Remember When: The Bold and the Beautiful's Ridge found out he wasn't a Forrester

On The Bold and the Beautiful, the family that plays together stays together! At least, there had always been an undercurrent of that tendency in our fictional Los Angeles, with brothers marrying the same woman and paternity tests meaning fathers had to hand over daughters to sons. But, in the current shadow of Finn revealing to Luna that he's her pop, not her cuz – because he slept with his adoptive auntie – it's time to revisit B&B's biggest son switcheroo that led to its most pseudo-incestuous pairing of them all! Don't worry, Finn – you ain't got nothin' on this daddy debacle!

The beginning of the Forrester fatherhood fracas on The Bold and the Beautiful

Back in 2001, Stephanie's old college chum/lover Massimo Marone came to town and began spending a lot of time with her, which caused a rift in Stephanie's marriage to Eric. The ever dutiful – and ever hot-tempered – Ridge ranted to Massimo that he needed to step off. But instead of leaving it at that, Ridge grabbed a sword off of Massimo's desk and ended up slicing himself with it so badly that he required hospitalization...and a blood transfusion. That's our Ridge; cooler heads prevail and all that.

The Forresters lined up to donate the red stuff, especially Eric – but that's when a doctor took Stephanie aside and revealed that there was no biological way Ridge could be Eric's son, because their blood types didn't match. Stephanie did some math with her back history and realized the only other man she had been with before Ridge was born was Massimo, with whom she'd spent a night ahead of solidifying her relationship with Eric. Stephanie had honestly thought she was carrying Eric's baby, but she begun acting so spooked that Massimo threatened to use his considerable resources as a shipping mogul to unearth what she'd been hiding. So she confessed that he, not Eric, had fathered Ridge. Massimo was stoked to have a son (this was before Nick started sniffing around), but Stephanie told Mass to keep his trap shut so as not to blow Ridge and Eric's worlds apart.

Now, if this storyline had run today, everyone would have known the truth outside of a month. Maybe a week. But oh, for the slower soap pacing of yesteryear. This was one time when Father's Day sprawled out over a year and a half...and deliciously so.

Massimo complied with Stephanie's zip-it order, but inserted himself further into Ridge's life – in a roundabout way – by hiring Ridge at Marone Industries, this after Brooke fired Ridge from Forrester for always clashing with newbie businessman Rick. Massimo had not only shared Stephanie's bed but her gift for interfering in her children's love lives; unable to knock Brooke out of the married Ridge's orbit with Taylor still alive, Mr. Marone doubled down once his one-night stand, Sheila, accidentally made Taylor's heart go nite-nite with a gun. (Or at least, everyone thought Taylor had dirt napped.)

As the calendar flipped over to 2003 and the gang was hanging out in Portofino, Italy, Massimo got so frustrated by Brooke's staying power that he bitched to Brooke's daughter Bridget, letting the truth fly out of his mouth that he was Ridge's father. This is where ish gets weird. (You thought it was weird before?)

See, Bridget spent part of her childhood thinking she was Ridge's daughter, then thinking she was Ridge's half-sister. But with Ridge cut off from the Forrester bloodline, Bridget put it together that she and Ridge were no longer related at all. So what did the young med student do? Start crushing on her former daddy/half-bro, of course!

Massimo was all for it at first if it meant pushing Ridge toward any woman but Brooke, but the day came when the situation warranted Massimo telling Ridge the truth about his real paternity. Being the only other ones besides Stephanie and Massimo who knew the secret, Bridget and Ridge bonded, and, because Ridge never met a lady he couldn't toy with, he kissed Bridget as an “experiment”, which sent poor Bridget's hormones into overdrive. Eww. Did I mention eww?

When Stephanie got wind of the attraction that would make even Jerry Springer gag, she got together with Massimo and arranged for Bridget to attend a fancy medical school in Copenhagen. But the damage was already done – Brooke, who had learned about Ridge being Massimo's son, overheard Ridge and Bridget confessing beyond familial feelings to each other, right as Brooke was about to walk down the aisle with him...again. Brooke was so disgusted that she chucked her engagement ring at Ridge, and, because Eric wondered what the hell was going on, Stephanie was forced to tell Eric that he wasn't Ridge's father. The shell-shocked Eric came across Bridget and Ridge kissing some more and went nuts!

Not to worry. Bridget moved on with Ridge's half-brother, Nick (learned well from Ridge, didn't she!) – at least until Nick and Ridge ended up in a who's-the-daddy-go-round with Brooke (we're looking at you, RJ). Oh – and then Bridget married Nick...twice. You ever get the feeling that these Forrester family celebrations must get very interesting when they start breaking out the photo albums and home movies?

Ridge's not-Forrester status is rarely ever mentioned, to the point one has to wonder if B&B has quietly retconned itself. Steffy must not even know, the way she lords being a Forrester over everyone; Brooke certainly never corrects her! And Ridge better not even start about how icky it is that Finn porked his adoptive aunt! Because we have receipts. And, as you've now read, those receipts are longer than anything CVS can print out.

You've just Remembered When about Ridge's daddy issues and his consanguineous candooling! (Only now learned the word “consanguineous” myself during this writing; who says soap operas aren't educational!) Would you like for Massimo to return (as a recast, since original portrayer Joseph Mascolo has passed on) and clean up this mess? Should it come up more often that Ridge, Steffy, and Thomas aren't Forresters, but Marones? Draw your family trees in the comments below!

To find out more about the Dressmaker and his, ahem, colorful romantic history, check out Ridge's character profile.

Watch The Bold and the Beautiful weekdays on CBS or stream the show on Paramount Plus.