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Don Diamont Dishes His Bold and the Beautiful Love Life

Asses don't come badder than Dollar Bill Spencer. The cutthroat publishing mogul of CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful — played by Don Diamont — put an end to his marriage to Katie (Heather Tom) by bedding her sister Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang). Now he's about to rub salt in the wound by asking for Brooke's hand in marriage. On Monday, Sept. 30, she says yes! TV Guide Magazine spoke with Diamont, one of daytime's most popular and enduring stars, about this latest ticking time bomb. Is he ready for the fallout?

Michael Logan

Asses don't come badder than Dollar Bill Spencer. The cutthroat publishing mogul of CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful — played by Don Diamont — put an end to his marriage to Katie (Heather Tom) by bedding her sister Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang). Now he's about to rub salt in the wound by asking for Brooke's hand in marriage. On Monday, Sept. 30, she says yes! TV Guide Magazine spoke with Diamont, one of daytime's most popular and enduring stars, about this latest ticking time bomb. Is he ready for the fallout?

TV Guide Magazine: Would it be safe to say that getting fired from your role as Brad Carlton on The Young and the Restless was the best thing to happen to your career?
Diamont: That's the safest bet you could possibly make! Being on B&B has been the greatest professional experience of my life. I think [executive producer] Brad Bell saw I was being wasted at Y&R and had a lot of faith and trust in me. Susan Flannery [Stephanie] and Ronn Moss [Ridge] left a massive legacy at B&B and I feel honored and flattered that Brad saw me as that kind of power player. I take it very seriously. I so relish playing his guy!

TV Guide Magazine: Katie is going to freak when she hears about the engagement, right?
Diamont: It won't go over well! And it certainly isn't going to help smooth things over between the Logan sisters. [Laughs] But, as with everything else in life, Bill doesn't give a s--t what anyone else thinks.

TV Guide Magazine: Is this the real thing between him and Brooke or just hot sex?
Diamont: Oh, it's real all right. It's not just an affair of passion. Katie has daddy issues and she and Bill had a kind of paternal Svengali thing going on. It was John Derek-Bo Derek. She needed the all-powerful Bill Spencer to care for her and tell her she was good enough. Even now, when she's all "I am woman, hear me roar!" there's still that parent-child dynamic to their relationship. With Brooke, Bill may have found his soulmate. The audience needs to see that they share a genuine love and connection in order to root for them — especially after the mess that's been made.

TV Guide Magazine: Then what? Bill and Brooke start to build a life together and, just when things couldn't be better, Ridge suddenly returns?
Diamont: Bill can't be just another relationship for Brooke while she's waiting for Ridge to come back. In order for this to play out well, their relationship has to be just as strong as the one she had with Ridge. I'm not saying Brad is going to bring Ronn back, or do a Ridge recast, but if he does it really needs to leave Brooke torn. There seems to be a tremendous amount of fan support for Bill and Brooke right now, which is interesting. We're kind of at the point where the audience is split 50-50, which is the best you can ask for.

TV Guide Magazine: Ever worry about Bill being hated too much?
Diamont: No, because just when you think he couldn't be a bigger d--k you witness him in a vulnerable moment, maybe in a really loving situation with one of his sons, and you see he's a complicated guy who is wrestling with his emotions. For all his bravado he really is a very conflicted man. If our show was on cable, Bill would be Ray Donovan!

TV Guide Magazine: He's certainly become the Victor Newman of B&B!
Diamont: Only Bill has something Victor doesn't — sarcasm. And I love that about him. He can be such a s--t yet he's still got that sense of humor and a willingness to be silly. He can be genuinely endearing. [Laughs] What can I say? I like the guy.

TV Guide Magazine: Were you surprised he isn't a homophobe? His sister Karen [Joanna Johnson] went years hiding the fact she's a lesbian for fear of what Bill would do if he found out. But, when he finally learned the truth, he was totally cool with it.
Diamont: Now that would have pushed the audience too far if Bill had proven to be a homophobe. At least I hope it would have. He can be a real son-of-a-bitch about all sorts of issues but gay-straight? He doesn't care. Those were very beautiful scenes, I thought. And terribly sad and horribly painful because Karen lived so much of her life hiding her true self. There are many, many people out there who have lived — or are now living — that very same experience.  Bill doesn't suffer his sister lightly. He's not close with her and he's very competitive with her. But there was no judgment when it came to her sexuality.

TV Guide Magazine: And no good deed goes unpunished. When Bill fell for Brooke, Karen sided with Katie!
Diamont: [Laughs] I know, right? Bill even had a line to Karen where he said, "I supported you when you came out of the closet and now you do this to me?" So he's not so wonderful that he wouldn't throw it back in her face! Was he shocked at Karen's lack of family loyalty? No, but he was probably pissed he didn't see it coming. I wanted to throw in a line to Karen like, "Is there something going on here between you and Katie? Am I missing something? Are you dumping Danielle [Crystal Chappell] to go after my wife?"

TV Guide Magazine: Now that's the plot we really want to see!
Diamont: [Laughs] Me too! I don't know if Brad Bell would ever have the nerve to do it — but I totally wanted to go there!

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