to be at show time to the control room, so they’ll be taking in these close to 50 live shots from around the country throughout the presentation of the seven-category show.  The intent is to do the as much the same on the 26th.  Every day is a learning experience right now.   We have 10 ceremonies to produce this year in the COVID context, and that’s not even looking at 2021 yet.  That gives us a lot of opportunity to experiment, and we are going to get a lot wrong, and we are going to get a lot right.

Photo: CBS

When people watch the Digital Drama Daytime Emmys on July 19th, is it going to be a quick seven categories?  Are there going to be other packages in the show?

ADAM:  So, because it is only seven categories, we are giving the show a little more room to breathe.  Even though we have already awarded the overall top digital drama the night of the 47th annual Daytime Emmys, , we are going to do a little bit of a retrospective of the season of all of the shows, a little bit more than we had time for in the telecast.  There be some conversation before the reveal of the winner. We are experimenting with a few things there that you can’t do in the stage show version, and you can’t do in the pre-tape, but where the live nature of it, and the Zooming nature of it allows it.

Then on the July 26th Daytime Emmys for Children’s, Lifestyle and Animation programming, how many categories will be featured there?

ADAM:  About 20-ish categories, and then another bunch will be presented on social media afterwards the same way we did the night of the telecast.  This is absolutely a bigger show because Daytime is comprised of a hundred categories, and we are not even halfway through giving them out yet.

Photo: CBS

For clarification for the fans who read this, what kind of categories will they see presented in terms of “Family Viewing” or “Lifestyle”, etc?

ADAM:  That is going to include several categories that were not on the telecast.  So, for example, we had Entertainment Talk Show Host, but not Informational Talk Show Host during the telecast.  We had Culinary Show, but not Culinary Host, a lot of the craft categories for those shows, so the Lifestyle block is very much Talk, Travel, Culinary.  Then, we have the Children’s categories: Children’s Animation and Educational Programming, we have the Family Viewing categories, and you’ll recall this year we added a Young Adult track to the competition, so that will be in that show as well and wound up being extremely competitive in its first year.  That was a category that sort of spun out because of the growth of the competition where you had these programs that were still designed for a younger audience.  They were clearly designed for a teen audience, so you wouldn’t put them in a category next to a soap, for example. But they were dealing with more mature themes, and the closest thing in our history was when we still honored “After School Specials” back in the day, but then that category went away as that type of programming went away.  Now, as it started to make a digital comeback, it felt strange to have a nomination that was dealing with teen suicide, pregnancy, opioid addiction … and then the next nominee is… Big Bird!  So, as this genre really grew and it didn’t really have a place in Drama, it didn’t really have a place in Children’s, and now, it’s actually become a diverse enough category to be very competitive on its own, so we are really excited to see that.

Photo: ABC

When you watched the Daytime Emmys, Black Lives Matter was certainly present in a lot of the speeches and moments.  You also included the clip when Al Freeman (Ex-Ed Hall) One Life to Live, won Lead Actor, being the first African-American performer to do so.

ADAM:  There was a lot of need to acknowledge the moment.  So, from the coronavirus standpoint, the whole format of the show was an acknowledgement of the moment, and then certainly in the close, Marie Osmond reminding people to stay safe and stay healthy and so on.  I think that there wasn’t as much of a need to lean in too far on COVID, that was certainly understood.  On Black Lives Matter, I think it was very much raw. It was something that had to be addressed and had to be addressed tastefully.  I think that we were successful in that.  I think the Al Freeman moment was also important there because it did recognize without being too heavy handed that Daytime has always been very much at the forefront on social issues, not just race issues like that, but certainly the first gay marriage on television, the first gay kiss, the first abortion on television.  Now, you look at the show coming up on the 19th for the Digital Drama, where we have the first two trans performers nominated for performance roles, the first drag performer nominated for a performance role, and so in every way, Daytime has been at the forefront.  If you look at the nominees, the winners, the presenters, the Daytime Awards have consistently been the most inclusive, diverse, equitable of the awards ceremonies, and we continue to do that.

Did you have a favorite moment from the Daytime Emmys on CBS?

ADAM: I think for me, Cookie Monster presenting Culinary Show, as he stammers on nominees, and it becomes, “and the nom-nom-nom-nom-nom,” and he eats the envelope, that was something that in the high-stress moments of getting the show together, I could always go back to that cut and get a laugh and break the tension of the room.

Photo: CBS

Over 3 million viewers tuned-in to the 47th annual Daytime Emmys.  Do you think they will be back next year on network TV and on CBS? 

ADAM:  I hope so.  We certainly beat the average for the timeslot since they’ve gone into reruns.  While it was less total viewers than the last time we were on CBS, that was nearly a decade ago where viewing habits were very different.  But I think over 3 million was a very good sign.  I think it was notable that when you watched the show, almost all of the advertisers were traditional daytime advertisers that followed us into primetime.  CBS sold out the show.  There were advertisers who were actually clamoring to buy that time, and they bought every minute of it that was available.  I think we were really firing on all cylinders there.  I think we reengaged with the community.  I was deeply touched that Patrika Darbo accepted her invitation to present because while it was more of a quiet nod to those on the inside of the community than perhaps the audience, I think it was very important closure to some of the past struggles of the show that both of us have recognized those errors of the past, but the community moves forward together.

Photo: HutchnsPhoto.com

You gave Patrika Darbo the duties of introducing the emotional In-Memoriam tribute.  Was your intent to give her that piece?

ADAM:  Yes.  It really was that we, as an academy made a lot of mistakes in the past, and she, through no intention or fault of her own, was the victim of a lot of that.  You know, she didn’t prepare the reel.  She didn’t realize that she wasn’t eligible in the category, and so she, by virtue of that, sort of was the one who then had to bear the headlines of the Emmy being taken away and so on.  So, it is impossible to completely make that up to her, but at least to recognize her and her standing in our community was something that was very important to do.

Photo: JPI

How nervous were you that the winners would somehow be leaked before the 47th annual Daytime Emmys aired?

ADAM:  I was afraid, but I also knew that we were taking every step we could to ensure that security, and in many cases to the point of absurdity.  The logistics of chasing down all of those acceptance speeches, the hours that our lawyer spend on the phone negotiating the leases for video that was never going to be used, basically giving ourselves, for most of the show, five times the amount of work that we needed to just for maintain that security.  Then, even when people did know, keeping that segmented so that nobody would know the whole picture at once.  It definitely brought back memories of my government service.  The most terrifying was probably the hours between delivery to CBS and airing, because that’s when you know it’s getting closed captioned, it’s getting put up on a satellite etc, but CBS are old hands at this.  They do it with every Survivor finale and so on and so forth.  They were great at keeping the secret for us.

So, looking for to the Digital Drama Daytime Emmys that will be live? What did you think about the information shared by Adam on the making of the 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards? Comment blow.

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I know a lot of people liked this version of the Emmy’s, but I IDN’T!! In fact, I could even say I hated it!

Everything was “CANNED,” obviously.
Everything was pre-recorded, and then edited to the nth degree!
There was no interacting between the hostesses.
There was no spontaneity!
The hostesses didn’t comment on,or congratulate the winners.
There was no suspense.
There was no applause.
There was no orchestra.
There was no red carpet.
There was NOTHING to make the show fun or interesting.
If they can’t do a normal awards show in the future, DON’T BOTHER!
I’ll settle for reading who won online.

Michael,

I wish you would have asked Adam Sharp about why they merged the Younger Actor and Younger Actress category into one category this year, only for five women to be nominated at the exclusion of some very talented and worthy younger male actors like William Lipton and Garren Stitt, among many others. I would love to hear the reasoning for why they made that change. It honestly comes across like a change that they made for the sake of making a change, not because there was a huge issue that needed to be corrected.

Interviews

WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus Talks Humble Beginnings, Test and Albert, WrestleMania 22 with Mickie James, Current Women’s Roster (Exclusive)

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WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus has had an incredible in-ring career, on and off for over 25 years. Having debuted as a heel back in 2000, she held the then WWE Women’s Championship for a record 445 days back in 2005 and into 2006, before dropping the title to her nemesis, Mickie James at WrestleMania 22, and is considered one of the best to ever to it by many in the women’s locker room, then and now. When it was her turn to be inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2013, she chose Stephanie McMahon (this year’s Hall of Fame class 2026) to do the honors at the ceremony.

Fast forward and April’s WrestleMania 42 week in Las Vegas, Michael Fairman TV had a reunion with Trish for this very special interview. For when Trish started in the WWE, Fairman was working as a writer/producer for ‘Raw’ and ‘SmackDown’ and as told in their discussion, recalled how he worked with an upstart Stratus to help her learn her lines for her promos and more. Now two and half decades later, we caught up at Trish’s WrestleMania 42 pop up at Flankers at Mandalay Bay entitled First Crush by Trish Stratus. Trish had created an immersive experience for wrestling fans, Trish fans, and offered on stage Q&A’s with special guests and much more.

Backstage, she sat down with us to take a trip down memory lane, share her picks for WrestleMania 42 in the top women’s bouts (see if she predicted, correctly!) and talked some of her greatest moments. opponents. and friendships in the ring and out, plus what keeps getting her to come back when she has already accomplished so much in her iconic career.

Photo: WWE

TO SINK OR SWIM IN THE WWE

Trish shared on being a rookie in WWE with little to no experience, explaining, “I was thrown right into it. I was a fan of wrestling, watching it, enjoying it. Started to dabble into fitness modeling. So suddenly, I was kind of a public figure all of a sudden. Modeling is very different than actually speaking. They (WWE) literally threw me into the water and it was like sink or swim. The wrestling was one thing and they threw me out there for my first couple matches. Most people come up in the independent wrestling circuits. I had done some wrestling, but it was foundational kind of stuff. It wasn’t like performance yet and they gave me my first promo and I was the green one.

In the world of pro wrestling its all about getting the moment to prove yourself and making something out of it, Trish did just that when she became the beautiful manager/wrestler of the late Test and Albert, and suddenly they were known as .. yup … you remember … ‘T and A.”

BAD GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

Photo; WWE

Stratus recalled, “I was sitting backstage waiting for them to find the storyline. I remember just chilling actually with Lilian Garcia (then the ring announcer.) We bonded right away. She was my little bestie. I was on the road for a couple weeks in a row and, and then finally they came to me like, ‘Today’s the day. … we’re putting you out there.’ So, there I was with Test and Albert, otherwise known as T-and-A … get it! Those were the days of the double entendres. We were told we were bad guys, and we had to flesh out our characters.   had to get people to boo me right off the bat.”

“I love being a heel” Stratus said passionately. However, when she comes out of retirement or makes special appearances, or comes back for a lengthy storyline she prefaces it with, “The thing for me to come back to the business for a little while means leaving my kids. I have to make sure that it checks all the boxes, right? I want be challenged as a performer, number one. I want to make sure I’m coming back and giving back to the businesses. Not just being self-serving.  So, when I can check those boxes, it’s exciting, and makes it fun to come back.”

BECKY LYNCH AND MICKIE JAMES

Photo: WWE

Trish revealed her favorite WrestleMania moments through the years and her perfect opponents; the women she feels she created magic with in the ring. “When I returned in 2023, we had done the babyface come back. I’ve come back and they’re cheered me and they’re excited to see me. Nobody expected that, and that’s what I love doing. I love the unexpected. I was working with Becky Lynch.  I knew she was the perfect babyface to be a bitch to and to turn on; bringing in the bestie so that I could turn on her with all those years of history, that’s juicy to me. I love it.”

As to her WrestleMania match resume, it was an easy pick fo Stratus, “I’m going to do with Mickie James WrestleMania 22. We like to call us the hashtag ‘longest rivalry in history.’ Becky Lynch and I might have rivaled that rivalry just because we did have a lot. But, I’m all about the stories, and to make sure there’s a meaning behind it. I want to foreshadow a little. I want to understand what my character’s thinking when I go into this. We had the fans captivated. I think at WrestleMania 22, with the way the crowd reacted and the way they were so invested in our storyline, I feel like we got them.”

Proud of what she and Mickie accomplished, Trish added, “They were like, ‘the women can hold a crowd, like the men can.’ I think that was like the moment we kind of had arrived. I have to say the Jazz/Trish stuff, the Victoria/Trish stuff, this is all stuff that planted the seeds. Mickie James and I, right there at WrestleMania, and we’re talking about a WrestleMania moment. I’m also going to give a shout out to WrestleMania 19 with Jazz and Victoria and Steven Richards … who took the best Stratusfaction I’ve ever seen!”

THE STACKED WWE CURRENT WOMEN’S ROSTER

Photo: WWE

While WrestleMania 42 is in the record books, we asked the Hall of Famer, her picks for the key women’s championship title match-upsbetween: Stephanie Vaquer vs. Liv Morgan, AJ Lee vs. Becky Lee, and Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley as you will see below in our video chat.

Trish went three for three and had nothing but high praise for all six of the women who laid it all on the line less than two weeks ago at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Now below, watch this exclusive conversation with Trish Stratus. For more WrestleMania 42 week interviews, make sure to check them out on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel.

Let us know, have you been a fan of Trish through her years in the WWE? Do you agree with her favorite WrestleMania moment with Mickie James? What has been your favorite match and story in Trish’s in-ring career? Share your thoughts via the comment section.

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Y&R’s Christel Khalil Talks the Emotional Winters Family Turns of Events; Shemar Moore, and Lily and Cane’s Future (Exclusive)

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This week on The Young and the Restless, viewers have been served up an emotional series of scenes and episodes centering around the return of Malcolm Winters played by Shemar Moore, who returns to Genoa City to ask his daughter, Lily for her help (Christel Khalil). 

In story, Malcolm has aplastic anemia and needs a bone marrow transplant and his best option is a family member. However, things turn bleak when they both learn that she cannot be his donor because Lily previously had cancer. Enter Dr. Stephanie Johnson, the also returning Vivica A. Fox, who tells her son, Holden (Nathan Owens) and Malcolm, that Holden is his biological son! This admission gives Malcolm a chance at a donor match to save his life.

Now, Christel Khalil, who recently came back to the CBS soap opera following her maternity leave, and the birth of her third child, chatted all about the new complex family dynamics, working with Billy Flynn as her new Cane, and Lily being in cahoots with Victor Newman, and more in a new conversation on the Michael Fairman Channel. Here are some of the takeaways below!

Courtesy/CBS

Working with Shemar Moore again and their touching scenes in front of Neil Winters’ portrait

CHRISTEL: “It’s always amazing to have anyone come back that’s been away for a while, but especially, Shemar. It’s all the history with him being Lily’s dad. For me, it’s been 20 years of knowing him. Obviously, I don’t get to talk to him or hang out with him and that kind of thing. So it was just nice just to see him again and have that moment around Neil’s portrait, and to be able to share that together and even talk about that off-camera. It’s just special and feels like family, which is nice.”

The emotional scenes with Malcolm and learning Lily has a brother

CHRISTEL: “It’ a great story. I love when anything is grounded in reality where people who have maybe gone through the same thing can relate and it can help people I feel like that happened when Lily had cancer on the show. It’s nice to see something really heart-based, really family-based. I feel like we haven’t been able to see that with Lily in a long time. Then, finding out that she has a brother, I thought that was really amazing.”

Photo: CBS

Working with Nathan Owens

CHRISTEL: “I love Nathan. We have so much fun together. We’re already teasing and joking each other on set like brother and sister, so it’s really nice. I was really excited to find out that he was part of the family, which is I think more interesting.”

Shemar Moore returning to tape more episodes

CHRISTEL: “I haven’t read that far ahead, but there must be something happening because when Shemar returns, I know a lot of people are involved in something. So we’ll see!”

Photo: CBS

Lily’s involvement in faking her own abduction

CHRISTEL: “When I first read it I was like, ‘Yikes, that’s really bad. It’s very not like Lily.’ It seemed very out of character for her. But then, as I started reading more and learning more about the reasons behind doing it, I actually really liked it. I see what some of what the fans say and they’re like, ‘Lily’s always on her high horse and she’s always, little ‘Miss Goodie Two Shoes.'”

Lily with an edge

CHRISTEL:“Oh yeah, she can definitely be bitchy for sure. I think when she’s bitchy, it’s because she’s usually judging someone else. I think this was a nice thing to kind of temper the judgment that she’s always giving where it’s like, ‘Ok, you do some things wrong too, so let’s just relax.'”

Photo: JPI

Billy Flynn

CHRISTEL: “I love Billy. He’s such a sweet, amazing guy, and an amazing actor and very professional. We have a great time together.  I like how they’ve really switched up the Cain character completely. He’s not trying to be the old cane. It’s a completely new cane and you know, I think we have good chemistry together. So, t’s been really fun to play with him and there’s some exciting stuff coming up. Hopefully, everyone likes it.”

Phyllis and Lily’s history

CHRISTEL: “Lily’s always annoyed with Phyllis, right? Michelle Stafford and I always have  conversations where I’m like, ‘You killed my mom.’ She’s like, ‘No! I didn’t. She let go! ‘(in reference to Dru falling off a cliff) To know that Phyllis and Cane had a thing, is very disturbing to Lily.”

Now below, check out our full conversation with Christel on the homecomings of Shemar Moore, Vivica A. Fox and welcoming Nathan Owens to the Winters clan, plus the drama ahead for Lily.

So, have you enjoyed the Lily and Malcolm scenes thus far? What do you think will happen when Shemar returns for another set of scenes taping this month as teased by Christel? Are you down for Lily and Cane, as played by Billy Flynn? Weigh-in via the comment section.

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‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Jacqueline MacInnes Wood Talks What’s Next for Steffy Forrester (Exclusive)

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Three-time Daytime Emmy winner, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood is celebrating nearly two decades as Steffy Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful. Last September, she returned to the CBS daytime drama after her most recent maternity and giving birth to her 5th son.

Now back at the soap opera and a mom of five, Michael Fairman TV caught up with Jacqui at the recent launch party for the BBTV global streaming app which also served as a gathering for the series 39th anniversary.

Wood gave us the lowdown of what may lie ahead for the often in-your-face Forrester dynamo who has no problem snarking a comment or two to Hope (Annika Noelle), and who definitely wants her mother, Taylor Hayes (Rebecca Budig), and all her loved ones to stay away from Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown)!

Photo: JPI

‘It’s been fun what we’ve been filming, we’ve been non-stop,” shared Wood. “The other day I was doing four episodes back to back, and we were just in it. It’s fun to play Steffy right now. Love her or hate her. I have fun playing her.”

FROM LEADING ROLE TO SUPER MOM

Jacqui also weighed-in on; if throughout her run on the show, she has changed dialog or  something in a script to help out her performance. “Sometimes, but not all the time. I let Brad Bell (executive producer and head writer) write. I try to execute the best way I can,” reflected Wood. “There are times where I see it and I go, ‘Let me take the reins here. I got this.’  They’ll kind of let me go. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’m OK for critique. We can’t work scenes over and over again. We’re not on that kind of medium or set. You kind of have to know what you’re bringing, but I’m always open.”

Being supermom to sons: Rise Harlen, Lenix, Brando Elion, Valor James and Talon, wife to husband Elan Ruspoli, and a leading actress on The Bold and the Beautiful is a lot to juggle, but Wood has found the way to do it all. “Honestly, I just truly live intentionally, ” explained Jacqui. “I know what we have here, and it makes me truly grateful to have my kids and to be able to still be a mom. I still see myself as a full-time mom. I’ll film episodes back to back, and then I go and I be a mom. I get to bring my kids to set. So. it’s cool.”

Photo: JPI

THE YOUNG AND THE BOLD

Wood is very impressed by B&B’s “new kids on the block,” Crew Morrow (Will), Sydney Bullock (Dylan), Brayan Nicoletti  (R.J.) and Laneya Grace (Electra) and shared she likes where Steffy is at in 2026, “I like the steady right now. I don’t want to like hit my cortisol levels yet. The younger generation can do that right now. I love the younger generation. I think they’re doing such a fantastic job, I just want to lean in and let them go and let them do their thing. If Steffy needs to chime in she will do that, and if she needs to slap some people, she can do that too!”

As to what man is in Steffy’s future, if it’s remaining happily married to Finn (Tanner Novlan), rekindling a romance with her ex-Liam (Scott Clifton ) for the umpteenth time, or a new man enters Steffy’s life, Wood would not say the way things may go down the line.

Photo: JPI

When talked turned to Steffy’s former pain killer addiction, Jacqui did say that. “It’s always a possibility” for the show to bring that back when it makes sense for Steffy and to service the story.

You can check out the full conversation below, and all the BBTV launch party interview with the cast, now on the Michael Fairman Channel.

So, do you think Steffy will be giving everyone trouble at Forrester? Do you think she will stay with Finn for years to come? What story would you like to see Wood be given at this point on the daytime drama series? Weigh-in via the comment section.

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