News
Don Diamont Gets Emotional Talking About His ‘Bold and the Beautiful’ Co-Star ‘Thee Heather Tom’ (Exclusive ‘Soapy’ Preview)

The Bold and the Beautiful’s Don Diamont (Bill Spencer) is the special guest on this week’s all new edition of Soapy Hosted by Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart. Don’s episode drops Tuesday morning, August 18. During his visit, Diamont talks about his 40+ years in daytime, his co-stars, and much more.
Don has had the distinction on appearing on three different soap operas throughout his career, Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless and his current home on The Bold and the Beautiful. His road to B&B, began after in his second run in the role of Brad Carlton on Y&R, when he was let go. Diamont played Brad from 1985-1996 and again from 1998-2009. Little did he know, he had someone being his biggest cheerleader behind the scenes, six-time Daytime Emmy winner, Heather Tom (Katie Logan).
While Heather and Don worked together on The Young and the Restless, when she played Victoria Newman, it wasn’t until Don came to B&B that the two truly got to develop something special, and now since 2009, the ups and downs of the relationship of Dollar Bill and his “Katie” have often resulted in some of the most dramatic moments in the past 16 years.

Courtesy/CBS
HEATHER TOM GOES FOR HER RECORD-BREAKING 7TH DAYTIME EMMY WIN
Heather Tom is once again in the running for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama Series at this year’s upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards in late October. If she were to win, she would become the winningest actress in a Daytime Emmy history, breaking the tie with Erika Slezak (ex-Viki, One Life to Live).
During his visit with ‘Soapy’s’ Rebecca and Greg, when Budig asks him about working withHeather Tom, Diamont becomes overcome with tears welling up in his eyes, for the love, admiration and respect he has for his longtime co-star, in this exclusive preview clip provided to Michael Fairman TV below.
In it, Diamont expressed about Tom, “The greatest .. it makes me emotional… the greatest blessing in my professional life. Beth Maitland (Traci) at that point in my career (with Y&R), and then Heather, later.”

Photo: JPI
DON DIAMONT EXPLAINS THE ROAD TO ON-SCREEN LOVE STORY WITH HEATHER TOM
Explaining how he wound up paired in story with Heather Tom, Diamont provided a bit of history lesson to the ‘Soapy’ podcast co-hosts. “The story goes, which Heather always tells, when she heard I was coming to B&B and God bless, Brad Bell (executive producer, and head writer, B&B) that after being all of a sudden, out of nowhere, being fired from Y&R, Brad brings me over to B&B.”
Don continued, “Heather hears I’m coming, and she is somewhere where she couldn’t talk so, she had to reach under the table and type, ‘I want Don Diamont,’ t0 Brad. So, that to me is an Emmy. That to me, that Heather Tom, that I call ‘Thee Heather Tom,” wanted to work with me, that was enormously flattering.”
Realizing how lucky he is to have such a phenomenal leading lady by his side, it never goes unnoticed by Diamond. “It is such a gift,” he said. “She’s just the best person. The finest actress, just fun and funny and so talented, just amazing. It has just been my great privilege and joy to work opposite her all these years.”
MORE SOAPY
For new or past episodes from the ‘Soapy’ audio/video podcast series, you can find them via the Audacy app and the CBS brand YouTube channel. The podcast is produced by the Paramount Multiplatform Production Group, with Mike Benson serving as executive producer.
You can check out Don getting choked up, and explaining how important Heather Tom has been to his TV and ‘Bold and Beautiful’ career, below.
Now let us know, do you love seeing Katie and Bill together on B&B? Do you consider, like Don and many others in the daytime drama industry, that Heather Tom is one of the greatest actresses of all-time, with her six and counting Emmys to her name? Let us know via the comment section.
His firing from The Young and the Restless truly was out of nowhere. Brad Carlton deserved to continue on!
Did anyone ever find out why Don and his character of ‘Brad Carlton’s were let go from ‘Y&R’??
Both of them are so fantastic a joy to watch every day along with Crew.
I do not like some of the strange turns the character Bill Spencer but I always enjoy Don Diamont. And when he is paired with Heather Tom? Score! The chemistry and believability of them as a couple, a team, is so strong. I hope Bill is not written to be a womanizer ever again. The character is more interesting as Katie’s protector and defender. What better motivator for his machination against the ‘dressmaker’ than that?! So…More Bill and Katie, please. More. Don Diamont and Heather Tom.
And yes, what was going on with Y&R to kill of Brad Carlton?!? And Colleen?!? I will never understand.
Just a stunning zaddy
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Braedyn Bruner Reveals Her Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and How Emma is Getting Her ‘Edge’ Back

The 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards are now just a little over a month and a half away, and General Hospital’s Braedyn Bruner picked up her first nomination for her performances as Emma Drake.
Braedyn received a nod in the Outstanding Emerging Talent in a Daytime Drama Series category along with: Al Calderon (ex-Javi, DAYS) Alice Halsey (ex-Rachel, DAYS) Giovanni Mazza (Gio, GH) Ambyr Michelle (Eva, BTG) and Arielle Prepetit (Naomi, BTG). The winner will be announced in a ceremony held on October 30 in Hollywood, California.
Now, for the first time, Bruner spoke about what she chose to put on her nominated reel that landed her a chance to go for gold. The 25-year-old actress discussed it when she appeared on an all-new episode of the That’s Awesome with Steve Burton (Jason, GH) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli, GH), that dropped this Sunday, September 6.
In speaking of her nominated work, Bruner shared how she went about approaching submitting her reel, which was a conglomeration of scenes from the eligibility year and her first on GH. “The first two scenes on my reel are with Anna (Finola Hughes). The first one is in her office after she arrests Emma at the Quartermaine crypt,” explained Braedyn to her GH co-stars. “I felt like, for me as an actor, that was the first time I understood this character really well. I felt like I had become her in some sort of way, and the things that she stands for and she is willing to fight for.”

Photo: ABC
Bruner continued, “I also love doing scenes with Finola Hughes. The second scene is with Anna also, sort of a similar setting, but a different time of the year, but it was a scene about what Emma stands for, and how much she wants to be like her grandmother, and how influential and important she is to her. I also had included scenes with Gio as well from the post-Nurses’ Ball fallout. We had a lot of wonderful things that I got to choose from.”
Reflecting on now being on the legendary ABC soap opera for a year and a half, Braedyn told Steve and Bradford, “It’s so crazy looking back on where I started, to where I am now, and I think, I’m so grateful for this job. All I ever wanted to do is to tell stories, and even just saying that I have an Emmy nomination is crazy, because that just feels like a great bonus and such an honor. So, that’s really, really cool.”
Since coming to GH, Braedyn said she felt support all along the way behind the scenes. “I love the relationships that I formed on this show,” she shared. “I always tell people that when they ask me what is it like working on General Hospital, I just always say that I’ve truly never been on a set where every person that you encounter is a joy to be around, helpful and kind and supportive. and wants you to succeed.”

Photo: ABC
As for what’s ahead for Emma, viewers know that music executive Simon (Grady Eldridge) has been asking Emma’s boyfriend Gio and her friend and his musical partner, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) to play up a “relationship” when they are on stage performing to help sell them as a recording and performing duo, which may cause problems for Emma in the very near future.
“I love that she’s (Emma) getting her edge back,” confirmed Bruner. “I feel like there had been a period where I was just being really cordial and kind. And that’s fun, but I missed the kind of attitude that she had when she came on the show as this animal rights activist and fighting for justice. I missed that. So, I’ve been really enjoying what we are shooting now. ”
You can check out Braedyn’s guest appearance on the That’s Awesome podcast below.
Now let us know, what do you think about Braedyn’s choices for her Emmy scenes that landed her an Emerging Talent nomination? Do you want Emma to have her edge back? Do you think that Gio and Trina might actually wind up together and Emma will be the one left out in the cold? Stay tuned and weigh-in via the comment section.
News
Vivica A. Fox Exits ‘The Young and the Restless’ For Now to Film Netflix’s ‘Women Like Us’

Vivica A. Fox has wrapped her most recent run as Dr. Stephanie Simmons on CBS daytime’s The Young and the Restless with news directly from the actress herself.
Fox, who initially returned after more than 30 years away along with Shemar Moore (Malcolm Winters) in April of 2026, but stayed on longer than had been anticipated, is now off on another project.
In a new video clip posted to her Instagram Story (which has since expired), the actress received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from her Y&R glam squad as she said her “goodbyes” for now to the cast and the hair and make-up departments.

Photo: JPI
Turns out, Vivica is headed to Shelter Island near the Hamptons in New York for her role in the Netflix film Women Like Us, which is executive produced by the former White House First Lady, Michelle Obama. The Netflix project is said to be filming in that location from September 1 through October 1.
‘WOMEN LIKE US’ CAST
In story, Women Like Us is about a recently widowed woman whose sister and lifelong friends bring her to the Hamptons on her 30th wedding anniversary. According to the production team the film is, “an emotional journey of healing and sisterhood.” The View’s Whoopi Goldberg, Vanessa Williams and Jenifer Lewis round out the main cast.
UNTIL NEXT TIME Y&R FAMILY
In her IG story, Fox shared about her departure from Genoa City, “Hey there, darlings. It’s your girl, Vivica. I’m going to be be going away for a couple of months to do my new film, Women Like Us. But today, when I came to work… my beautiful glam squad with their fabulous self—Jerry, Orlando, Justin—got me these beautiful flowers to send me off from Young and the Restless. This was supposed to be just eight shows and it turned into six months.”
Next, Fox turned to her glam squad and expressed, “I love you guys. I’m going to miss you.” She then shared a message to the Y&R fans, “And all I can say to you Y&R family out there, I’ll see you soon.”

Photos: VFoxIGstory
WHAT ABOUT NATE AND STEPHANIE’S ROMANCE?
The timing is interesting for Fox’s exit, given the soap opera recently paired Dr. Nate Hastings (Daytime Emmy nominee Sean Dominic) with Dr. Stephanie Simmons in a burgeoning romance. In addition, Stephanie is currently is the Chief of Staff at Genoa City Memorial Hospital.
So, someone will need to take over the Chief of Staff position in an interim manner, wouldn’t you say? Will Nate and Stephanie call it quits before things really took off? Stay tuned! Given Y&R tapes usually about six weeks ahead of air, viewers will have to tune-in to see how Fox wraps her current run.
So, what have you thought of the pairing of Nate and Stephanie on The Young and the Restless? Do you hope Vivica comes back to Y&R sooner than later? Excited to see the film she will be featured in ‘Women Like Us’ when it comes out hopefully in 2027? Let us know via the comment section below.
General Hospital
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ and ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ Only Soaps to Gain Total Viewers Week-Over-Week

The latest ratings are out for the week of August 17- 21, 2026. Two daytime dramas showed an uptick in total viewers week-over-week, while two did not, and General Hospital moved back into 3rd place over Beyond the Gates in the key women’s 18-49 ratings share, and tied with the CBS soap for 3rd place for the key women’s 25-54 ratings share.
According to Soap Opera Network via data supplied via Nielsen’s Live+Same Day, Big Date +Panel model, CBS’s The Bold and the Beautiful showed the most gains in total viewers adding +12,000 and bringing its year-over-year tally to +262,000. For the week of August 17, B&B had an average audience of 2,688,000 tuning-in.
The central story focused on Steffy Forrester (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Carter Walton (Lawrence Saint-Victor) bonding over their crumbling marriages while eachwas on drunken bender, they slept together. Meanwhile, Finn (Tanner Novlan) rushed back to Los Angeles from Monaco to salvage his relationship with his wife, and Daphne (Murielle Hilaire) turned around and headed back from the airport to reconcile with Carter after walking out on their marriage.
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital, the ABC soap opera added +8,000 total viewers for the week with an average of 1,856,000 tuning-in from August 17 to 21. The series is still under the 2 million mark for the last few consecutive weeks. Year-over-year at this time, GH is -35,000 off the pace from 2025.
In story, there was drama across Port Charles with shifting alliances, explosive confrontations, and shocking revelations including: Jason (Steve Burton) quitting the mob and informing Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), Ric (Rick Hearst) getting jealous of Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) and Elizabeth’s (Rebecca Herbst) closeness, and Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Tracy (Jane Elliot) finding out Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) moved back into the Quartermaine gatehouse.

Photo: JPI
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
As for the top-rated The Young and the Restless, they remained the most-watched soap opera of all losing -14,000 for the week, but still up +90,000 year-over-year and averaging 3,027,000 viewers for the ratings week.
The Y&R drama centered around stories including; Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) causing chaos by declaring that Chancellor Industries belongs to the Abbotts, while the aftermath of Nick (Joshua Morrow) and Marie (Jade Harlow) night together in a seedy hotel which landed them both in rehab continues to haunt Nick.

Photo: CBS
BEYOND THE GATES
Finally at Beyond the Gates, the newest soap in the line-up lost only -1,000 in total audience for the week, with 1,647,000 tuning in and the series is considerably up year-over-year with +132,000.
Beyond the Gates featured a series of showdowns and explosive secrets coming to light including: Vernon Dupree (Clifton Davis) confronting a hospitalized Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) about his intentions toward Dani (Karla Mosley), while Andre’s (Sean Freeman) dark past with Heather Armstrong (Ashley Jones) came to light.
So, what do you think of the latest ratings picture and performance of your favorite soap? Which daytime drama from broadcast television is piquing your interest the most? Which is not? Let us know via the comment section.
-
General Hospital3 days ago‘General Hospital’ to Rebroadcast Special Episode in Tribute to Anthony Geary
-

Days Of Our Lives1 week agoSuzanne Rogers Returns to ‘Days of Our Lives’ in All-New Episodes
-
General Hospital4 days ago‘General Hospital’s’ Tabyana Ali Song ‘Pray’ Now Available on Major Streaming Platforms with Music Video Forthcoming
-
General Hospital4 days ago‘General Hospital’ Icon Genie Francis to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at the 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards
-

General Hospital7 days agoHas Jasper Jacks Been Recast on ‘General Hospital?’
-

News1 week agoRATINGS: ‘The Young and the Restless’ Loses Most Viewers Week-Over-Week; But All Soaps Up Year-Over-Year
-
General Hospital6 days agoGenie Francis Exits ‘General Hospital’ For Her Annual Summer Hiatus
-
General Hospital1 week ago‘General Hospital’s’ Sawandi Wilson Marks 2-Year Anniversary as Dr. Isaiah Gannon with Heartfelt ‘Thank You’ Video to ‘Best Fans in the Universe’













