Bye-bye, Bold
After 30 years of soapie drama, Bold & Beautiful has been unceremoniously dumped at the altar. Here’s a look back at our favourite catfights, weddings and moments, plus a peek at what South African fans will miss.
Social media blew up like a Forrester holiday get-together that’s been gate- crashed by a relative returning from overseas when the SABC revealed that it is pulling the plug on The Bold & The Beautiful, having aired the soap since 1988. As of Friday 1 March, the Forresters and their frenemies will be a thing of the past on free-TV.
THE TRUTH
Rumours sprung up after the soap was omitted from an online schedule, although SABC3 refused to comment. After digging and prodding our source, we got confirmation that the channel was indeed dropping the soap from its line-up indefinitely. No one expected this, since Bold & Beautiful has featured on SABC schedules since 1988, first on SABC1 and then SABC3 since 2013.
WHY, WHY, WHY?
Speaking to tvplus, SABC Channels Head of PR Zandile Nkonyeni revealed that “the decision was taken to stop The Bold due to the high cost maintaining the soapie on the channel and the decline in viewership. It is also part of our turnaround strategy for the SABC”. Fans have been speculating that the move from SABC1, where the soapie had a massive following as the channel has the biggest footprint in the country, also led to its shrinking viewership. For the time being, the 17:30 slot will be filled with pre- election specials and repeats of older shows. And if you wondered, there’s no news as yet of other free-to-air channels picking up the soap as e.tv did when SABC3 ditched Days Of Our Lives (1965- current) in 2017.
BUT…
If you’re a DStv subscriber, you can still catch Bold on Eva (channel 141) on the DStv Family, Compact and Premium. They are four years behind the US.