When the state of California lifted its restrictions on filming last month due to the coronavirus pandemic, the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful was among the first TV productions to begin filming, just five days after the restrictions were lifted, according to The Hollywood Reporter. After halting filming in March, like all other TV and film productions, the series resumed production on June 17, however, after several false positives for COVID-19, producers halted filming once again in order to modify their testing protocol and accommodate the large volume of testing that was necessary.
Executive producer Bradley Bell (The Young and the Restless) has said that the show has ensured that social distancing procedures will be maintained at all times, even during filming, and editing will be utilized to make the actors appear closer together. Bell has also said that “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,” via The Hollywood Reporter.
The soap opera focuses on the wealthy and glamorous lives of the families involved in the Los Angeles fashion industry, specifically the Forrester family and their company, Forrester creations. The show first aired in 1987 and has since produced 33 seasons, each with around 250 episodes.
It is said that new episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful will begin airing on July 20, just a month after the show restarted filming. Two new cast members will also be introduced, including Tanner Novlan (My Best Friend’s Christmas) and Delon de Metz (Before the Border). Novlan will make his debut on July 23, playing the role of Steffy’s, played by Jacqueline Macinnes Wood (Final Destination 5), doctor John Finnegan. Meanwhile, De Metz will make his show debut as Eric Forrester’s, played by John McCook (My Blood Runs Cold) grandson named Zende Forrester Dominguez.