Imagine The Bold and the Beautiful minus manipulative, scheming, controlling and to most of us, evil, Forrester matriarch, Stephanie. If you were Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang), that would be tantamount to paradise or nirvana. But for the soap's avid viewers, it could mean a gaping hole where the show's longest-serving and arguably most effective villain used to hold court.
Yes, it's true – fans of The Bold and the Beautiful must brace themselves for the inevitable departure of Susan Flannery, the lady who has breathed life into Stephanie Forrester for the last 20 years. The 68-year old actress has expressed her desire to retire soon, during a recent interview with an Australian news program.