As initially reported by Michael Fairman TV, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation recently held a live daytime drama casting directors panel which featured: Greg Salmon (The Young and the Restless), Marnie Saitta (Days of Our Lives), Christy Dooley (The Bold and the Beautiful), and Kim Coleman (Beyond the Gates).

The four soap opera casting directors traded behind the scenes stories, their process to help actor’s in the audition process, the most difficult and important recasts to their respective shows during their tenure, and the challenges of casting under-five roles, which surprisingly can harder than finding the series regulars.

When the talked turned to a major recast that Greg Salmon had to find it was to fill the shoes of Justin Hartley who exited the CBS soap to star on the NBC drama, This Is Us.  The role of the black sheep of the Newman clan was previously played by Chris Engen and Michael Muhney, before Hartley. Salmon knew they found their man to be the fourth Adam when Mark Grossman entered the picture.

Photo:JPI

THE SEARCH FOR ADAM NEWMAN

Salmon explained, “That was a really tough role to recast. Before Justin, there were two other people who played the part. Adam Newman is central to the show. This is Victor Newman’s son, so it’s an incredibly important character. I remember Mark came in and read with Eric Braeden (Victor Newman) and a few other members of the Newman family. His energy was just off the charts. It felt like this is how Adam should be. Eventually, I think the audience really accepted him. Mark has playing the role for several (7) years now and he’s completely made the role his own.”

However, in an ironic twist, it appears that Grossman came very close to joining Y&R’s sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful in the part of Thomas Forrester played most recently by Matthew Atkinson, and before that Adam Gregory and Drew Tyler Bell.

THE SEARCH FOR THOMAS FORRESTER

Responding to Salmon, The Bold and the Beautiful ‘s casting director Christy Dooley revealed that Mark Grossman was once in the running for the role of Ridge and Taylor’s son. “He tested for us,” she recalled. “Mark came in and read for the role of Thomas Forrester, and he was my choice for the role,” Dooley shared.

Dooley added, “The role wound up going to Matthew Atkinson. But then Mark came down (the hall) to read for The Young and the Restless.”

Fans of The Young and the Restless know that during his 7-years as Adam Newman, that Mark Grossman has become one of the most popular stars on the show. So it’s difficult to wrap you head around that B&B might have nabbed his first as Thomas, and if so, we wouldn’t have gotten to see him turn out those stellar performances in Genoa City .

So, what did you think of this casting tidbit? Could you have seen Mark Grossman as Thomas Forrester? Glad that Y&R had him firmly as their Adam Newman? Let us know via the comment section and you can check the full daytime drama casting director panel below.

Eva Basler, who served as the longtime communications executive for Bell-Phillip Productions’ The Bold and the Beautiful has exited the long-running soap opera after more than 20 years.

For over two decades, Basler was a key member of the behind the scenes team at the CBS daytime drama series. Eventually, she earned the title of VP Communications and Talent Relations for Bell-Phillip TV Productions, where she was in charge of publicity, marketing social media and more.

According to Deadline, Basler was one of several B&B employees who were quietly laid off recently from the company and that as a beloved member of the team, “worked tirelessly for the organization, even through illness.” In the last few years, Eva has been going through a difficult health journey, where the cast and production team had rallied around her.

Courtesy/CBS

In fact, Basler co-authored, along with Brad Bell (executive producer and head writer), The Bold and the Beautiful: In Celebration of Twenty Years on Television, a photographic look at the history of the soap released in 2007 for its 20th anniversary.

EVA BASLER’S IMPRESSIVE WORK IN TELEVISION

Before her long run at B&B, Basler’s TV credits began with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where she served as a publicist for the annual Oscar telecast for over 10 years. Later, she was invited by the producers of the inaugural SAG Awards and telecast to create and write their official rules. Her contributions to the industry also included her role as the Awards Show Consultant for the SAG Awards, where she oversaw the competition and managed the selection of third-party public relations firms.

In addition, Eva has been an active member of the Television Academy since 2000 where she currently serves as the Governor of Daytime Programming and has participated in the Executive, Primetime Awards, Daytime Awards, Budget, Governors Ball, and Creative Arts Committee, plus she chairs the Membership Committee. Basler led the Governor’s Award Committee for two consecutive years, during and was member of the National Awards Committee for NATAS, which manages among others, the Daytime Emmy competition,

Before coming to The Bold and the Beautiful, Eva was the publicist for the defunct NBC soap opera, Passions from its series launch in 1999 all the away through its conclusion in 2008.

In January 2024, Basler started a three-year term on the NATAS Board of Directors, making her the only person to serve simultaneously on the boards of both the West and East Coast television academies.

Upon learning the heartbreaking news of Basler’s exit, Cassandra Creech (ex-Grace Buckingham, B&B) took to her Instagram and shared, “This goddess…thank you Eva You see me. ​Beyond her immense gifts, she is someone who treated me with the utmost kindness and respect from day one. Working with someone of her caliber and character is a rare privilege, and her warmth at CBS meant the world to me. ​She is going to be a massive loss to the daytime community, where her presence always elevated the work. While this chapter is closing, her extraordinary talent ensures that whatever she does next will be brilliant. I am entirely in her corner and cannot wait to watch her next move. Ya’ll give this woman her flowers.”

So, share your thoughts on The Bold and the Beautiful’s decision to part ways with Eva Basler during their recent round of internal company layoffs, given her long-running tenure with the soap via the comment section below.

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As of Wednesday morning June 3, Spencer Pratt (Rich, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Hills et al), who is running for the mayor of Los Angeles, is firmly in second place behind incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in the primary election. Pratt has a comfortable 30% of the vote, ahead of City Councilwoman Nithya Raman at 22%. Bass has 37% of the city’s vote.

In Los Angeles, if no candidate receives more than 50% of all votes cast in Tuesday’s primary, the top two finishers move on to a runoff on November 3rd. The Democratic Bass has already achieved enough votes for the run0ff. Now, it’s a formality to sit-back and wait for the Republican Pratt, till all the votes are counted before he can officially be the runoff.

Pratt told KTLA, “I literally could not be more excited. I got in this because as a citizen I felt like my city failed myself, my neighbors, my family. Mayor Bass has allowed the city to become covered in potholes. Then there’s the moms who want to be able to go to the parks and not see anybody shooting up fentanyl with their pants off.

Photo: JPI

PRATT CRITICAL OF MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES KAREN BASS

The reality star has been critical of Bass when she was MIA during the LA wildfires where he lost his Pacific Palisades home. It was back in January that Spencer made it clear of his intention to throw his hat into the ring in politics:  Spencer expressed, “I’ve been in the public eye most of my life and there isn’t any dirt you can find on me that hasn’t already been aired. Seems like the only thing people don’t know is my voter registration, so here go: I registered Republican in 2020 and never changed it, and I wasn’t going to change it now just to check a different box. This is a non-partisan race – there will be no D or R next to my name. As Mayor, I will not serve either party. I will work with anyone who wants to help the City. No labels necessary.

FROM REALITY TO SOAP STAR TO AN LA MAYORAL CANDIDATE

Pratt rose to notoriety first appearing in 2005 as a friend of Brody Jenner on the reality series The Princes of Malibu, a series which Pratt, then co-created and executive produced. Later, in 2007, he joined the cast of The Hills, where he dated and eventually married Heidi Montag with whom he shared two children. Both he and Montag previously appeared on The Bold snd the Beautiful back in April of 2025, when they played guests at a Forrester fashion show.

B&B welcomed back reality star as Rich, when he appears on the January 28 episode in scenes with Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy Forrester) and Laneya Grace (Electra Forrester) as Steffy and Electra.

So, what do you think about Spencer Pratt’s bid to become the Mayor of Los Angeles? He would follow a long line of “celebrities” who eventually made into public office.