Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

The lip-smack heard around the world on The Bold and the Beautiful, had a vulnerable Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Bill (Don Diamont) giving into their attraction to each other, albeit for a minute.  Soon the reality and the gravity of what they had done would come back to bite them!  You see, just as soon as Bill and Brooke headed home to Los Angeles there was previously MIA Katie (Heather Tom), who had vanished due to her post-partum depression, waiting for her husband!  Now what was Bill going to do?  Or … Brooke for that matter?

On-Air On-Soaps caught up with daytime heartthrob Don Diamont to get his thoughts on this latest wrinkle, which could eventually cause a seismic shift in the relations between the Logan and the Spencer families!  Meanwhile, Dollar Bill had been up to his neck in manipulations in his attempt to keep ex-girl-on-the-side Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) happily married to his son, Liam (Scott Clifton), and away from Liam’s true love, Hope (Kim Matula)!  Now that much of his machinations have been exposed and caused havoc for his family including Caroline (Linsey Godfrey), Diamont has been at the story forefront painting a rather complex side of Mr. Spencer!

But while there are big changes on-screen for soap veteran, Diamont, over this past summer, there were big changes in Don’s personal life.  Don married his long time girlfriend, Cindy Ambuehl, in a romantic ceremony outside of Monte Carlo surrounded by his sons, castmates and friends, and as you will read, it was a magical time for his family.  And, family means everything to Mr. Diamont!  Here now is Dandy Don!

MICHAEL:

When you got the scripts that said, “Bill kisses Brooke,” or “Brooke goes to look for an MIA Katie with Bill,” how much of the story did you know?  When Ronn Moss (Ex-Ridge) left the series, did you know that this is what was going to happen?

DON:

Courtesy/CBS

I had an idea that we were going to move in that direction. 

MICHAEL:

The reason I ask, is that the last time we chatted you had said you think Katie and Bill are a great couple, and this new romantic entanglement could lead the viewers now questioning who to root for!

DON:

I do think Katie and Bill are a great couple and I love working with Heather Tom (Katie).  I think it reflects in our work.  Although, if Heather hated me, it would still be as good. (Laughs) But I don’t think that is the case, but having said that, we still went through the Steffy period, and that was challenging for Bill and Katie.  As this story progresses with Brooke, I am sure it will present its share of challenges, as well.  My feeling was that it has to be a real love story that has to develop with Bill and Brooke, as he has a real love story with Katie.  But, it has to be a real love story, and they have to be driven together and not an overly contrived fashion.  It is Bill’s sister-in-law, and Katie is Brooke’s sister.  Given Brooke’s history, that whatever story gets told, it has to be very compelling that would push these two people together that would otherwise not go anywhere near that.

MICHAEL:

The groundwork was laid out very well for Brooke and Bill to share that kiss.  Brooke was frantic to find Stephanie’s engagement ring that she gave to Brooke shortly before she died.  Bill was then the one to find it and hand it to Brooke.  There was symbolism in all of that for the future, for sure, and then … BAM … they kissed!

DON:

They both were in very vulnerable places.  At that point, as far as Bill knew, post-partum depression or not, Katie wanted a divorce.  She did not want to be a mother to their child, and she in her own right, wanted a divorce.

MICHAEL:

Courtesy/CBS

Next, Bill and Brooke head back to the Spencer home after Stephanie’s passing, and lo and behold …. there was Katie!  And your face in the scene was priceless!

DON:

Yes, there she was! (Laughs)  You know, Heather and I had talked about playing this scene.  Bill was and is conflicted.  He would be conflicted even if nothing had happened with Brooke.  Katie was back and like, “Oh, I am back, and everything’s wonderful and it’s all good.”  No it’s not!  You left and put us through a very difficult time.  Bill obviously was not aware of the ordeal Katie was going through, and that made this more difficult as well.  So, add to that, the feelings the Katie helped create – the feelings he now shares with Brooke – and obviously it wasn’t, “Katie’s home and everything is great. Oh, joy!”

MICHAEL:

So is Bill buying the post-partum depression from Katie as the reason for her checking out on him and baby Will?  Is he Ok with that?

DON:

He is many things, and idiot is not one of them.  So yeah, he gets it, but it still makes him feel like he is on unstable ground now.  So here is who I thought she was, and yeah, the post-partum depression was a big part of this.  But, is there more going on here than that that is going to potentially rear its ugly head?  She is not the same person Bill thought he married.  It’s unsettling for him and he is not sure what to do.

MICHAEL:

Photo Credit: Gilles Toucas

He wants to be a father to baby Will, right?  This is his chance to be a dad after missing out on years raising his other son, Liam!

DON:

No question.  He loves this baby.

MICHAEL:

One can assume this will cause conflict with Liam down the road, because he was Bill’s first born son?

DON:

I would imagine once Will is an infant and goes to boarding school and returns as 17 (laughs), I would think down the road that two male Spencer’s would be a great story to tell!  Will would be the golden child, for sure.  I would guess Will probably will be molded more in Bill’s image.  I already suggested putting a sword around his neck! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Yes! They need to cast a little Don Diamont who looks like you!  In real life, you are a father to a ton of boys! (Laughs)  There isn’t one person we have ever met who knows you, who does not say you are the best father.

DON:

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

I try.  Being a dad is something I always wanted to be.  When I was a kid, I had valued my relationship with my dad, and I lost that pretty young.  I wanted that and I thought it was very important.

MICHAEL:

You finally got married to your long time sweetheart, Cindy Ambuehl, over the summer.  How was the wedding?

DON:

We went to Rome, Venice, and Monte Carlo.  The wedding took place June 12th in Eze, which is this magical storybook medieval city.  It was perfect.  As I said, because we had waited to get married, the boys were older, and we all had many years together.  So, a lot of our collective life experiences were brought to bear.  It was very much like we all got married.  It was very emotional for everyone.  Cindy walked out, and Luca, my eleven year old, just started crying.  Let me tell you, I was having to hold everyone up at my own wedding! (Laughs) My son Alexander made a speech on behalf of all the boys, and he got emotional and everyone started crying.

MICHAEL:

I remember chatting with you and Cindy on the red carpet at B&B’s silver anniversary party!  She was so funny and charming.

DON:

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

Cindy is hysterical; she has an amazing sense of humor.  She is a very funny.  When she was still acting comedy was her real passion.  She had two sitcoms, and she had guest-starred on every sitcom from the 90’s: Seinfeld, Frasier, Wings, and on and on.  She looks like she does, and is hysterical on top of it.  She often brings me to tears and I beg her to stop because I am laughing so hard that I am doubling over in pain.  And on top of that, she is gorgeous, brilliant, a hard worker, and an amazing mom … and she puts up with me! (Laughs).

MICHAEL:

This role as Dollar Bill Spencer seems to be the defining role in your daytime career.  So many of your peers feel that you really “pop” with this character.  Would you say that you have really immersed yourself in this role, like none other?

DON:

What happened on Y&R and the way it happened was difficult, and when Brad Bell (B&B’s executive producer and head writer) called it was a job, so that was great.  So when he described the character to me it was over the phone, but then we later sat down and he told me he had created this character for me.  I just immediately understood and knew Bill Spencer.  I was able to create a life experience in my head for him, and had just a great give-and-take collaboration with Brad.  He gave me the outline for this guy, and he gave me the “ball” and the freedom and trusted me.  I felt that from him.  Brad expressed to me that he had very high hopes for the character and that he created other leading male roles over the years for this show that were not so successful.  I promised him that I would not let him down.  In creating Bill, I was able to bring some elements to me that are right there and other elements that we all have that are smaller parts of who we are, and parts of your personality that you handle; like Bill is quick to temper.  I, Don, am not so quick to temper, so you bring that, but it’s there and you bring it more to the forefront.  I relished the opportunity to bring Bill to life.  I thought this is an opportunity to bring a unique and dynamic character to the show.  It is my job to make him complex, contradictory, and a Type-A person.

MICHAEL:

When I talked recently with Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke) she was saying, “Oh God, I don’t want Brooke to be paired with another man so soon after Ridge.”  And … here Brooke was kissing Bill!  Did the two of you have any talks about that and address any concerns?

DON:

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

No.  We did not really talk about it.  (Laughs)  I think her concerns were the same as mine and Heather’s; that the integrity of all concerned not be comprised.  We will see how this plays out as we move forward.

MICHAEL:

What are your thoughts on this situation?  Do you think Katie and Bill can come back from anything and endure it as couple?  Or, do you think Brooke is a real spoiler and threat to their relationship?

DON:

I think where Katie is at now is not good, especially if they can’t come to a meeting of the minds.  Bill feels this is not the Katie that he married.  This is a person living in fear, as opposed to this wallflower of a person that had all this stuff within her that he saw and yanked out of her.  Bill made her more in his own image.  Then, Katie became more of a powerhouse and a go-getter.  That is not who she is right now.  She is strong in other ways, but not that person.  We will see how it unfolds.  I think it’s great story.

MICHAEL:

There will probably be at least 327 episodes to come now of Brooke and Bill looking longingly at each other, with nothing advancing! (Laughs)

DON:

I don’t read facebook, or the blogs, or Twitter, just because I don’t want to know what people’s opinions are, or what the reactions out there are.  I just like to do my work and do my thing, and not let it be colored by opinion … everyone else can do all that.  I don’t really know what the reaction of Bill and Brooke is at this point.

MICHAEL:

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

From the reactions we have seen, the fans are more disappointed in Brooke because she just apologized to Stephanie for her behavior with all the Forrester men and taking them from her.  Then she kissed Bill, and to many it made her look bad.

DON:

She thinks Katie is gone at that point, and that Katie wants a divorce.  Brooke is dealing with her own vulnerability of the Ridge situation and losing Stephanie, her best friend.  I think moving forward it’s important that Brooke fights against whatever feelings clearly she has for Bill, and genuinely tries to make Bill and Katie work things out in their marriage.

MICHAEL:

B&B’s first on-screen same sex couple: Joanna Johnson (Karen) and Crystal Chappell (Dani) were back for a short-arc after Caroline’s “accident”.   What did you think about the way Bill handled the reveal of his sister’s sexuality?

DON:

Who would have expected that Bill would respond that way, and be OK with his sister’s sexuality?  I was glad that he responded in that way.  It was very important.  I said from the very beginning, “Bill is probably very Republican with his wallet, but he is very liberal in his social views.”   He does not care who sleeps with whom.  Bill is not about that … Jewish, Gentile, Muslim, Gay, Straight… he doesn’t care.  If you mess with him, no matter what you are, you are in trouble! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Photo Credits: L Bohm & K. Hutchins

Would you like to see the show delve more into Karen and Bill’s brother-sister relationship and dynamic?

DON:

I like our scenes, and I like our dynamic.  Crystal is great, too.   I liked the scenes with Crystal where he is thinking, “Oh, yeah. She is into me. C’mon! You’re telling me, I don’t know when a woman is interested in me?”  I thought it would be kind of funny, if Crystal’s character was finding herself into Bill! (Laughs)  That would have created a riff between Bill and his sister, Karen.

MICHAEL:

What do you think of Bill’s sudden alcohol “problem”? And is it really a problem? Or, do you think he will get this under control?

DON:

He doesn’t have anything to get under control. It’s not a problem. Bill is not drinking any more or any less than he ever was. Bill really sees it more as Katie having a heightened sensitivity since having gone through her recent near death experience, almost losing the baby and her post partum depression.

MICHAEL:

Courtesy/CBS

Everyone in town is furious with him: from Hope, Caroline, Liam etc.  How was it to play all of those heavy confrontational scenes?  Bill even got so upset that he “stabbed” himself with Liam’s little dagger charm on his necklace! Is he unraveling?

DON:

Confrontation plays right into Bill’s wheel house so that is a non-issue.  There are certain things that Bill certainly doesn’t like being challenged about but he is always up to the task. I relish the opportunities to play those scenes. Those kinds of scenes get your juices flowing. Lastly, as the audience found out, Bill did not actually stab himself.

MICHAEL:

One day Bill will get shot by any number of suspects, and they can do a “Who Shot Bill?” whodunit!  Of course, Bill lives though it! (Laughs)

DON:

You mean like Dallas’ “Who Shot J.R.?”   This would then be “Who Shot B.S?” (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Well … Bill did have a part in the machinations that ruined Hope and Liam’s chance at happiness that inevitably pushed Liam into the arms of Steffy!

DON:

Courtesy/CBS

Bill got Deacon out of prison to throw an emotional wrench in Hope’s world, and then that would hopefully stop the wedding from happening.  Deacon showed up in Hope’s hotel room while she was getting ready for the wedding.  However, Hope and Liam did get married, as Bill had made clear.  Hope showed some emotional fortitude and Bill respected that.  He did welcome her into the family, and he meant that.  It’s not his fault that the wedding wasn’t legal, and that they neglected to take care of the paperwork.  It was really on Rick.  Rick was the one who created the problem, and that has been Bill’s position this whole time.

MICHAEL:

Were you on set for Susan Flannery’s (Ex-Stephanie) farewell party day?

DON:

As I said to Susan, my first episode was with her and that meant a lot to me.  Bill being introduced in scenes with Stephanie brought gravitas to Bill right off the bat.  It was an honor for me to work with her, and to start out what I hoped would be a nice long run here.  I valued my scenes with Susan.  The first eight weeks I was on the show that story arc revolved around Stephanie.  I worked with her quite a bit.  I have so much respect for her as an actress and as person, and it was really wonderful for me.  I was glad I got the time with her that I did.  The entire send-off was beyond well deserved.  If anyone deserved that kind of send-off, both in story and in terms of the party we had here, it is Susan. My hats are off to Brad Bell for all of that.  I give Susan a lot of credit too for giving Brad the opportunity to send her and the character off in the manner in which she he and Susan deserved. 

MICHAEL:

Photo Credit: Gilles Toucas

In closing, do you want the audience to like Bill, hate Bill, or ultimately both?

DON:

Interesting question and nobody has ever asked that.  I think that both are the answer.  I think Bill is very entertaining and a likeable hard-ass.  Even though he gets in his own way, genuinely he believes he is doing the right thing.  The commitment to his family is clear.  I think there are some people out there who love to hate him, and some who love him, and some who want to be Bill!  It’s all of that.  But overall, I think he is very entertaining, and coming up he will be smack dab in the middle of a huge firestorm with the women in his life.