News
Who Would You Cast To Play Karen Spencer on The Bold and the Beautiful?
Photo Credit: Wire Image
New out of Soap Opera Digest is that The Bold and the Beautiful is seeking a possible recast for the role of Karen Spencer played by Joanna Johnson.
In story, the character of Karen had come out to her brother, Bill (Don Diamont) and revealed that she has a wife Dani played by Crystal Chappell. The two moms raised together their daughter, Caroline (Linsey Godfrey), who over the last many months has certainly developed more of an edge from her once good-girl image.
Looks like the unavailability of Johnson to continue in the role has served for the impetus to put out a casting notice for the role of Karen now listed as “recurring/possible contract”. Joanna Johnson currently serves as executive producer on the ABC Family hit series, The Fosters.
So the question is, who would you cast in the role of Karen Spencer, who might be familiar to daytime audiences? Or, would you not recast and just wait till Joanna is available again? Comment below!
Julie Pinson.
I’m hoping this means getting to see more of Crystal Chappell as Dani.
Jessica Leccia, who played Natalia to Crystal Chappell’s Olivia on Guiding Light!
Wait for Joanna….unless we can get Jessica Leccia….:)
So many good candidates… Kelly Sullivan? Teri Conn? Sarah Brown (no one remembers her Agnes character anyway and she could hold her own with Chappell)?
But the bigger question… Will B&B keep and use the characters to their fullest? This serial seems to waste its talent and not integrate characters or plots well. Best way for screen time is to bed Brooke or to get involved with Liam and Hope. Otherwise, you are with Thorne in the Forrester Creations depths. And just where is Taylor?
Taylor is long gone, thank God. I never liked Hunter Tylo and I was giddy when she left the show.
Yeah…Kelly S.
Terri Conn is too young to play Caroline’s mom, don’t you think?
Good and fair point. Teri Conn does skew young but I liked her so much on ATWT and miss her. But on B&B I recall Lesley-Anne Down and Jack Wagner’s age difference when they were on the show, as well as the woman who played Beth Logan when the character died compared to Katherine Kelly Lange as Brooke. Couldn’t have been more than 7-10 years between them.
I read other ideas here and see Martha Byrne and Kelly Menighan Hensley’s names. Doable. I do not see Noelle Beck in this role although I like her very well.
If they are willing to go with a different look, Jessica Leccia would be the way to go. She looks like she could be Bill’s sister, and hopefully we’d see more of Crystal.
Noelle beck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ooh I like Noelle Beck as a suggestion.
Forget about noelle beck. cast kelly sullivan ex connie gh. She is a wonderful actress.
Noelle beck would be the best.
Here are just a few suggestions that I would love to see
Catherne Hickland, Kelly Sullivan ,Kassie DePivia, or Florencia Lorenzo.
Catherine Hickland. Good one!
Cynthia Watross
Kelly Menighan Hensley. And give Jon more air time while they’re at it.
Martha Byrne!!
kelly sullivan would be really good in the role. she is a very good actress and sexy too.
Karen Spencer should be recast with Lori Laughlin playing the role of the original character, who was straight. The lesbian revisionism is a turn-off.
Very much so. She could have been a viable love interest for Thorne. She still could. If she lived most of he life straight, it would make more sense.
Kimberlin Brown! If GH can cast actors in multiple roles so can B&B. Sheila hasn’t appeared on B&B since 2003 and they’ve apparently forgotten about her anyway.
Tough call. I want her to remain Sheila.
I wouldn’t cast anyone in the part. The character is completely unnecessary on the canvas of this show.
How can you say that without knowing what her story will be?
Either bring Joanna back, or recast with Martha Byrne. She wrote for the show before, and would have great chemistry with the whole cast!
Gina Togoni from OTLT/GL. Unless GL is resurrected. But I think she’ll do great as Karen and can hold her own against Dollar Bill.
Beth Ehlers or Gina Tognoni.
Michelle Stafford! The Bells seem to really like her.
They don’t need karen spencer. Have the lesbian couple break up off screen and then have dani be paired w/ a lesbian who’s a racial minority actress. days will & what’s his name. atwt’s luke and noah and the doctor that got crushed by a truck. b&b’s dani and karen. gl’s lesbian couple. y&r’s adam. oltl’s kish. amc’s bianca and lena and maggie and reese. All day soap opera lgbt chars have been white. Racially diverse l.a. should have a racial minority lesbian char on b&b. Generally speaking there needs to be more racial minority actors regardless of their orientation. That’s especially true for l.a. based b&b!
Signy Coleman or Krista Tesreau
Signy is a great choice.
Nahhh. I want Signy back as Hope’s long lost cousin.
As much as I like Jessica Leccia and Crystal Chappell together, I think Jessica’s too young for this particular role Joanna Johnson is a few years older than Crystal, and although I don’t know the age difference between Karen and Danielle, I kind of like the idea that Karen is a bit older..
General Hospital
Who Should Justin Bruening Play on ‘General Hospital’? Wife Alexa Havins is Down for His Return to Soaps
Will General Hospital be able to reunite on-screen real live loves and former All My Children co-stars Justin Bruening and Alexa Havins, by casting Justin in a role on the ABC daytime drama series?
The subject came back up when Alexa, who attended the 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday, October 30 to root GH on to its sixth Outstanding Drama Series win in a row, spoke with Swoon.
Havins shared, “There’s always talk about him: ‘Is he going to come (on the show)?’ That would be amazing since we started (on a soap). Why not? He would definitely come in and play,”
Photo: ABC
IS IT TIME TO REUNITE JUSTIN AND ALEXA ON-SCREEN IN PORT CHARLES?
However, when taking to the red carpet, it was obvious Justin was not with his wife, and she clarified while she attended daytime’s biggest night, the former Jamie Martin of Pine Valley dropped her off at the Emmys, and went home to take of their four children. Alexa smiled, “Right now, he’s watching all my children. That’s my pun!”
Bruening and Havins married back in 2005. Recently, and as reported, Justin came to visit his wife at the set of General Hospital and posted some photos from it via his Instagram. One caption read directed towards Alexa, “You’re cute…..What are you doing the rest of your life? I’m thinking……… 4 kids? House in the burbs? 1,001 pets?”
General Hospital is also the current soap home of Bruening’s former TV father, Michael E. Knight (Martin Grey) who played Tad Martin on the beloved All My Children. So, if Justin nabs a role, he could be reunited with both his wife and Pine Valley father!
So, put your casting director hats on! If Justin Bruening were to come to General Hospital? Should be play an original role created for him? Should he be a recast for a character currently off the canvas? And, should he brought on as a love interest for Lulu Spencer or someone else? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section.
Days Of Our Lives
Raven Bowens Breaks Silence About Being Fired From ‘Days of our Lives’ and Her Future Plans
Days of our Lives actress Raven Bowens has opened about publicly about what happened when she learned back at the very beginning of 2026 that she was being let-go by the soap opera after playing Chanel Dupree for five years.
Bowens took to her TikTok and explained in a video what went down and how that helped inspire her next move in life. “On January 2nd, before I could even start on any of my New Year’s resolutions, I got fired,” shared Bowens after receiving a call from DAYS early that morning.
“For the backstory, I spent five years working on Days of Our Lives. I played Chanel Dupree. I love my character. I love the show. I love everyone that I worked with. I had just signed a new contract that was for nine months, but every three months, your contract can not be renewed or picked up.”
Photo: JPI
THE DREADED CALL
Chanel recalled the moment she found out. “It’s like, eight o’clock in the morning, and I am completely blindsided” Next, Bowens recalled saying to her sister in that moment, “‘Why would my producer be calling me on January 2nd? We don’t go back to work for a week. Something is going on. I think I’m getting fired.” Then, Chanel revealed, “I answered that call, and that is what that call was.”
As to the reason for her pink-slip, Raven shared, “I was told that they didn’t have a storyline for me at the moment and so they will be writing my character off at the end of my current storyline.”
Trying to buckle up after hearing she was being fired, Raven recalled, “While that isn’t fun, that is the business of show business, especially on soap operas. So it is what it is. That’s the contract I signed. I had to accept it. But it was a really hard reality.” She realized, “Having spent five years in Salem, I got comfortable. That was like my second home.”
RAVEN BOWENS EXITS DAYS ALONG WITH THREE OTHER ACTORS
As Days of our Lives fans know, Bowens along with her on-screen love Carson Boatman (Johnny), Leo Howard (Tate) and Ashley Puzemis (Holly) were also let go at the same time. Since DAYS tapes nearly 10-11 months in advance, Raven and Carson’s final airdates should be right around the corner, although nothing has been released.
After explaining the life-changing job news, Raven explained what she is up to next: “My next chapter is not my acting career ending because I’m an actress. I will always be an actress. I have sacrificed so much for this life and for this career and I love it. I will never give it up and I will never quit. However, losing the job made me realize the importance other streams of income.”
THE NEXT CHAPTER POST-DAYS
From there, Bowens encouraged fans to follow her journey on TikTok to become a millionaire by the end of 2027 with money and wealth management. In fact, she launched a new TikTok series, Millionaire Pending where she plans to document the financial journey she is with advice from a financial adviser, wealth coach and her father.
Bowens explained, “When that job ended, I was kind of shocked. I had felt a certain sense of security, even working in a non-secure profession, and I didn’t really prepare. This series is me trying to put myself in a position so that nothing like this ever happens again.”
So what do you think about Raven coming forward with how her dismissal from Days of our Lives went down? Will you miss Chanel and Johnny when they eventually exit Salem? Will you be interested to check out Raven’s wealth management series on TikTok to see if you can pick up any pointers for financial security and success? Let us know via the comment section.
Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady, Days of our Lives) is jumping head first into the celebrity podcast rage with the launch of hers entitled, Between Takes with Alison Sweeney.
In between her busy schedule of Hallmark Channel movies, features, TV appearances and returns to Days of our Lives, Sweeney will now feature special guests each episode as previewed in her Instagram video clip announcing the new podcast series.
Accompanying her video, Sweeney expressed, “Trying something new! Check out my new podcast. Just fun casual chats with my friends. Links are in my bio.”
Photo: Hallmark
The first episode features former DAYS star and Hallmark Channel mainstay, Victor Webster (ex-Nicholas Alamain). It was back from 1999-2000 that Victor first appeared on the then NBC soap opera.
As previously reported, Sweeney will be reprising her role of Sami on Days of our Lives, next summer in June when she returns along with several fan favorites for a story arc.
During Alison’s premiere of “Between Takes,” Webster shares stories of his time on DAYS, being a proud dog dad, and globetrotter, plus working on action scenes and for Victor, taking over from The Rock in the the Scorpion King franchise appearing in Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption. Alison and Victor also chat about their time on sets.
You can listen to Between Takes with Alison Sweeney on all major podcast streaming platforms; including Apple Podcasts here.
So, will you be checking out Alison’s podcast as it continues to grow? Intrigued who from Days of our Lives and the soaps might chat it up with her in future episodes? Let us know in the comment section.
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