Forbes has shed a spotlight on soap opera’s first family, The Bells. In an new feature out on October 4, the outlet which focuses on wealth, business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, and leadership, explained the rise of Bell family dynasty and where it’s at today set against the backdrop of a pared down genre from back in its heyday.

As soap fans know, the iconic Bill Bell Sr. and his wife Lee Phillip Bell created and premiered The Young and the Restless in 1973 and The Bold and the Beautiful in 1987. Bill Sr. who is considered one of the greatest soap writers of all-time, died in 2005 and Lee in 2020.

However, their children: Bill Bell Jr., Brad Bell (executive producer and head writer, The Bold and the Beautiful) and Lauralee Bell (Christine, The Young and the Restless) have continued on and have helped their family amass reportedly the “first-ever billion-dollar fortune, with a combined net worth of around $2 billion.” It should be noted that the Bells declined to comment on their wealth for the article.

Photo: CBS

Much of the credit of the financial fortune belongs to Bill Bell Jr. who handled the business affairs for the family production companies for decades, negotiating massive deals for the Bell entity. In fact, it was Bell Jr., who was able to ensure an exceptional profit share deal with Columbia and Sony through the years, and B&B being family owned with major international distribution deals.

Bell Jr, is reportedly worth 1.1 billion dollars, according to Forbes. In recent years, he has stepped away from the business concentrating on art ventures with his wife, the former head writer and EP of Y&R, Maria Arena Bell.

THE FIGHT FOR WHAT THE BELLS ARE WORTH

One story detailed in Forbes was how Y&R’s licensing and writing deals were up for renewal in the late 1980s. Bill Jr. fought for the Bells to earn a major cut of the show’s profits during a dramatic standoff. Bill Jr., convinced his father and the family to withhold Y&R scripts until Columbia gave them their “fair share.” The report shares they kept the new scripts locked up at home while the studio was eating up its existing ones. The studio threatened to fire Bill Bell Sr.

Brad Bell, who continues to head up The Bold and the Beautiful, recalled, “Bill Jr. was determined to take it down to the wire.” Columbia ended up folding and the Bells came away with 50% of The Young and the Restless‘ profits.

Photo: JPI

As B&B nears its 40th anniversary in March of 2027,  it’s still broadcast in over 50 countries and brings in over 20 million non-American viewers. Its massive foreign earnings  subsidize its domestic operations, according to three people with knowledge of the show’s finances as told to Forbes.

Kayden Brenna Tokarski took over the role of General Hospital’s Scout Cain from her predecessor Cosette Abinante on the July 20th episode of the ABC soap opera, when they decided to age-up Scout.  Abinante has played the part since 2022.

Now, as the story has been unfolding, viewers are witnessing Scout’s journey and burgeoning teenage romance with Rocco Falconeri (Finn Carr) and the conflict she’s caught in the middle of between her brother, Danny Morgan (Asher Antonyzyn) and her father, Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison).

Since Tokarski has arrived on the scene, Scout has shed many tears and been in the middle of some heavy emotional beats. On Sunday, October 4, Kayden Brenna Tokarksi took to her X account and dropped a video message to all General Hospital fans.

Photo: ABC

During her message, Kayden addressed how General Hospital has been handed down generations within her family and how she had watched the soap before having the incredible moment of actually becoming a cast member, plus fans positive and negative comments since her debut.

Here’s what Kayden expressed, “I just wanted to come on here and show my gratitude for General Hospital. It’s been the largest dream come true. Seriously, I’m pinching myself. Every single day I get to come to work, and work with the incredible cast and crew. My mom grew up watching with her mom and I watched with her. So it’s very full circle. It’s insane that this is my life. I wanted to give a huge shout out to Cosette who played Scout prior. Thank you for building such a beautiful foundation, and really large shoes to fill, but just such a phenomenal, brilliant actress and young woman, and I just wish you all the best.”

As Scout has grown in front of our eyes, Tokarski shared, “Thank you to everyone for your grace, welcome, and support as Scout is transitioning into a teenager and more. I have never been on a soap opera before, so as I’m navigating this new world, thank you. Thank you for all of the positivity and also negativity, because I don’t look at it as negativity. I look at it as a way to learn and grow and evolve because right now.”

Being on a soap opera is always a work in progress, for any actor who has never fully performed in the medium, it is like no other, with the pace and how it required the actors to make things work often without much rehearsal time. Kayden added,  “I’m at a stage where I’m figuring out what works for me and what doesn’t. And if we take it too far, we’ll pull back. Don’t worry. Thanks for being in the ride with me, I hope you stick it out and keep watching General Hospital.”

You can check out Kayden’s video message to all General Hospital fans below.

Now let us know, have you been enjoying Kayden’s performance as the teenaged Scout? Do you appreciate her addressing her love of the show, plus how she hopes to continue evolve in the role? Drop a comment in the thread below.

A message to all the wonderful fans of #GeneralHospital 🙏🫶 #scoutcain https://t.co/ofXCTFcuNx

— Kayden Brenna Tokarski (@KaydenTokarski) October 4, 2026

On recent episodes of General Hospital, music executive Simon Craft (Grady Eldridge) has been pushing and demanding that Trina (Tabyana Ali) and Gio (Giovanni Mazza) play up a faux relationship when they are onstage, or in front of the camera, to add to their allure as new recording artists to his label.

Simon knows full well that Gio is dating Emma (Braedyn Bruner), and Trina is with Kai (Jens Austin Astrup). It was apparent from the start, that Kai seemed a bit more comfortable with the “arrangement” understanding this was for business, and not pleasure, while Emma initially didn’t like the idea.

Now with Trina’s stalker story in full gear, and as fans eventually find out who is completely obsessed with the budding young singer, while initially seeming to be Simon that would seem to be too easy of a choice. But is GH toying with the idea that somehow Gio and Trina get stuck in a situation and one thing leads to another and they develop feelings one another, too?

Photo: ABC

SIMON’S MANUEVERS

In addition, after Curtis (Donnell Turner) and Sidwell’s (Carlo Rota) beatdown at Pentonville, where everyone is accusing Sonny (Maurice Benard) of ordering the deed, will this find Gio and Trina on the same side, believing it’s Sonny, or will Gio end up sticking by his grandfather when by week’s end he was also questioning if he was telling the truth?

During a new conversation on the Michael Fairman Channel, Tabyana Ali shared her thoughts that if Gio and Trina were pushed closer together, what that would mean for their relationships with Emma and Kai, respectively.

Photo: ABC

MUSICAL CHAIRS?

Pondering the soap staple, Tabyana exclaimed, “Oh, my goodness. Who knows? I mean, quite honestly, I don’t think it’s it’s impossible, but, oh, wow! That would be messy!” Ali added that its something that could be quite intriguing to play. “There’s a part of me that wants it to happen just to see, how does it play out? Right? Then, there’s another part of me that’s like, “You can’t do that to Emma and Kai.” That’s so wrong,” believed Ali.

However, Tabyana did admit a complicated love story wasn’t far from her mind. “Originally, I wanted something like a quadrangle.  I really wanted that to happen. And if this is a moment where it could happen, I think that would be fun too.”

When asked to tease what’s coming up for Trina in the next several weeks, she offered up three words. Things for her will “(get) Suspicious, (be ) spontaneous, (and) very dangerous.”

So, do you think the GH writing team is teeing up a situation where Trina and Gio become more than friends and musical artists together? Would you be down for it, or be against it? do you like Emma with Gio and Kai with Trina? Share your thoughts via the comment section, nd in case you missed it, check our chat with Tabyana below.