The Bold and the Beautiful star Rebecca Budig is ready to tackle Taylor Hayes

Rebecca Budig is the new Taylor on The Bold and the Beautiful, and she reunites with a former co-star and longtime friend.

The daytime world was shocked on August 6 when soap vet Rebecca Budig appeared at the end of The Bold and the Beautiful, playing a classic character the audience has known for more than three decades.

Taylor Hayes first entered the B&B scene in 1990 when she appeared as a doctor treating Caroline Spencer Forrester, who was dying from leukemia. At the time, Taylor was played by Hunter Tylo, who remained in the role on and off until 2019.

After Caroline passed, Taylor fell for Caroline's widower, Ridge Forrester. For the next 30-plus years, Taylor and Brooke battled one another for Ridge's affection as Ridge waffled back and forth between the two.

When Budig's Taylor made her debut, she was lurking behind a tree in Monte Carlo, watching Brooke and Ridge reaffirm their love. It looks like Brooke and Taylor will be at it again after briefly becoming BFFs last year when Krista Allen played the role of Taylor.

"Brad made it pretty clear that Ridge is the love of Taylor's life," Budig told TV Insider. "She's a psychiatrist, she's smart, she leads with her brain while Brooke leads with her emotions. So, I love that there are two different women in his life, and they each probably bring out something different in him. It's fun to play someone who's smart and has a passion for her family."

Budig is no stranger to soaps. She even got her start on The Bold and the Beautiful in a one-day role in 1994. The next year, she began playing a teenage Michelle Bauer on Guiding Light. Budig left GL in 1998, but a year later, she landed the role of Greenlee Smythe on All My Children, a character she played until 2011. In 2015, Budig found herself on General Hospital as Hayden Barnes. Hayden was written out in 2017, but she returned briefly in 2019.

Now, the actress gets to reunite with her former co-star Thorsten Kaye, who has played Ridge since 2012 and was an AMC leading man as Zach Slater. While they didn't work closely on AMC, Budig and Kaye have continued a friendship off-screen.

"He always texts me on my birthday because that's his mom's birthday," she said. "I've spent Thanksgiving with Thorsten, so I always have felt an affection and regard for him. He's super-talented and has that ability with just about anyone to make them feel comfortable and welcome and supportive. I felt that immediately and he was so great."

Will this new incarnation of Taylor give Brooke another run for her money? If so, we expect the catfights to begin again soon.

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Should Taylor find someone new or keep fighting for Ridge? Are you interested to see what road her character will take under the care of a new actress? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.

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