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Will Abu Dhabi and Paris Be The Ticket to Daytime Emmy Gold? B&B's Brad Bell Weighs-In On That & Maya's Transgender Story Twist!
Photo Credit: Gilles Toucas Photography/CBS
This week, The Bold and the Beautiful took a short time out of their hectic production schedules to celebrate and acknowledge the hard working individuals in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes who were nominated in various categories for the upcoming 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.
The festivities took place on Stage 31 the Bradley P. Bell soundstage at CBS. During the celebration, executive producer and head writer, Brad Bell introduced the cast and crew who nabbed B&B 19 nominations this year including for Outstanding Drama Series. On-Air On-Soaps caught up with Bell, immediately following the proceedings to get some insight into his choice to go with the Abu Dhabi and Paris remotes for the Drama Series category at this year’s Daytime Emmys.
Bell also shared what he thought about the acting nominees from his cast and the hottest topic in soaps right now the choice to make Maya (Karla Mosley) a transgender character in a bombshell story twist that has taken mainstream and social media by storm. As Brad explains, he and his team are committed to telling Maya’s story fully.
So, will B&B have the right stuff to take home another Outstanding Drama series and writing team win this year? Read Brad’s thoughts on it all below, and exactly when he came up with Maya’s secret storyline!
Tell me about the decision-making process that went into choosing your Outstanding Drama Series submission/episodes that earned your show a Daytime Emmy nomination?
Courtesy/CBS
BRAD: We went with Abu Dhabi and Paris; we went locations and action-adventure. We went in a direction we have not gone before. So, we will see how it goes for us. I just think that it’s very much about production, and this production team we have here has risen to the occasion. They have done things that are amazing. When you look at the body of work – there are so many great performances – but, just the achievement of pulling off Abu Dhabi and Paris and doing it as well as this team is capable of doing, and having it be 2 of the 250 episodes of the year is pretty amazing. We had to put them forward for the Emmy in the Drama Series category.
What did you submit for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series that garnered you and your writing team a nomination again this year?
BRAD: Hope’s (Kim Matula) goodbye scenes, which were very touching and shot in my backyard! Our writers: Patrick Mulcahey, Michele Val Jean, Mike Minnis and I worked really hard on getting the emotional content of those episodes to where they needed to be. So did Scott Clifton (Liam), Rena Sofer (Quinn), Darin Brooks (Wyatt), and Kim Matula and the whole team. At the end of the episode, Hope just disappears.
What can you say about your Emmy nominated acting nominees … Supporting Actress contender Linsey Godrey (Caroline) and Supporting Actor contenders, Scott Clifton and Jacob Young (Rick)?
Photo Credit: MF Soaps, Inc.
BRAD: They are fantastic. Linsey is amazing. She can do comedy and she can do drama. She has been through so much personally and keeps the greatest attitude, and is such a pleasure to have on the team. Scott and Jacob are phenomenal actors. I think we have the best ensemble on the show we have ever had.
Let’s talk hot topic! The Maya transgender twist really had a meteoric hit on mainstream press and pick-up! Were you surprised by all the attention this story has gotten so quickly?
BRAD: I did not realize we were going to get this kind of traction. I am seeing it as a wonderful story to tell, and it’s a love story. But, it’s an important love story. We need to take minds that have been closed and open them up a little.
Were you at all concerned about viewer backlash to the story … that the audience just did not want to watch a story of a transgender woman?
BRAD: Yes, a little bit concerned. We are thrilled to do this story and it’s one that is very close to our hearts. We are not just filling pages. We are really behind the whole movement, and Karla Mosley (Maya) is doing such a great job.
Courtesy/CBS
When, did you come up with this idea to make Maya transgender and create this incredibly powerful and moving story?
BRAD: I came up with this on a drive to work one morning. I know the block I was on when it hit me! I was just right behind the Beverly Hills Hotel, and I almost pulled over! I thought this could be something very special, and something that we are going to dig into for months, and months, and months. It’s not icing, it’s the cake. Karla is a leading lady, and this character is front and center. We are fully committed to telling this story that will change people’s perceptions and that is very exciting.
So, do you think B&B has a great shot at winning the gold in the Daytime Drama Series category at this year’s 42nd Annual Daytime Emmys? Did you enjoy the Paris and Abu Dhabi remotes and storylines? What do you think about Brad Bell’s commitment to tell Maya’s story and that of the transgender community? Share your thoughts below!
I absolutely do NOT want to see B&B win for Series, Directing or Writing (or in any categories). The problem for me with location shoots is that they are atypical and not really what this particular show is all about – the strongest elements of B&B are the design elements and I won’t mind at all if it wins a few of those categories. Days was the best written, produced and directed daytime drama of 2014, with GH having some really great individual episodes and Y&R having 3 really good months and 9 mediocre ones (January, November and December were the really good ones). I certainly hope that B&B gets shut out of the major categories, which should go to Days and GH for their achievements in 2014.
As for the transgender storyline, I only wish they had a stronger actress than Karla Mosley playing the role ):
Karla is doing a great job!
GH and Y&R will win all of the emmys. B&B is such a boring show.
I love the transgender storyline, I just hope telling Rick doesnt take a ridiculously long time considering the threats of exposure existing. Lets not drag this out.
The transgender storyline might win Best Drama Series for next year’s Emmys! But Abu Dhabi won’t win this year. Hope’s exit was beautifully written but I also don’t think it’ll win Writing. Now, if Brad submitted Abu Dhabi for Directing then I believe they got a shot at winning!
They have always done fantastic location shoots no doubt about it when you are down to only four soaps not a whole lot of choices to choose from. Would I be upset if they won no at least 28 years later it is still family owned and not gone thru tons of head writers.
I think Heather Tom won for giving the shows for best performers not the others
I would say that the location shoots have been good, but it got tiring seeing Liam and Hope as the usual travellers: Italy, France, and The Netherlands. At least with Abu Dhabi, they gave other actors a chance to shine in a foreign land.
I didn’t like Hope’s exit. She should have had scenes with Wyatt.
Award is for best drama, not best cinematography. I would say story and acting and writing is more important for winning best drama, but we’ll see. Those shows were good. Don’t know what episodes the other shows put up.
I am enjoying the transgender storyline and Karla and Reign are doing a great job!
Rick is clueless. LOL Does he wonder why Karla doesn’t have time of the month supplies in the bathroom or closet?
“We are fully committed to telling this story that will change people’s perceptions and that is very exciting.” Bradley Bell
How is Maya’s lies and deception going to change anyone’s perception? All of this is based on lies and deception, Maya’s. She keeps saying she is proud of who she is but won’t tell the man she supposed loves more than anyone else until he proposes? That sounds more like manipulation with an agenda. Get Rick to propose…then be honest? There are viewers who do not like Maya to begin with. There is no sympathy for Maya’s lies and deception, her manipulating Rick because she has an agenda and this story has only made it worse. And, the actress isn’t good enough to carry this kind of story. Karla is a leading lady? Average, good maybe, but a leading lady, no.
This is hardly the way a transgender would want to be portrayed. Bradley Bell has never done any of these kinds stories very well and (because it is Maya) the transgender community are being unjustly portrayed. If Bell had brought on a new actress and built a relationship with someone and led up to this, it could have been a good story.
As for the locations shoots? Meh. Wasted on the younger generation where Quinn gets to be a pyscho overseas. A lot off viewers were happy to see Ridge dumped into the sea for pulling such a bonehead move of trying to run off with Brooke but that was the only benefit. It was used to build up sympathy for Ridge who should have stayed home with his fiancée instead of flying half way around the world to stop Brooke’s wedding based on a selfie no less.
The awards are meaningless. How could Bell win so many awards when competing with other shows that were not only written better but also had some really outstanding stories as well as actors who could pull it off. B&B has it’s share but it is seriously lacking in writing for those who can act, to work with. I keep hoping this transgender story ends and Bell gets something that is worth watching. And can get other viewers to even care again.
I agree with everything.
I really thought Maya was sweet and endearing when she first came to town. I really liked Rick with Maya then. Even though she thought he was a waiter, they were very sweet together. There was no gold digging. It was just an ex convict who lost more than she bargained for when she found out her child was dead.
The “pretty woman” scenes in Beverly Hills were sweet. They should have left it at that instead of making Maya so despicable.
Let’s not go all crazy here. There are only FOUR soaps let on the networks so the competition is not as fierce. The daytime Emmys for the dramas have become laughable.
I wonder if there are people from the United Arab Emirates on the board now. It was nauseating enough to listen to the butt kissing of Abu Dhabi when the scenes aired. “Oh it’s so beautiful, yada, yada, yada.” Give me a break. A country built on oil money is sickening.
It looks like the current run of Lucas Adams (Noah) and Tamara Braun (Sienna) on The Young and the Restless is coming to an end, after the Monday, August 3 edition of the CBS daytime drama revealed that Noah and Sienna are leaving Genoa City and heading back to Los Angeles.
In the storyline, Noah informed his mother, Sharon (Sharon Case) and half-sister Mariah (Camryn Grimes) that he and Sienna made the decision to move back to the West Coast to put distance between themselves and Matt Clark (Roger Howarth). Although Noah did not say it was a permanent move, he did assure his mom that once Matt is hopefully gone from Genoa City they could return.
However, as previewed already on the video teaser for this week’s episodes of Y&R (see below), it appears Noah left Genoa City’s The Shadow Room to be run by a returning Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian). So with that, coupled with today’s episode, it would appear the move could wind up being more permanent.
Photo: JPI
COMINGS AND GOINGS
Adams made his Y&R debut on November 4, 2025 as the successor to Rory Gibson who last played Noah on-screen in April of 2023. Earlier in 2025, Gibson took over the role of Michael Corinthos on Genera Hospital replacing Chad Duell, who stepped away from the part after 15 years.
Braun who played Adam’s mother on Days of Our Lives when she was Ava Vitali and he was Tripp Dalton, first appeared on Y&R back on October 14, 2025, where we soon learned she had become Noah’s lover as the new character, Sienna Bacall. It should be noted, Adams was on contract with the number #1 soap, while Braun has been on recurring status.
With Josh Griffith now exited as head writer of The Young and the Restless, and the newly announced co-head writing team of Jamey Giddens and Dan O’Connor having taken his place and starting their new tenure this week, it will be interesting to see how the duo resets the show, and if a Noah and Sienna return is in the cards for the future or not.
So, what do you think about the seeming departures of Lucas Adams and Tamara Braun from The Young and the Restless? Weigh-in via the comment section. But first, check out our recent live chat with Tamara and Lucas on the Michael Fairman Channel.
Rosie O’Donnell revealed that she plans to head back to a seat at the table of ABC’s morning talk show The View.
The announcement came during Monday’s episode of The Tangle Podcast where she shared she will participate in “in whatever way they want” her or “just as a guest” for its upcoming 30th season.
The View’s season 30 will kick-off this fall in September. O’Donnell explained, “They’re bringing back all the hosts, I think. And, you know, I’m pretty proud of that show, what it’s become and how it really speaks to the people and to politics.”
Photo: ABC
ROSIE ON HER PREVIOUS GO-ROUNDS ON THE VIEW
As fans of The View know, O’Donnell famously had two different one-year stints on the talk show in 2007 and again in 2014- 2015. She often feuded with then co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck.
However, during her discussion with host, Kyle Ridley on The Tangle Podcast, O’Donnell also noted she often had tense moments with longtime moderator and anchor, Whoopi Goldberg.
O’Donnell also expressed, “Many, many people got the short end of the stick there. It was, you know, it was a factory where people were being churned in and out and their tenuous security, nobody got to be calm. It also was a show at the time that was run by a man. A show created by a woman, for women, about women, and the man was deciding what we should talk about. And that didn’t sit right with me, you know.”
Back in 2023, Brooke Shields had asked Rosie on her podcast, Now What? with Brooke Shields, about how she felt on her two stints at The View and all the controversy that surrounded it. Rosie at that time, stated, “I know this, it’s not the best use of my talent to get in a show where I have to argue and defend basic principles of humanity and kindness. It was not something I’d ever do again.”
You can check out the clip with Rosie and Kyle Ridley discussing her return to The View in some form for its upcoming 30th season below.
Then weigh-in: Would you be excited to see Rosie, even for a one-day or a week guest stint on the upcoming celebratory season of The View, or not so much? Let us know via the comment section.
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General Hospital Fan Club Weekend brought out many of your favorites to the four day event; with the main cast gathering on Saturday, August 1. Fans near and far attended the weekend held this year at the Burbank Marriott Hotel. Whether it be the main cast event or the smaller more intimate events featuring two or three cast members a great time was had by all.
Some of the cast participating in the main cast event included: Cyrus Hobbi (Yuri), Gary James Fuller (James), Bradford Anderson (Spinelli), Viron Weaver (Wiley), Paige Herschell (Jacinda), Chris McKenna (Brennan), Josh Kelly (Cody), Kayden Brenna Tokarsi (Scout), Cassandra James (Terry), Laura Wright (Carly), Dominic Zamprogna (Dante), Carolyn Hennesy (Diane), Rick Hearst (Ric), Adrian Anchondo (ex-Marco), and Chloe Lanier (ex-Nelle).
In addition to, Van Hansis (Lucas), Cameron Mathison (Drew), Ryan Paevey (ex-Cassius), Easton Rocket Sweda (Leo), Maurice Benard (Sonny), Kristen Vaganos (Molly), Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis), Kate Mansi (ex-Kristina), Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth), Cynthia Watros (Nina), Kristina Wagner (Felicia) and more.
Take a look at some of the snaps from the main event arrivals below:
Photo: HutchinsPhoroi
GH’s Rick Hearst with on-screen daughter, Kristen Vaganos, plus Nancy Lee Grahn, and Kate Mansi.
Photo: HutchinsPhoto
GH’s Maurice Benard on-hand to meet the fans.
Photo: HutchinsPhoto.com
Jack Brennan in the house … Chris McKenna.
Photo: HutchinsPhoto
Adrian Anchondo, Van Hansis and Anchondo’s boyfriend, Days of Our Lives, Colton Little.
Photo: HutchinsPhoto
GH’s Josh Kelly and his gal, the former Nelle Benson of Port Charles, Chloe Lanier.
Photo: HutchinsPhoto
Who is James’ father? Not Cassius or Spinelli, actually. Actors Gary James Fuller, Ryan Paevey and Bradford Anderson!
Photo: HutchinsPhoto
One of General Hospital’s newest cast members, Kayden Brenna Tokarski attends her first GHFCW event.
Check out some more arrival images featuring: Laura Wright (Carly), Cassandra James (Terry), Carolyn Hennesy (Diane) and more in the gallery below.
Michael Fairman TV will be adding more images to this post in the day ahead.
So, were you glad to see so many of your GH favorites attending this year’s General Hospital Fan Club Weekend? Let us know via the comment section.
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