Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan) and Taylor Hayes (Rebecca Budig) throw caution to the wind when they sleep together on the Friday, March 27 episode of The Bold and the Beautiful.
The moment unfolds after circumstances leave them with a window of opportunity. “Steffy [Forrester Finnegan, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood], Finn [Finnegan, Tanner Novlan] and the kids go out on a little camping trip,” sets up Rebecca Budig (Taylor). “Taylor knows she’s going to be alone at the house, and Deacon tells Sheila [Carter, Kimberlin Brown] that he’s going to go to dinner with Hope [Spencer, Annika Noelle]. He comes over, and that’s when they have some time alone.”
Taylor is aware that they’re playing with fire. Not only did she previously treat Deacon as a patient in her therapy practice, but he’s married to Sheila, whose volatile history makes any betrayal especially dangerous. “Taylor knows that she’s risking a lot by doing it,” Budig notes. “But Taylor and Deacon have had this underlying pull to each other that has been physical as well as emotional, so I think she really wants to explore that in the privacy of her home, where she doesn’t have to worry about someone coming in.”
Complicating matters further is Steffy’s strong opposition to any connection between her mother and her unpredictable mother-in-law. “It’s layered,” allows Budig. “Taylor has always been moralistic, so she’s been fighting the feelings. She understands the danger that she puts her family in and can see all sides. But the heart wants what the heart wants, so that’s probably the bigger piece for her, knowing that she hasn’t had this in a really long time, wanting that but also knowing that it affects a lot of people.”
Budig says she wasn’t initially aware that the story would lead Deacon and Taylor down such an intimate path. “Brad [Bell, executive producer and head writer] said to me, ‘I’m going to take some time with this story,’ so I didn’t know exactly where it was going to go or how it was going to go,” she says. “I knew that he was seeing how Deacon and Taylor would play out and I liked it. I thought there was a real conflict, and it was nice to play that. I didn’t know any of the other particulars about it or how we were going to get there with him being my patient, but that’s the beauty of a soap.”
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Curious about the past, Budig asked Kanan for insight into their characters’ shared history. “I asked Sean, ‘Did Taylor and Deacon ever have anything?’” she recalls. “He said, ‘Just a little flirtation once or twice. They never explored a relationship ever.’ I thought it was fun because the cast is so small and you end up intersecting with people multiple times, so I thought that was new and interesting and exciting.”
That sense of discovery carried over into their working relationship. Though both actors are soap veterans, their rapport developed naturally once they began sharing scenes. “I was familiar with Sean because we’ve both been doing this a really long time,” she says. “I knew him sort of peripherally, but I never really got to know him until I came to the show. But it’s funny, when you see people for so long you really start to think you know them. Luckily, Brad wrote this story and took a lot of time with it, and we were able to develop it slowly over time. It wasn’t like we had to instantly fall in love with each other.”
When it came time to film the pivotal love scene, Budig says the atmosphere on set was relaxed and collaborative. “God bless Brad for believing that a woman over 50 is still a viable, sexual being, because they are,” she says. “But it definitely gets a little bit more self-conscious as I’ve gotten older, because your body changes and it’s just not the same as when you’re 28 or 30, and you’re just like, ‘Oh yeah, sure, I’ll be in my bra and walk around.’ But what is great about working with someone like Sean, who’s a professional, is there’s no worrying. He’s a total gentleman. We’ve just done it for so long, so it’s like a dance that’s choreographed, and I’m with someone who knows how to sell it, and that’s all that I could hope for.”
Now comes the fallout, particularly if Sheila discovers the truth. “I think that there’s a part of Taylor that holds out hope that Sheila has grown and has changed,” points out Budig. “Sheila has shown signs of sanity with her, but also signs that she’s not so together either. So Taylor should fear for her life if Sheila finds out, for sure.”
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Nevertheless, Budig would welcome more scenes with Kimberlin Brown. “I love Kimberlin,” she enthuses. “I said to her, ‘We should be a throuple.’ I can’t say enough good things about her. She’s really fun to work with, and she’s really prepared, and she’s just a pro. She makes me laugh because Sheila is so funny. I just start giggling, and it’s so bad.”
That sense of enjoyment reflects Budig’s overall experience since joining the cast in 2024. “This is an incredible group to work with,” she praises. “I’ve developed wonderful friendships in the last year and a half. I’ve adored seeing Thorsten [Kaye, Ridge Forrester] because I’ve known him for so many years, and I love seeing him at work. I get to play with a group of people that are lighthearted and fun and serious about what they’re doing. And I say this a lot, and I say it with sincerity: Brad creates a community, and I think that’s really important, so I can be a mom and I can go and do what I love, and it’s amazing. I’m super thankful.”
As for what’s next for Deacon and Taylor, don’t expect an easy path forward. “They can’t really be together; they would have to do it the right way,” Budig teases. “I think this is more of a moment to be together, where they can be alone without the possibility of someone seeing them. It’s risky, but it’s just a risk they’re both willing to take.”
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