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Y&R's Tracey E. Bregman on her doppleganger storyline!
Photo Credit: JPI Studios
Who doesn’t have a double? A false face? Or, some other bizarre facial reconstruction on the number one soap, The Young and the Restless? Well, add Lauren Fenmore, played by the veteran Tracey E. Bregman to that list. As it was revealed late last week, that Lauren has a double now, the evil Sarah Smythe, the evil sister of Sheila Carter, and Lauren’s long time nemesis. Bregman weighed in with TV Guide Magazine on the plot twist!
Bregman on being abducted year in and year out: “[Laughs] Listen, a year without being bound, gagged and duct-taped is just not a good year for me! You know how you do your yearly doctor’s exam and they tape you up for the EKG? They always ask, “Are you allergic to tape?” I tell ’em, “Only duct tape. It makes my face break out.” And they’re, like, “Whaaat?” I say, ‘Never mind, darling. It’s a long story.”
Bregman on Sarah’s evil plot. Is it to trade places with the lovely Lauren? “I think it’d be too easy to kill Lauren. Sarah really wants Lauren to suffer because Sarah has suffered so much. In Sarah’s mind, Sheila was murdered in cold blood by Lauren. Also, Sarah had to raise Sheila’s children because Sheila was always so obsessed with Lauren that she wasn’t around to raise her kids properly. You can just imagine what it would be like to be in a family with Sheila! Sarah never had any sense of personal power, she never had a real chance in life. So now, in setting up this revenge, she’s finally as powerful as Sheila was. Sarah’s initial goal is to make Lauren suffer by taking her place in her world, and letting her know it. But pretty soon that doesn’t become enough for her.”
News
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom on Working with TV Son Crew Morrow: ‘I’ve Always Wanted to Play an Overprotective, Overbearing Mother’ (Exclusive)
In an ironic twist of fate, and only in the soaps, The Bold and the Beautiful’s Heather Tom’s (Katie Logan) on-screen son is played by Crew Morrow (Will Spencer), the now 21-year-old son of her former TV brother on The Young and the Restless, Joshua Morrow (Nick Newman).
For those who have followed the six-time Daytime Emmy-winning actress’ career, Tom began on Y&R back in 1990 as Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) and Victor’s (Eric Braeden) daughter Victoria Newman. She played the role until 2003. Four years later, she joined the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful and has been there ever since.
Next month, at the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards, Heather might add two gold statuettes to her collection with nominations for Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama Series (which would be her record-breaking 7th for an actress), and one for being a part of B&B’s writing team.
Photo: JPI
WHICH MORROW IS IN THE ROOM?
In a new livestream conversation on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel, Heather recalled her reaction to seeing Crew Morrow on set when he started on B&B over two years ago, and pointed out the uncanny similarities between her TV son and her former TV brother.
“I just can’t even tell you how genetics is weird,” explained Tom. “Because it’s like they are the same person; the cadence and his voice and the way he laughs. When Crew was on the shows for the first couple of months, it would take me out of the scene. I would be like, ‘Oh. my God! It’s Joshua.’ It’s crazy. It’s so wonderful to have him. I love having him there. We’re so lucky to have Crew. I think he’s a wonderful addition to the Spencer family. I love that Bill (Don Diamont) and Katie’s son is on the canvas in a real way.”
In recent weeks, fans of The Bold and the Beautiful have seen a different side of Katie in regards to her son, Will. She simply does not approve, and does not trust Melissa Dylan (Sydney Bullock) as far as she can throw her. That puts wrinkle in the mother/son relationship.
Photo: JPI
HEATHER TOM IS THRILLED THE CHARACTER OF WILL SPENCER IS ALL GROWN-UP
“Honestly, I’ve been waiting for this story since Will was born,” exclaimed Heather “To be like the overprotective, overbearing mother, momma bear, I love it! I literally have been waiting for this story since the character of Will was born!”
As for Katie’s attitude which many feel may need an adjustment, Tom has it all figured out on how she is tackling her scenes! “I have all kinds of justifications for it,” reveals the multi-talented star.
Photo: JPI
KATIE SEES ALL SORTS OF RED FLAGS WITH DYLAN
“So it’s not just Katie being the b-word. It’s that Will, her son, whom she loves and supports so much, has been constantly saying about Electra (Laneya Grace), ‘This is the love of my life. She’s broken my heart. I love her. All I want yo do is get her back.’
“So I think Katie could be like, ‘Okay, well, Electra’s a little flighty, but my son loves her, so I’m going to try to support that relationship,” explains Heather. “In addition, Will has never told his mother, ‘I love Dylan,’ at all. I think Katie is thinking to tell Will, ‘You should run, not walk, from this girl who seems somewhat obsessed!’ I don’t know where they’re going with the Electra/Will/Dylan triangle, but I think Katie’s very focused on Dylan for a multitude of reasons.”
So, do you like seeing Heather Tom as Katie going into overprotective momma bear mode, now that the series has the major young love triangle between Electra/Will/Dylan? What do you think about the fact that Heather has been a long-running scene partner with father/son across two different soaps in Joshua Morrow and Crew Morrow? Let us know in the comment section, and in case you missed it, check out our full conversation with Heather below.
There was never any doubt that in watching the riveting and emotional scenes on General Hospital which featured Finola Hughes as a PTSD-driven and mentally tortured Anna Devane, that when the climatic moments in Anna’s story aired, that we would not be singing the praises of Hughes. Once again, Finola showcased why she is one of the soap opera genres greatest assets and actresses.
In the key scenes, Anna has had a complete breakdown as she has lured and cornered Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) on Mount Emerson, and even thought through how she would kill her and cover it up, all thanks to hearing the voice and seeing a dead man, Peter August (Wes Ramsey). It’s visions of Peter that keeps egging Anna on to pull the trigger on Britt while in her delusional state.
Before Britt realizes that Anna trapped her in meeting her in Mount Emerson, she is very confused as to why she was all the way out in the boondocks to talk about what happened to her brother, Cassius Faison. However, Britt soon learned that what Anna was about to do is personal, and not professional, as she pulls the gun on her.
Courtesy/ABC
ANNA FIRES HER GUN IN GAME-CHANGING MOMENT
When Jason (Steve Burton) shows up to save the say, he tries to talk Anna off the ledge, begging her to not shoot Britt and make one of the greatest mistakes of his life. When Jason figured out Anna felt she needed to kill anyone related to Cesar Faison, he made her think twice, because that would mean, she also would need to end the lives of two of Maxie’s children, James and Bailey Lu.
Anna can’t stop seeing hallucinations of Peter pushing her to shoot Britt. Suddenly and completely overcome, Anna fires bullets straight in the direction of where she sees Peter as she declares this all must end tonight.
After the shots are fired, Anna realized what she had done and just sobbed and shook. It was a devastating and heartbreaking moment for longtime General Hospital fans to see the beloved Anna Devane, super spy, so lost. Anna explained to Jason, after he was able to disarm her, how she was being pushed to kill Britt by her visions of Peter.
EMMY-WORTHY SCENES FOR 2027
In another hankie-inducing moment, Anna just grabs Jason and breaks down in his arms. If these weren’t Emmy-worthy scenes, we don’t know what is, and it must be remembered by Hughes, General Hospital, and hopefully the voting body of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) when Emmy submissions and voting get underway in 2027 for the 54th annual Daytime Emmys.
From everything we noted above, to the sheer brilliance of her work, Michael Fairman TV names Finola Hughes, this week’s Power Performance of the Week.
Now let us know, do you agree with our pick of Finola? Were you moved to tears during the gut-wrenching scenes? Should Finola include these scenes in an Emmy submission in 2027, should she decide to compete for Lead Actress gold? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
General Hospital
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo
The ratings are out for the week of August 24-28 for your favorite broadcast television soaps, and it was ABC’s General Hospital which added the most total viewers and planted itself firmly in third place in its battle with Beyond the Gates in the key demos of women 18-49 and 25-54.
According to Soap Opera Network, all daytime dramas were up year-over-year, and General Hospital was joined by The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful with gains in their total audience viewership, while Beyond the Gates was only slightly off pace for the ratings week.
Let’s take a look at what had viewers tuning-in, starting with General Hospital, who added +79,000 viewers. While still under the 2 million viewers mark (which they can hopefully return in the coming weeks) their overall tally was an average of 1, 935,000 tuning-in, while still up year-to-year +136,000.
GENERAL HOSPITAL
In addition, GH while actually down from the previous week in the 18-49 ratings share, they still out performed Beyond the Gates for third place. However, GH was firmly in third place for the 25-54 ratings share.
The stories that were featured for the week included: Anna’s (Finola Hughes) PTSD and struggle with painful memories tied to Cesar Faison, and her concocting a plan to get rid of Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) recording Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna) threatening her, and later running into a severe threat from Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) regarding Kai (Jens Austin Astrup) and Drew’s (Cameron Mathison) shooting, and Drew enlisting Ava (Maura West) to gain leverage over Jack, which resulted in Ava drugging him, while Drew went snooping for the evidence Brennan had against him.
Photo: JPI
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
Y&R remained in the top spot amongst all the soaps once again with 3,062,000 tuning in, and up +35,000 for the week, while year-to-year still showing strong gains at +231,000 viewers. However, while Y&R remained #1 for the 25-54 ratings share, it fell to #2 in the 18-49 ratings share behind The Bold and the Beautiful.
In story for the week, Nick’s (Joshua Morrow) sobriety in rehab was a focus, as was Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) hitting the Jabot office couch and having sex for the first time, and Lily (Christel Khalil) and Billy (Jason Thompson) battling over control and ownership of Chancellor Industries.
Photo: JPI
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
B&B is continuing to be inch closer to Y&R for the top spot, separated by a little more than 300,000 viewers. For the ratings week, the series posted a total audience of 2,719,000 adding +31,000 eyeballs overall, and like Y&R, is up year-to-year in its performance.
The CBS soap now , now in its 40th season is +217,000 from the same time last year. In the key demos, The Bold and the Beautiful was in the top spot for the women 18-49 ratings share and number two for women 25-54.
In story, the major threat to Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Finn (Tanner Novlan) and Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) and Daphne’s (Murielle Hilaire) marriages continued as Steffy and Carter swore they would not tell their spouses that the two had a drunken hook-up. But as viewers know now, Steffy is pregnant!
Photo: CBS
BEYOND THE GATES
Beyond the Gates tallied an average of 1,611,000 total viewers for the week, up +72.000 year-over-year and down slightly in tune-in for the week losing just -36,000 viewers. The CBS soap came in fourth place in the key demos for the week behind General Hospital, with whom they are often trading places for the third spot.
In story, after Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) was released from the hospital, Hayley (Marquita Goings) stuck to her plan, doubling down on poisoning him and even getting caught in a major lie or meeting with Randy (Maurice P. Kerry), as Vernon (Clifton Davis) may be on to her machinations.
The ratings report is generated from Nielsen (Live+Same Day Big Data + Panel) for the week of August 24-28, 2026
So, what did you think of the performance of General Hospital for the ratings period? Which daytime drama has you most likely to tune-in each day? Which has you tuning-out? Let us know what’s working, or not working for you in story, via the comment section below.
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom on Working with TV Son Crew Morrow: ‘I’ve Always Wanted to Play an Overprotective, Overbearing Mother’ (Exclusive)
‘General Hospital’s’ Finola Hughes Delivers the ‘Power Performance of the Week’
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo
Kelly Sullivan Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’s’ Maura West Recalling When Ava Shot Connie (Exclusive)
Steve Burton Reportedly Signs Three-Year Contract with ‘General Hospital’
‘General Hospital’ to Rebroadcast Special Episode in Tribute to Anthony Geary
Vivica A. Fox Exits ‘The Young and the Restless’ For Now to Film Netflix’s ‘Women Like Us’
Jess Walton Memoir ‘The Young and the Rest of Us’ Set for Release in 2027
‘General Hospital’s’ Braedyn Bruner Reveals Her Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and How Emma is Getting Her ‘Edge’ Back
‘General Hospital’s’ Bluesy Burke Marks 1 Year as Charlotte Cassadine: ‘It’s The Best Gift I’ve Ever Received’
Kelly Sullivan Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’s’ Maura West Recalling When Ava Shot Connie (Exclusive)
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Steffy Tells Carter She’s Pregnant, But He Has a Way ‘Out of This Situation For All of Us’
‘Beyond the Gates’ vs. ‘The Young and the Restless’ in a Soap Opera Showdown on ‘Flip Side’ Season 3 Premiere
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom Talks Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and What’s Behind Katie’s Deep-Seated Issues with Dylan (Exclusive)
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Do not tell me Y&R is going to do another plastic surgery story. I’ve waited to see who the villainess is and what a let down It’s just a repeat of the Emily/Patty story. C’mon! don’t tell me the writers can’t be more creative? And we certainly know Adam isn’t dead, because there really wasn’t closure on that story. It looks too easy and I’m not that naive….
If Maria Arena Bell does not get TVG”s Michael Logan’s not so subtle dig at her writing by comparing Y&R to Passions, then she’s completely in her own orbit. At least Passions had its insane brand of humor reveling in the ridiculous. MAB actually thinks this is a good idea. My goodness she’s ripping herself off! And could they actually rectify the Sheila situation instead of this Sheila sister rewrite. This is like the new trend in Daytime: the sudden sibling syndrome. B&B never mentioned a Bill Spencer Junior, and there he is. Same w/ this Sarah Smythe crap! No one can compare to Kimberlin Brown. Either have her return, or don’t even go down this path.
Bergman selling this by saying “Lauren was buried alive” is grasping for straws. Lauren can be a bitch and dump Michael, since they have no chemistry. This does not compare at all to Lauren vs. Sheila.
BTW Michael Fairman, you wrote that KKL, JM and SF were not granting interviews for the 23rd anniversary of B&B. Here’s KKL and JM’s interview.
https://tv.msn.com/bold-and-the-beautiful-cast/story/interview/ You should have interviewed them. I think you like Ashley Jones, but let’s get real, the only reason AJ has an Emmy nod as Y&R’s pale cry baby Megan Dennison is bec Y&R used the block voting strategy. And AJ would never be on B&B if Finnigan stayed. But granted the terrible writing on B&B and the way Bridget is portrayed, AJ is the better fit as Bridget. Finnigan would have unnatural Downe, scene chewing Wagner and craptastic Beemer for lunch. Please video interview KKL, JM, RM and SF. It would have been better if you interviewed them instead. Beemer cannot act his way out of ginch gonch tacky underwear. Although SJB is a Daytime Emmy winner, she’s completely not the right fit on B&B. Garies can be fun as bitchy Donna, but the writing has made her a simpering punchline. Your video interviews need important B&B cast members like JM, KKL, SF, RM and Tylo.
BTW, Y&R and B&B are abt to get even worse if the rumor pans out that Adrienne Frantz will be playing 1 twin Amber on 1 soap and 1 twin April on the other soap! How horrible is that?! Could you confirm this Michael Fairman? What are Brad Bell and MAB thinking?
B&B has never launched a successful twin storyline ever. They never should have killed off Caroline, the character w/ history on the show who was so popular that B&B was named “Caroline” in some coutries since they brought Joanna Johnson back to portray a boring missing twin. Phoebe was paired w/ Rick and Constantine, and then got killed off to usher in Steffy. Dumb HOwen’s even dumber twin Casper bombed so fast, he was off the air after a week!
Now they want to revive April and put her either on Y&R or B&B? April was a trashy redhead from Vegas w/ a Southern accent even faker than Rose’s joisey accent on ATWT. Brooke told her to get outta her mansion when she was crying abt ridge/bridget. April was never mentioned again. LOL! April was a complete trainwreck, if she ends up on Y&R or B&B, then MAB needs to hand the writing reins to Sheffer while Bell should let Mulcahey write B&B.
yes doe are the sreious!?!?!?! i was hopeing in some small way that they would bring back the old sheila as her [twin] sister……that would be more beleivalbe! and then go from there! I feel the same about adam although i did love the “back hand” from Victor!
🙂