Kiara Barnes Leaving THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL for FANTASY ISLAND!
Congratulations to actress Kiara Barnes, who has landed a starring role in FOX’s upcoming primetime reboot of FANTASY ISLAND, although this means that she is leaving the role of Zoe on THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL. “So… the cat is officially out of the bag!” she gushed on Instagram when the news broke at Deadline. “I’m so excited to be joining the cast for FANTASY ISLAND on FOX! I’m so grateful for everyone who made this possible. Dreams really do come true. Continue to believe and you will receive. Cheers to a new adventure!”
The reboot is maintaining the anthology format of the original FANTASY ISLAND series with three main characters who live and work on the island with a new guest cast in every episode. The island will be run by Elena Roarke, a direct descendant of the original Mr. Roarke. Barnes has been cast as Ruby Okoro, a young woman with an old soul who arrived on the island with a terminal illness but was given a new lease on life by Roarke and the island.
Barnes first joined the cast of B&B in July 2018 and her three-year run on the soap will be coming to an end in the first week of July 2021. “It’s been a pleasure having Kiara in the role of Zoe Buckingham on The Bold and the Beautiful,” said the soap’s executive producer and headwriter Bradley Bell. “I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”
Zoe Buckingham started off as a schemer trying to get back together with Xander, but over time became more sympathetic and found herself roped into her father’s lies regarding stealing Hope’s baby to sell to Steffy. After being romanced by Thomas as a way to get back together with Hope, a broken-hearted Zoe found solace with Carter, but soon screwed that up by turning her attention to Zende.
At this point, there has been no official word from B&B as to whether the character of Zoe will be recast with a new actress or if she’ll simply be written off the canvas. So keep checking back at SoapsInDepth.com for updates as they are announced, and keep watching B&B to see how Zoe’s story wraps up (or continues)!
