What Happened to Ridge on THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL
Ridge Forrester has been through a lot of ups and downs on THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL (including being tossed out of a helicopter!) so despite all the trouble that comes his way, the guy is definitely not one to give up. The character was introduced when B&B first premiered in March of 1987 and was played by actor Ronn Moss up until 2012 (with a brief fill-in from Lane Davies in 1992). Ridge returned to the canvas in 2013 with Thorsten Kaye taking over the role, and he is still playing it today.
The oldest of Eric Forrester and Stephanie Forrester’s children, Ridge was also a talented designer and a major part of the family business, Forrester Creations. He fell in love with Caroline Spencer, but just before the wedding, she found out he’d had a last-minute fling and broke up with him. As she married his brother, Thorne, Ridge fell for Brooke Logan. She became pregnant but miscarried their child and while Brooke was recuperating, Ridge slept with a drunk Caroline. Realizing they still loved each other, Caroline and Ridge reunited and tied the knot, but she was later diagnosed with leukemia and passed away.
Caroline’s dying wish was for Ridge to find happiness with Brooke, but she had already moved on to his father, Eric. So Ridge decided to romance Caroline’s doctor, Taylor Hayes. Brooke and Taylor clashed over who should be with Ridge, but then Taylor was presumed dead in a plane crash. Brooke was engaged to James Warwick, so Ridge crashed the wedding and stole her back. After Brooke and Ridge were married, Taylor turned up very much alive, and although he initially chose to stay with Brooke for the sake of their kids, Ridge eventually returned to Taylor.
Hoping to make Ridge jealous, Brooke got engaged to Grant, and they actually ended up getting married when Ridge didn’t make it to the wedding in time to stop it. Later, Grant was shot, and Ridge took the blame to protect the real shooter, Rick Forrester. When Ridge was released, Taylor wanted to tell him she was pregnant but found him in bed with Brooke. So she claimed Thorne Forrester to be her babydaddy not realizing that Brooke had staged the scene after Ridge turned her down. Eventually, the truth that Thomas was Ridge’s son came out and Ridge returned to Taylor. They later welcomed twin daughters Steffy and Phoebe.
Ridge’s ex, Morgan DeWitt tricked him into getting her pregnant, but she lost the baby after a fight with Taylor, so she kidnapped Steffy and claimed her as her own. After Ridge saved his wife and daughter, Taylor was killed by Sheila Carter. Then Ridge learned that his real father was actually Massimo Marone. When Ridge was kidnapped by Sheila and presumed dead, a grieving Brooke slept with his half brother, Nick. So when she gave birth to R.J., it took a while before everyone discovered Ridge was the boy’s father.
Brooke waffled between the two men, but after she left Nick for Ridge, Taylor returned from the dead again. Stephanie faked a heart attack so Ridge would obey her dying wish to remarry Taylor, and even after her scheme was exposed, Ridge still went through with it. But learning that she’d lied about sleeping with James, he quickly dumped her to go back to Brooke. However, she decided to marry Nick instead, leaving Ridge broken-hearted. (Literally — he had a heart attack!)
After Nick left her for Bridget, Brooke wanted Ridge back, but he was in a relationship with Ashley Abbott. However, Ridge reunited with Brooke after she was raped. When Rick and Taylor had a brief fling, it led to a fight between Rick and Ridge that ended in Rick falling off a building and being temporarily paralyzed! Ridge and Taylor grew close again after their daughter, Phoebe, was killed in a car accident. But Brooke arrived at their wedding on horseback to interrupt and Ridge went back to the blonde again. The waffling between Brooke and Taylor finally came to an end when they remarried in 2012, but on their honeymoon, Ridge got fed up with her constant lies and opted not to return to Los Angeles with her, leaving Thomas in charge of Forrester in the meantime.
Ridge returned home in 2013 and tried to reconnect with Brooke, but ended up with her sister, Katie Logan. Bill Spencer took this opportunity to woo Brooke and even got her to walk down the aisle with him. But Ridge stopped their wedding in Abu Dhabi when he learned Bill had a one-night stand with Quinn Fuller. In retaliation, Bill ordered Justin to dump Ridge out of a helicopter into the Persian Gulf! Brooke found Ridge alive, but with memory loss and now unable to draw. Over time, Ridge found he was able to sketch again inspired by Caroline Spencer. This soon led to an affair that cost Ridge the CEO position. But when a jealous Rick became more and more unstable, culminating in shooting at Ridge and Caroline, Ridge used that as leverage to take over Forrester.
When Ridge learned he could no longer father children, he tried to break up with Caroline so she could be with someone who could give her a family. Devastated, Caroline got drunk and slept with Thomas, getting pregnant. Ridge revealed he couldn’t possibly be the father and Caroline confessed to her fling with Thomas. Ridge agreed to keep the baby’s paternity a secret, but after Douglas was born, the truth finally came out, and he set Caroline free to make a family with Thomas.
Ridge once again interrupted Brooke’s wedding to Bill to woo her back, and they got engaged at Christmas. There was a slight hiccup when he found himself drawn to Quinn, but Brooke forgave the minor indiscretion and they were remarried. Unfortunately, Bill continued to be a thorn in Ridge’s side, leading to constant arguments between the two, and even a fight that saw Ridge tossing Bill over a balcony! Ridge even interfered in Will’s custody battle to ensure that Katie got the boy instead of Bill. Brooke stood by Ridge’s side throughout all of this, but it was the return of Thomas that caused a rift between the two.
After it was revealed that Thomas had manipulated Hope into marriage and lied to keep her from learning her daughter was alive, Ridge found himself defending his son. Naturally, Brooke took Hope’s side, and the two reached an impasse. Ridge drowned his sorrows and Shauna Fulton helped him get into a bed to sleep it off. Nothing happened then, but Shauna became smitten with the designer and after Brooke gave Ridge back his ring, he kissed Shauna!
Ridge and Brooke continued to be at an impasse because while she took Hope’s side, Ridge refused to believe the wild accusations against his son. Although he recanted when Thomas’ machinations were finally exposed, Ridge and Brooke’s reunion party was spoiled when a digital picture frame given as a gift broadcast video of Brooke kissing Bill planted by Quinn! Brooke insisted that the kiss meant nothing, but Ridge was furious and went to Vegas in pursuit of Shauna.
Shauna plied him with liquor and the two enjoyed a night on the town before Brooke sent the pilot to retrieve her husband. Upon his return, Ridge agreed to work through things with Brooke but their reunion was spoiled when Shauna returned and revealed that while in Vegas, he’d divorced Brooke and married her! Ridge managed to convince Brooke he only loved her, but when he overheard Bill professing his love to the blonde (egged on by Quinn!), he allowed himself to seek comfort with Shauna.
Quinn continued trying to keep Brooke and Ridge apart, but it was doomed to fail. Katie overheard her and Shauna discussing how the whole Vegas wedding was a lie, and told Ridge, who had already decided he wanted to go back to Brooke. Ridge was also dealing with Steffy’s drug addiction and Thomas’ head injury at the time, so he was grateful when everything seemed to calm down and he could spend some quality time with Brooke!
After Ridge joined Brooke in helping Eric and Quinn reconcile, they were naturally upset to find out that Quinn was having an affair with Carter… that Eric was okay with! Then, Ridge was furious to learn that Hope had invited her father, Deacon Sharpe, to visit when he was released from prison. He even tried to force her to move off the property if she insisted on having her father around! Ridge clashed with Brooke over Deacon and opened up to a recently-returned Taylor about the drama. When he returned home on New Year’s Day, Brooke confessed she’d fallen off the wagon and he supported her recovery. However, when he found out that she’d also kissed Deacon that night, Ridge flew into a rage and attacked his rival! He walked out on Brooke and once again turned to Taylor.
Brooke offered Ridge a painless divorce, but while he insisted the only life he wanted was with her, he still went and kissed Taylor. However, she slowed things down until he figured out what he really wanted, and Ridge ultimately went back to Brooke. After Finn was killed and Steffy was shot, Ridge helped confront Sheila to have her arrested for the crime, and was shocked to learn Sheila was also behind pushing Brooke off the wagon. He shared the news with Brooke, who invited him to come home to her, but he decided to stay at Eric’s… at least until she broke her ankle and he moved back in to help care for her.
Ridge and Taylor worried about how Steffy was dealing with her grief and were stunned to learn that Finn was actually still alive. In the joyous moment, they shared another kiss that left lingering feelings. When he confessed the moment to Brooke, she forgave him, but still worried. As Steffy tried to push Ridge and Taylor to reunite, he also found himself at odds with Brooke over what was best for Douglas. And when he believed that Brooke had called Child Protective Services on Thomas, he decided to follow Taylor to Aspen and declare that he’d chosen to be with her!
After convincing Taylor that he genuinely wanted a future with her and only her, Ridge went to Brooke to have her sign papers annulling their marriage. She still had no idea why he left her, and Ridge never actually explained. He then proposed to Taylor and they rushed down the aisle, but the wedding was interrupted by Steffy, who revealed that Thomas had called CPS on himself using Douglas’ voice-changing app to frame Brooke! Ridge was stunned and blasted Thomas for his manipulation as well as Taylor for not speaking up herself after she’d found out. Ridge went to Brooke to apologize, and she accepted but told him she deserved better than someone who didn’t believe in her. So Ridge decided to take some time to get his head together.
In March 2023, it was revealed that Ridge was back in Los Angeles and secretly working with Bill to trap Sheila in a confession and take her down permanently! While their plan succeeded in getting Sheila locked up, she was soon released on a technicality. Ridge and Brooke began rekindling things which naturally made Taylor jealous again. Although Ridge tried to distance himself from the drama, while the Forresters were in Rome on business, he was reminded that Brooke was his destiny and they reunited.
When RJ returned home, Ridge pressed his son to use his artistic talents to design for Forrester Creations. Ridge also turned down Eric’s suggestion that they create a new legacy line and was taken aback when his father accused him of devaluing him and declared he’d create the line without him. As tensions rose between the father and son, they decided to settle their dispute on the runway in a fashion face-off. Ridge was excited when the results made him the winner, but he lied and said Eric was the victor after learning that his father was dying.
As Eric’s condition worsened and landed him in the hospital on the verge of death, Finn proposed an experimental surgery to save his life but Ridge wanted his father to die with dignity. He eventually agreed to the procedure but worried his father wouldn’t be the same man. Thankfully, the surgery was successful and Eric assured Ridge he was happy to have more time with his family.
Stay tuned to see what happens next!
