Ridge Forrester From ‘Bold and the Beautiful’ Has Been on Quite the Ride

There are some soap operas that have been on TV longer than many of us have been alive. Their popularity doesn’t seem to waiver, even when streaming services came into play. The Bold and the Beautiful has been one that’s stood the test of time — having been on air since 1987. There are many characters on the show that have been around since the beginning and some that left years ago. One character — Ridge Forrester — has been a mainstay since the show’s inception… but what has happened to him has been a whirlwind.  

Ridge on The Bold and the Beautiful is the son of Eric Forrester and Setphanie Douglas, and is part of one of the main families in the fictional show. He has four half-siblings, and he’s always played as the favorite child, and his siblings knew this. In true soap opera form, it turned out that he wasn’t the son of Eric, but was actually the biological son of Massimo Marone, another major player in the show. 

Since the character first hit the show 33 years ago, he’s been on quite the ride and has had several twists and turns. Originally played by actor Ronn Moss from 1987 through 2012, and now played by actor Thorsten Kaye, after Ronn left the show, there have been some significant storylines in Ridge’s life. 

He lost his first wife to cancer, then thought his second wife, Taylor, was dead twice. He falsely plead guilty to murder to protect someone he loved, had a serious injury during a fist fight and had to change his career as a result. His daughter turned out to not actually be his, he divorced Taylor and married another woman, had twin girls, then had an affair, and was pronounced dead when he wasn’t actually so. 

In the current season, now played by Thorsten, Ridge is in the middle of a love triangle between Shauna and Brooke. They were at a reunion party after getting back together when their celebrations were spoiled by the secret that Brooke kissed someone else was exposed. 

After 25 years playing Ridge Forrester, Ronn Moss left his role and it was said to be due to salary negotiations. He was such a mainstay character and considered one of the “core four” because he was one of the original four who had been on The Bold and the Beautiful since the beginning. Rumors swirled that Ronn asked that his role on the show not be re-cast, but the producers of the show ultimately decided that Ridge Forrester was too important to the plotlines to be gone forever. 

There was also speculation that Ronn wanted to leave his role on the soap opera in order to persue his music career, as he was part of a band called Player. 

After leaving the show, he played the character of Ian in the soap Familie in 2015 and played the role of John Blackwell on the digital soap The Bay which airs on Amazon Prime.