User:AJ9/Ridge Forrester and Taylor Hayes

AJ9/Ridge Forrester and Taylor Hayes
Occupation(s)	Fashion designer (Ridge) Psyciatrist (Taylor)
Years active	1990–2002, 2005–12

Ridge Forrester and Dr. Taylor Hayes are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. Ridge is portrayed by Ronn Moss and Taylor by Hunter Tylo. They are popularly referred to as the portmanteau "Tridge" in social media.

Development

Casting

Ron Moss portrayed Ridge since the series' beginning in 1987. Tylo joined the series as Taylor in 1990. She nearly left the series in 1996. Later that year, she did end up leaving the show to pursue a primetime role on the Fox television drama series Melrose Place. Her last air date was in May 1996. She was controversially fired due to being pregnant. In response, she sued Aaron Spelling and Spelling Productions, the executive producer of Melrose Place, for millions for unfair firing on the grounds of pregnancy. Her role was then taken by another Daytime actress, Lisa Rinna. Tylo won her case. In July, just a month later, it was announced that Tylo was to speedily return back to The Bold and the Beautiful. The show's head writer and executive producer Bradley Bell accepted pregnant Tylo back with open arms, and issued the following statement: "I am certain that Hunter's talent and ability will continue to be an asset to the show".

In 2001, the Tylo underwent lengthy contractual negotiations, and Bradley Bell was ready to write out Taylor; however relegated her character and her storyline to the backburner to focus on other storylines involving the Brooke-Deacon-Bridget love triangle instead of hers. In October 2002, it was revealed that head-writer Bradley Bell had made a decision to kill of Taylor, and Tylo was to leave The Bold and the Beautiful. In a statement on her official website, Tylo wrote: "It is with great sadness i have to tell you that Brad has decided to kill off the character Taylor. He feels the character is too good and has too much integrity to take her down other paths – in a word played out. I will not comment on this subject any further, nor will i be doing interviews about it. I will sign off now and wish you all lots of love. You are all great, and very special to me! Love, Hunter." Prior to this, Ron Moss said that the writers were considering pairing Brooke and Ridge back together, and let it slip that Taylor could possibly leave to make way for this. Her last air date was October 30, 2002.

In 2005 the show had confirmed that a character could be "coming back from the great beyond", hinting that two very notable characters could possibly return. It was speculated that either Macy or Taylor would be the characters returning. Tylo, who was returning, was said to be "having fun surprising her cast-mates", with her reappearance on set. In August 2012, it was announced that Moss had decided to leave The Bold and the Beautiful after 25 years of being on the series. He exited on September 14, 2012.

Love triangle

In 1991, John Goudas of The Gadsden Times, unaware of the love triangle between Brooke, Ridge and Taylor that would form over the next two decades, talked about the situation, writing: "Take this summer's love triangle between Ridge, Brooke and Dr. Taylor Hayes. Is Ridge just playing with Taylor, or does he mean it when he tells Brooke that he and Taylor will be married?" Goudas additionally said: "newcomer Hunter Tylo, new since June 90' as [Taylor] Is the odd women out in the bunch, bucking a close knit trio. Taylor is a beauty and strong enough to make her own demands on Ridge. There is no doubt she is hooked by Ridge, But Taylor won't marry unless he promises to never leave her for Brooke. That kind of promise is for the birds, but Taylor wants insurance." A bitter rivalry formed between Brooke and Taylor. Jamey Giddens of Zap2It said Taylor and Brooke have been enemies since 1990, having "fought over the affections of fickle fashion designer Ridge Forrester".

A writer from SoapNet categorized Taylor who "is less likely to use sex for selfish purposes" as the polar opposite of Brooke. Tommy Garret Canyon News noticed that half of the show's fans have supported Taylor in the famed love triangle since her beginning on the series, stating: "Brooke and Ridge have a rich and sensual back story that helped build the famed “B&B” history. But Taylor also is a confident woman who knows that she’s best for Ridge and so does at least half of the show’s fans."

Fictional history

Courtship and marriages (1992–2002)

Dr. Taylor Hamilton Hayes met Ridge Forrester when she served as doctor for his wife, Caroline Spencer Forrester (Joanna Johnson), who was dying with Leukemia. Caroline passed away and despite her wishes that Ridge reunite with his former love Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang), he chose to be with Taylor. The duo began dating. During this time, Taylor nearly fell for Brooke's brother Storm Logan (Ethan Wayne), but chose to marry Ridge. However, the couple faced multiple issues. This included Brooke teaming up with Taylor's mentally "unstable" ex-husband Blake Hayes (Peter Brown) to break them up. Blake and Brooke conspired to keep Taylor and Ridge apart. Taylor had enough and dumped Ridge. However, he followed her on her holiday to St. Thomas Island and they reunited; he eventually proposed and they became engaged.

Taylor and Ridge were married on April 29, 1992 during an elaborate ceremony. Brooke became pregnant, and Ridge or his father Eric Forrester (John McCook) were possible fathers. It appeared as if Ridge was the paternal father. When Bridget Forrester (Ashley Jones) was born, Taylor became very supportive and persuaded Ridge to be with "his" baby. However, Brooke even admitted to Taylor she was still madly in love with Ridge, angering her. After the baby was announced to be Ridge's, Taylor trusted him completely, which made Stephanie worried. Taylor also told Brooke that the baby would have two mothers and two fathers, Ridge, Eric, Brooke and Taylor; which made Brooke, who still wanted Ridge, extremely angry. One night in 1993, Taylor was trapped at the Big Bear cabin with her Psychiatric mentor James Warwick (Ian Buchanan) and they made love after he admitted he was a virgin and begged her. Brooke found out.

On business, Taylor set out on a plane trip to Morocco. The plane went down and she was presumed dead. Heartbroken, months later, Ridge reunited with Brooke. Taylor was later revealed to be alive, having been living with Prince Omar Rashid (Kabir Bedi) after amnesia. Omar developed an obsession over Taylor and briefly tried to keep her away even after her memory returned. Omar had even tricked her into marrying him. Taylor eventually found a file on her that Omar hid from her, and she remembered the past. She attempted to escape but failed, and when she called Forrester, she was hung up on when they told her that Ridge's wife was dead. Omar locked her up. Taylor was shocked to return and discover Ridge married Brooke; although he was still legally married to her. Again, the love triangle between Ridge, Brooke and Taylor returned as Ridge couldn't make up his mind on who to be with, because of "his" daughter with Brooke. However, in March 1996 it was revealed that Ridge wasn't actually Bridget's father.

Despite reuniting sporadically, Ridge and Taylor's first divorce was finalized in 1997. However, Taylor ended up pregnant with his son, while Ridge had returned to Brooke. Taylor decided to lie, with much convincing from Brooke, and say that Ridge's brother Thorne Forrester (Winsor Harmon) was the baby's father. She gave birth to their first child together Thomas Forrester (Adam Gregory). Insecure that Taylor would at any minute tell Ridge that Thomas (named after St. Thomas Island, the place where Ridge proposed to Taylor years earlier) was his son, so she faked a pregnancy. When Ridge discovered he was Thomas' father, he was angry at both Taylor and Brooke. He accused Brooke of faking her pregnancy and miscarriage to keep him, while also giving Taylor the cold shoulder for not telling about that he had a son. He ultimately made the decision to divorce Brooke and marry Taylor.

In July 1999, Taylor was pregnant for a second time. During her pregnancy, Taylor interacted with a man who had tuberculosis. He had a coughing spell on her. She became worried that her babies might be affected by his. She is alarmed to find out that the man died, and has a coughing spell herself. Eventually, Taylor was tested and later diagnosed with dangerous tuberculosis and it turned into a high-risk pregnancy. Taylor refused medication for her condition, wanting to protect the unborn babies. Medication would have caused risk. Eventually, Taylor gave birth to healthy twins, Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Phoebe Forrester (MacKenzie Mauzy). In 2002, Taylor was shot by Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown) and died days later after her heart failed.

Taylor's return and break-up (2005–present)

In 2004, Taylor's "ghost" visited Ridge. She told him that she is happy that he is with Brooke considering he can't be with her, and they watch their children together.

Reception

Taylor and Ridge's 1992 wedding was ranked 18 on The Huffington Post's "Top 20 Most Memorable Soap Weddings of All Time". Michael Maloney noted that: "You'd never know it by the characters' faces, but they were under a real-life pressure. 'B&B' shot this episode on the day of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles". The couple's romance has gained a following, and they are often named Tridge (Taylor and ridge) in social media. This name are used often on internet message boards and online forums. The love triangle between Taylor, Ridge and his other romantic interest, Brooke, is widely famous and from the early nineties has been considered one of the genres' greatest love triangles to date. Mark Larkin of the Daily Mail described the Ridge, Brooke and Taylor love triangle as "epic", having stretched across decades. Jamey Giddens of Zap2it stated that Steffy and Thomas: "grew up watching their daddy basically climb out of their mom's bed and right into the sack with" Brooke, "over and over again".