The Bold and the Beautiful Family Ties: Too close for comfort in L.A.

For over three decades, The Bold and the Beautiful has been famous for pushing the envelope when it comes to relatives (blood-related or not) becoming romantically involved. B&B fans have always viewed this as cringe-worthy, and we have to wonder what in the world the writers are thinking. Let's take a look at a few of these too-close-for-comfort pairings that we've witnessed over the years:

Ridge Forrester and Bridget Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful

The Bold and the Beautiful's Bridget (played by Jennifer Finnegan at the time) spent the first few years of her life thinking that her father was Ridge (played by Ronn Moss). When she was about four years old, she learned that Eric (John McCook) was really her father, and Ridge was her half-brother.

But when Massimo Marone (Joseph Mascolo) arrived on the B&B canvas, we were shocked to learn that he was Ridge's biological father, not Eric. After Bridget (who was about nineteen at the time) learned this stunning news, she started to develop romantic feelings for Ridge -- a man she spent most of her life viewing as her brother. She and Ridge even kissed a few times. We were all thinking, how does this make any sense? How could she suddenly feel attracted to a man who was family to her throughout her life?

Eric received a colossal shock when he spotted Ridge and Bridget kissing one day. We know how you feel, Eric! You just don't go from loving someone as your sibling to becoming physically attracted to them a month after you find out you're not blood-related after all. Only in soap land, we suppose.

Rick Forrester and Phoebe Forrester

Rick Forrester (played by Kyle Lowder at the time) has been involved with a long list of women over the years on The Bold and the Beautiful. But his involvement with Phoebe (MacKenzie Mauzy) was taboo and a definite no-no. After all, he grew up thinking Ridge was his half-brother, which meant that he viewed Ridge's twin daughters, Phoebe and Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) as his nieces. So, what the heck was he thinking, getting lovey-dovey with Phoebe after she grew up? Even though they weren't biologically related, he and Phoebe were still family, considering that he spent years believing that Ridge was his brother.

What's worse is that Rick later became involved with Steffy as well! He was in two relationships with young women who were technically his nieces. Even though we've seen this happen occasionally on other soaps, it isn't nearly as frequent as it is on B&B.

Rick's relationships with Phoebe and Steffy made him look like a hypocrite. When he first learned about his sister Bridget's romantic interest in Ridge, he gave her the third degree about how wrong she was for wanting a relationship with the man they were raised to believe was their brother. And yet, years later, Rick did the same thing when he became involved with the two young women who he always viewed as his nieces. Shame on you, Rick!

Thomas Forrester and Hope Logan

The Bold and the Beautiful's Thomas (Matthew Atkinson) and Hope (Annika Noelle) are arguably one of the most polarizing couples in the history of the show. Most B&B fans either love them or hate them. The ones who love them wanted to see them together because of their mad chemistry.

The ones who hated them had two reasons: First of all, they were step-siblings when Ridge was married to Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang). Second, Thomas kept the secret that Hope and Liam's (Scott Clifton) baby, Beth, was alive. It was hard enough for many fans to believe that Hope would forgive him for that, let alone that she would become romantically involved with him.

But after all that sizzle and passion that Thomas and Hope shared, it's a major downer for some of us Thope fans to see Hope married to Liam again -- a man who, oddly enough, she seems to have more brother/sister vibes with than she ever did with Thomas.

RJ Forrester and Electra Forrester

Now, it looks like we're headed toward "kissing cousins" territory on The Bold and the Beautiful, based on last Friday's sneak peek of this week's episodes. Electra (Laneya Grace) and RJ (Brayan Nicoletti) have been attracted to each other ever since they met. She looked like she totally forgot that she has a boyfriend, Will (Crew Morrow), and he looked like he didn't even care.

Judging from the fact that we learned they aren't blood-related cousins, from the lingering looks they exchanged, and from the sensual way RJ removed her necklace, we know these two are going to get romantic. But who knows? It may not go any further than the kiss we saw in the coming attractions, which was just enough to inject some much-needed conflict in her relationship with Will.

We still don't think RJ and Electra should be kissing, considering that they are cousins. But we've become accustomed to the fact that this is the way the B&B writers roll. In the real world, none of these too-close-for-comfort pairings would fly. But in soap land, we're supposed to suspend disbelief, which sometimes is darn near impossible to do.

For example, it was hard for many B&B fans to swallow the fact that Finn (Tanner Novlan) had a one-night encounter with his adoptive aunt, Poppy (Romy Park) -- from which she became pregnant with psycho Luna (Lisa Yamada). What kind of woman would sleep with her nephew, even though they aren't blood-related?

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Just remember, writers, that some of us have been fans since day one, and it isn't because of all the inappropriate and shocking pairings we've seen onscreen. It's in spite of them.

Catch all-new episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful weekdays on CBS and Paramount Plus.

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