NO MORE BOLD?
Forrester and Spencer staff react to Maya’s secret in telling ways.
Hi tvplus! Is it true that SABC is cancelling Days and Bold? – AYANDA MNCULWANA, VIA FACEBOOK
It looks very possible! The SABC is implementing major changes to their current line-up across all their channels from 1 July 2016. Their plan to increase local content on SABC1, 2 and 3 has already started and producers have been encouraged to approach with ideas for new shows. This will however mean an inevitable drop in international content, although they can only confirm next month what shows will be removed. As for much-loved soapies Days Of Our Lives (1965- current) and The Bold And The Beautiful (1987- current), SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago says, “We are communicating ideas on how to reduce international content and by the end of June [2016] we will issue a list of international shows that are in and those that are out, so Days might stay in and Bold might stay out or the other way around. We are getting local productions to replace these shows.”
NB!
The Bold & The Beautiful Weekdays SABC3 (*193) 18:00
As Maya’s (Karla Mosley) transgender secret slips out bit by bit, the way that people around her react will tell Bold fans so much about them – for good or bad. “The show is telling the truth and I love it so much. People will see themselves in reactions that people are giving Maya. It’s absolutely true to the transgender experience,” says Scott Turner Schofield, who plays Maya’s friend Nick. Here’s how they respond to Maya being born a man…
RIDGE
Forrester CEO Rick’s (Jacob Young) brother Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) dwells gloatingly on Rick’s inevitable fury when he finds out. On Wednesday 25 May, Ridge tells dad Eric (John McCook) and Rick’s mom Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) that Maya was born Myron in an effort to get them to exile Rick to Paris and avoid a scandal.
ERIC
On Thursday 26 May, Eric takes a sympathetic if superficial approach, saying, “A whole panel of doctors and psychiatrists have now signed off on her new identity. If she’s feminine enough for them, she should be feminine enough.”
BROOKE
On Thursday 26 May, Brooke stares at Maya’s face intently and says, “I know.” On Friday 27 May, Brooke tells Ridge, “It must be awful being uncomfortable in the body you were born with, fighting to be the person that you really are.” But she also calls Maya “Myron” to her face and tells her that Rick is going to find out that she’s “not a woman after all”.
WYATT
The second that Maya’s sister Nicole (Reign Edwards) tells Wyatt (Darin Brooks) her secret on Monday 30 May, he runs to brother Liam (Scott Clifton) and says, “I want the Spencer media empire fired up. I’ve got the secret! A scandal like this, you can’t imagine.” He’s all about gossip!
LIAM
Liam tells Wyatt disapprovingly on Tuesday 31 May, “Private business is private business.” He finds his dad Bill’s (Don Diamont) proposed “clever” headlines so distasteful on Wednesday 1 June that he threatens to quit, warning that exposing Maya would endanger her.
KATIE
Bill’s wife Katie (Heather Tom) immediately tells the Spencers on Wednesday 1 June, “This is a personal issue and we are not gonna go near it.” On Thursday 2 June, she warns Bill, “It’s not celebrity gossip. This is Maya’s story to tell.” She doesn’t stop until she sees Bill give the order to pull the story on Friday 3 June.
BILL
On Wednesday 1 June, publishing mogul Bill cackles with glee “Wait a second. Are you trying to tell me that Rick doesn’t even know he’s with a man?!” From then on, Bill spouts inappropriate headlines like “Rick Forrester gets a big surprise”. Bill pretends to pull the story but on Monday 6 June he tells his pal Justin (Aaron D Spears), “Forrester Family Matriarch Once A Man – now that’s a headline.” And on Tuesday 7 June, he adds, “We need to find a picture of her in pants.” His writers are so horrified by the angle that Bill’s going with for the story that there are walk- outs.
BUT WHAT WILL RICK SAY?
“I love particularly that Wyatt and his crew are being portrayed as villains,” says Scott. “It’s villainous to gossip about a transgender person’s identity in that way. It often leads to our deaths. That’s what makes Maya’s disclosure so terrifying. We know that she is going alone to the cabin at Big Bear (on Tuesday 31 May) with Rick to possibly reveal her reality and there is a lot of history behind her to say that she won’t make it back,” he adds. So we’ll be biting our nails for the one reaction that matters most to Maya – Rick’s – on Tuesday 7 June…