Ashley Tesoro (née Cafagna) was 15 years old when she joined B&B in 1998 as Kimberly Fairchild, Rick’s good girl love interest. Having just come off SAVED BY THE BELL: THE NEW CLASS (ex-Liz), her career flourished even more in daytime. In 1999 alone, she was named by Digest as one of Soaps’ Sensational Newcomers, Soaps’ Hottest Teens and Soaps’ Most Beautiful Women. At 18, she left B&B at the end of her contract and shortly thereafter, left Hollywood for good. Here, Tesoro shares the exclusive full story of her exodus and the new life she found in the ministry.
“Motherhood and ministry changed my life tremendously,” Tesoro smiles as she begins her tale. “I had just ended my time on B&B and I was reflecting on what I wanted to do. I was a Christian throughout my entire life. My parents put me in Christian school when I was 2 years old. My grandfather was a minister who used to do tent revivals with Billy Graham, and my great-uncle had a church where I worked on weekdays and sang gospel music on Sundays. Even on B&B, my faith and Christianity were very important to me.”
The actress quickly found her path. “A friend of mine who is an acting coach said, ‘You should come to this Bible study with me. A lot of Hollywood people attend, it’s with this young minister who’s 23. I think you’ll really like him.’ ” Like him she did; in fact, it was love at first sight for her and Anthony Tesoro. “I ended up marrying the minister!” she beams of their union eight months later. “We had a beautiful wedding at the Sherwood Country Club [in Lake Sherwood, CA]. It was like a fairy-tale.”
Though her personal life was at a high, she faced some tough times professionally after saying, “I do”. “I’ve never shared this before, but we suffered a lot of persecution because when I married, I was young and at the top of my career,” she explains. “I had offers to do other soaps and movies and modeling, and I decided I wanted to go to college. I wanted to go into the ministry. I wanted a family. I didn’t want to be in Hollywood anymore. I thought everybody would embrace this new adventure I was embarking on, but in fact, most did not, and I had people in Hollywood turn against me. My acting manager screamed at me when I told him, and sadly he passed away and I never had the opportunity to speak to him again. He’d known me since I was 10. I had family members turn against me. My Hollywood peers — girls I thought were my friends — turned against me. There were all these rumors where people were saying, ‘She’s a religious fanatic. She must be brainwashed.’ I couldn’t believe it. People didn’t want to be my friend. The door was shut!”
Tesoro’s new husband, a successful stockbroker from a wealthy family who left his father’s firm for ministry and charity work, fared no better in terms of the reception he received after pledging his troth. “To me, it was a match made in heaven, but the Hollywood people were attacking me over marrying a minister and sadly, a lot of Christian people started attacking my husband for marrying an actress,” she recalls. “We were getting attacked on all sides.”
Nevertheless, the couple ignored the controversy and began establishing their life together. An accomplished country and gospel singer, Tesoro continued to make music while the pair built their ministry. “We did have some supporters who mentored us and befriended us,” she acknowledges. In addition to fielding offers to preach throughout the U.S. and abroad, the Tesoros turned their Christian lifestyle blog into a blossoming web series, LIFE IS FOR LIVING. “All of a sudden, the general public embraced us,” she says. “Our channel received over 60,000 views, so we’re still growing, and eventually, we’d love to transition our show to television. We write, produce, host and edit the show. We do everything and we’re doing it from the ground up. We’re very proud of it.”
Tesoro says there was talk at one point of a B&B comeback, but it never came to pass. “I can’t tell you how many people ask, ‘Would you return?’ I always say yes, and I actually had a couple of meetings with Brad Bell [executive producer/head writer]. We had an extensive conversation about the possibility of returning to the show. I spoke with both Brad and Jacob [Young, Rick] about how to bring the character back. Kimberly was a pure and wholesome character, but eventually she turned a little dark. I think there has to be some character who stands for integrity and I don’t see a lot of that on the show anymore. I’m not saying let’s make her a Christian minister, but maybe she could come back having done some kind of philanthropy. I wanted to bring her back to her roots and said, ‘If you want a good, wholesome character, bring me back, but I can’t be parading around in lingerie and doing salacious love scenes. It has to be done a certain way.’ So, we were discussing it, and I was open and they were open. But, I don’t think it was something they wanted to embrace and it didn’t come together. I have a great respect for Brad and Jacob and still have very good working relationships with both of them.”
JPI
Despite the ups and downs she’s endured, Tesoro says that regret is not a word in her vocabulary. “I would do it all over again because of where I am today,” she declares. “I’m at peace with myself. I’m fulfilled in my life and I can honestly say, even though I went through some nights of crying, life throws us tests and that’s when we find out who we are. It’s made my husband and I better ministers. We have a deeper well and greater empathy and compassion to accept and love and reach out to people — and that’s the message I want to get across — there is life outside of Hollywood.”
Did You Know?
•Won the Little Miss California pageant at the age of 8.
•Besides singing on B&B, she recorded a self-titled EP in 2007, Oh You Angel in 2010, and in 2012, her third EP, Simply Worship, all on their Tesoro Records label. “I still consider myself a performer and entertainer, and they’re available on iTunes and Amazon.”
•She opened for Jackson Browne at a private event in 2010.
•Is well-schooled in martial arts and has trained in boxing, kickboxing and karate, among others.
Just The Facts
Birthday: February 15
Hails From: San Diego, CA
Marital Status: Wed husband Anthony Tesoro on September 30, 2001.
Babies On Board: “Gabriella turned 3 in November and [baby] Anthony turned 1 on Christmas Eve. He wasn’t supposed to be born until January 25, but came five weeks early. I woke up in labor saying, ‘Okay, we’re not having a Christmas Eve party tonight!’ ”
Hit The Books: Graduated with honors from the University Of Phoenix, with degrees in psychology and communications.
Official Web Site: www.ashleytesoro.tv
