Two-time Emmy nominee Ashley Jones is heading back to The Bold and the Beautiful as Bridget Forrester, the scandal queen who split town last year after giving birth to her father-in-law's baby. She begins shooting the CBS soap the week of September 12 and hits the air October 18.
"It's been so weird turning on the TV and seeing my B&B family and not being a part of it," says Jones. "I'm really excited to go back because there's so much history to play." And how! Bridget will return from an extended stay in Hawaii with her young son, Logan, the product of her one-night fling with Owen (Brandon Beemer). Her ex-husband Nick (Jack Wagner), to whom she was married at the time of the sordid incident, has been lady-less since Bridget fled town.
"I think the sky's the limit as far as story potential with Bridget and those guys," says Jones, who nonetheless will return to the soap as a non-contract player. And she's just fine with that. The actress, also known to True Blood fans as the shape-shifting Daphne, is one of the few daytimers who juggles a very busy career in primetime and she likes to keep her options open. On September 25, Jones will star in the Lifetime movie Secrets of Her Past — which she also exec produced — about a gal who's been hiding from mobsters for a decade. She has also landed a recurring role in the upcoming FX underworld crime series Outlaw Country, where she'll be seen as the trophy wife of the king baddie played by Oscar nominee John Hawkes (Winter's Bone). Plus, Jones and Christian LeBlanc (Michael on The Young and the Restless) will play the parents in the 2012 feature film Grave Secrets: Deadtime Stories, based on the popular series of kiddie fright books. If it clicks, expect sequels.
As for B&B, Jones says fans haven't let up on the possibility of a Nicket reunion. "They've been so fabulous about keeping the Nick and Bridget relationship alive by making
YouTube movies with footage from the show," says Jones. "They send me Twitter updates every day. It's been really incredible." True Blood devotees are equally hopeful Daphne will return to Bon Temps so she can resume her romance with Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell). But, with the help of fan fiction, they're not taking any chances. "The Sam and Daphne diehards just go out and create their own universe," says Jones with a laugh. "I was so surprised to find out my character got pregnant by Sam and then gave birth to True Blood's first shape-shifter baby!"