‘Bold And The Beautiful’ Halts Production For Second Time, What Will Change With New Date

After a brief return to the set on June 17, production on the CBS soap “The Bold and the Beautiful” has been halted once again due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. However, the cast and crew of the daytime drama should be back at work soon, as this temporary delay will not last as long as the original shutdown.

According to Variety, the soap will once again resume production on Tuesday, June 23 and will start prepping new episodes for fans for the first time since March. However, the choice to suspend production once again after just one day back on set was born out of a need to ensure the safety of those working, which, according to an Instagram post, included Don Diamont (who portrays Bill Spencer) and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (who portrays Steffy Forrester).

“We have paused very briefly to modify our testing protocol to better accommodate the large volume of testing needed,” a source told the publication in a statement. “Safety remains our top priority as we continue to move forward with the production of ‘The Bold and the Beautiful.’ ‘B&B’ filmed with cast and crew today and it was a successful first day back at work.”

However, expanding the testing protocol isn’t the only wat the show will be taking precautions when it comes to doing things safely. In addition to frequent testing, there will be an on-set coordinator to oversee safety, mask requirements when not on camera, and making sure the number of people on set at one time is staggered.

However, many had raised questions on how the cast would be able to film scenes requiring intimacy between characters. Soap operas, in particular, are known for frequently showing those kinds of scenes in their shows, which air new episodes five days a week under normal circumstances. On June 16, Executive Producer Brad Bell told The Hollywood Reporter that the show was going to employ techniques involving the actor’s real-life off-screen partners when it came to safely filming required scenes.

“...[Actors will] shoot eight feet apart, following all safety standards, but use the tricks of the business. We’ll hoot one side of the couple in a romantic scene alone in the room, but looking at a spot very close to them, and then shoot the other side alone. When we edit it together, it will look like they’re nose to nose,” he said.

“It will increase post-production. We’re also bringing in, in some cases, the husbands and wives of the actors as stand-ins for their [characters’] significant others. So if you see hands touching faces in close proximity from a wide shot, instead of a stunt double we’ll have a love-scene double, where it will be the husband or the wife doing the actual touching,” he added. “...And we’ll probably be using some of the classic, old-fashioned tricks of soap opera, where when things heat up, we pan to the fireplace or pan to a candle to indicate things are getting hot.”

In terms of real-life partners for the actors on-screen, it could mean that when intimate contact is needed, it could mean partial cameos by other famous actors, including Susan Haskell (Marty on “One Life to Live”), who is real-life partners with Thorsten Kaye (Ridge), Kelly Kruger (Mac on “Young and the Restless”), who is married to Darin Brooks, and Chad Duell (Michael on “General Hospital”), who is dating Courtney Hope (Sally).

Should production run smoothly with the new episodes being taped and produced, fans could expect to see them airing as soon as July. In the meantime, the daytime drama will continue to re-air old episodes as part of its theme week programming.