What Happened to Eric Forrester on THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL
As one of the soap’s original characters, Eric Forrester on THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL has had a lot of drama in his life. So let us run down some of the highlights (and lowlights!) for you! First appearing in B&B‘s very first episode in 1987, Eric has always been played by actor John McCook. He even brought the character over to sister soap THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS for multiple appearances over the years. McCook’s performances have earned him four Daytime Emmy Award nominations over the years, and he took home the trophy in 2022.
Eric Forrester was introduced with his marriage to Stephanie Forrester already on the rocks. She believed he was having an affair with his assistant, Margo Lynley, but it was Stephanie herself who introduced the “other woman” to their lives when she hired caterers for a party and one of them turned out to be Eric’s ex, Beth Logan! Eric left his wife for Beth but returned when he learned he had a long-lost daughter suffering from microcephaly. Stephanie had lied that Angela was stillborn to save him the pain of a disabled daughter. Unfortunately, the real Angela had died years ago, and the doctor had presented the family with an imposter.
After his son, Ridge Forrester, ended his relationship with Brooke Logan, Eric found himself drawn to the beautiful blonde. When Brooke found herself carrying Eric’s child, she considered terminating the pregnancy because he was technically still married. Stephanie was stunned to learn of the secret affair and Eric left her to marry Brooke. After they welcomed their son, Eric “Rick” Forrester, Jr., Brooke was drawn back to a newly-single Ridge, and she claimed to be carrying his baby, but Bridget Forrester turned out to be Eric’s. Although a relationship with Sheila Carter led Eric to walk down the aisle with her, she was a dangerous psycho, so that didn’t last long.
Eric was later shocked when Stephanie confessed to him that Ridge wasn’t his biological son. Massimo Marone was his father, from an affair she’d had. Though this caused some initial tension, Eric still favored Ridge over his biological sons, Rick and Thorne Forrester. Eric divorced Stephanie and remarried Brooke, but their takeover of Forrester Creations was thwarted when Stephanie learned she was actually the sole owner of the company! In the end, Brooke went back to Ridge, and Eric returned to Stephanie once more.
Stephanie’s scheming again drove Eric into the arms of another woman, this time Donna Logan. Stephanie and others plotted to break them up but it ultimately failed and Eric divorced her to marry Donna. After Eric had a heart attack while having sex with his wife and fell into a coma, it was revealed that he’d been poisoned. Although there were many suspects — and Owen Knight confessed to take suspicion off of Donna, who he was in love with — they learned it was Pam Douglas, who had drugged him to help her sister, Stephanie.
Business at Forrester was bad and Eric was constantly having to mediate between Ridge and Rick’s sibling rivalry. Bill Spencer managed to take over the company briefly, but the family managed to get it back. Eric’s marriage to Donna was strained by her working closely with her ex, Justin, and then when she wanted to press charges against Stephanie for accidentally causing her mother Beth’s fatal drowning. Realizing how strong the bond was between Eric and Stephanie, Donna divorced him. And when he learned Stephanie had stage-four lung cancer, Eric’s old feelings for her returned and they reconciled and remarried before she sadly passed away.
Although Eric regained control of Forrester Creations, he was despondent over the loss of his wife. He found comfort talking with Taylor Hayes, and that eventually blossomed into a romance. Brooke wasn’t happy about that development and tried to get rid of her, but when she found she was pregnant, begged Eric to claim to be the father so Ridge wouldn’t find out it was Bill. Eric declined, not wanting to risk his new relationship, and the truth ended up coming out anyway after Brooke miscarried. However, Taylor was upset that Eric had been keeping Brooke’s secrets, and their relationship fizzled out.
Amidst all of the constant power struggles at Forrester, Eric found himself drawn to Quinn Fuller, a new jewelry designer they were working with. The family was not thrilled when he went public with their relationship, citing all of the horrible things Quinn had done to hurt people in the past. But Eric defended her and even decided to marry her! After no one but Ivy Forrester attended their wedding, Eric lashed out at his ungrateful family and suffered a stroke. After he recovered, Eric learned Sheila was back in town and trying to turn over a new leaf. But she was just as scheming and exposed Ridge and Quinn’s affair to Eric, who moved out of the mansion and into a motel where she tried to get her claws into him. Eric presented Quinn with divorce papers but after she signed, he tore them up and accepted her apology. He even forgave Ridge!
Eric and Quinn’s marriage was on pretty solid ground for a while, but when Eric found out that she and Shauna Fulton had schemed together to convince Ridge he’d married Shauna to keep him away from Brooke, he kicked her out of the house. Quinn kept trying to apologize and didn’t help her case when she accused Sasha of being after Eric herself, but eventually, he forgave her.
However, Eric’s chilly behavior towards her, especially in bed, sent Quinn into the arms of Carter Walton and they eventually had a torrid affair! When their secret was revealed during Quinn and Eric’s vow renewal ceremony, he once again kicked her out of the mansion and fired her from Forrester. However, he later tore up the divorce papers and asked her to move back in, explaining that his behavior had been because he was suffering from erectile disfunction and was humiliated he couldn’t satisfy her anymore. Quinn promised it didn’t matter and vowed to make their marriage work, but was stunned by his later suggestion that she continue to seek sexual satisfaction from Carter!
Katie Logan tried to figure out what was bothering Eric and eventually he confessed the truth, begging her to keep it quiet. Of course, the truth quickly came out and Eric found himself defending his scandalous decision to his family! Realizing he’d made a mistake, Eric recommitted himself to Quinn, who grew jealous when Donna used some honey to remind Eric how passion felt. When Quinn demanded Eric fire Donna, she quit to save him the pain. He also urged Brooke to fight for her marriage to Ridge when they encountered difficulties.
Quinn was proud of her husband for going to the club to play pickleball, not realizing that the exercise he was getting was actually having a passionate affair with Donna! Feeling guilty, Eric eventually tried to call it off but couldn’t tear himself away from Donna… although that all changed when Hope saw them together and confronted him about cheating on his wife!
Eric decided to tell his wife their marriage was over, but before he could, Quinn caught him in bed with Donna! After an emotional conversation, Eric urged Quinn to go stop Carter’s wedding so she could be with the man she really loved. Eric also brought Donna back to Forrester Creations. He invited Thomas to live at the mansion while he and Hope argued over custody of Douglas, but after Thomas’ scheming against Brooke was revealed, Eric brought the family together and ousted him from the company.
In the summer of 2023, Eric proposed designing a new legacy line with Ridge, but his son blew him off. Feeling like he was being pushed out of the company that he created himself, Eric became determined to create a final show-stopping couture collection with no help from Ridge. Unfortunately, a degenerative disease made it difficult for Eric to hold his hands steady enough to draw, so he enlisted his grandson, RJ, to help out. When Ridge caught wind of this, he confronted his father and the two men agreed that they would have a fashion face-off to see whose line reigned supreme.
As Eric created his collection, his health continued to worsen, and when he was given only months to live, threw himself into his work. Donna urged him to tell the rest of the family about his condition, but he didn’t want their pity. After winning the fashion face-off (because Ridge lied about the results, having learned of his prognosis), Eric celebrated his triumph and immediately began another collection. With the family now knowing about his condition, they urged Eric to rest but he insisted it was only his work keeping him alive.
Stay tuned to B&B to see what happens next!
