It’s been a heady time for Scott Clifton who, after snagging his first Lead Actor win at the Daytime Emmys on April 30, celebrated son Ford’s first birthday six days later. “Yeah, that was a cool week off,” he reflects. “To go from stealing the Emmy to getting off the grid right after on a three-day camping trip with no cell phone, no nothing, and then I came back right in time for Ford’s birthday. We threw him a big party with the family. They all wanted to hold the trophy and take pictures, which was fun. We had to move the Emmys, though. Those pointy wings are weapons! I still have two major cuts on my hand from that night, so they’re very high up now. I had a bookshelf that had spaces carved out for the two. Now that doesn’t work anymore, so I moved them to another part of the house that’s way more out of reach.”
JPI
Though he chides himself for doing it, Clifton can’t help but gush about his adorable boy. “I feel like I’m bragging and I hate that, but there are things about Ford that I can’t possibly take credit for in terms of his intelligence and his ability,” says Dad. “He’s been ahead of the curve every step of the way. Seeing him at his first birthday party successfully hitting the piñata? That was amazing. We have a Nest Cam, a bedroom nursery camera, and there’s an app on your phone where you can log in and see what the camera is recording. Well, Nikki was showing Ford the live feed of himself, and Ford was able to look at the phone, look around the room and locate the camera. He pointed to it! He could tell where the shot was coming from and he walked right over to the camera. He sure as hell doesn’t get that from me! He’s as physically capable as a 1-year-old can be. I moonwalked for him in the kitchen the other day and within an hour he was walking backward, trying to do it. I’m sorry. There I go again!”
The family’s three cats have also taken a shine to Ford. “You are touching on my favorite subject now,” Clifton grins. “Two of them find him fascinating and interesting and tolerate him, but they keep their distance. One of our cats, our girl, plays this game with him where she lets him chase her and when he gets about a foot away, she runs 10 feet away and then waits for him to catch up. Then, when he gets a foot away, she’ll move again. They do this time and time again, all around the house. The great love affair is with Walter White, who played Boo on our show [the rescue cat that Liam gave to Hope in 2014]. They are best friends. They are inseparable. They lay together. Walter cleans Ford. Ford pets Walter, and I have the video to prove it.”
When they’re not playing with their feline friends, one of Clifton’s other favorite father/son activities is taking Ford to the park. “Sometimes I do it five times a week,” he says. “First of all, it gives Nikki time to nap or do something for herself, which she doesn’t get to do when I’m at work. So when we go to the park, he flirts with all the girls and I’m like, ‘Ford, stop it,’ and it rubs off! We’ll come home and I’m like, ‘Nikki, if I weren’t married to you, I would be knee-deep in MILF territory thanks to this kid.’ ”
Discovering each new phase of development has been a revelation for the actor, who is an only child. “I never grew up around other siblings, so Ford is the first baby I’ve ever really had a relationship with,” he explains. Fortunately, he has some dads on the B&B set to help guide him. “Don [Diamont, Bill] is the guru of all parenting, especially for boys [since Diamont raised seven boys], so I’ve had the luxury of absorbing through osmosis a lot of fatherly advice from him,” Clifton relays. “Early on, I had entire conversations with him about diaper changing and bottle feeding, all of it. Thorsten’s [Kaye, Ridge] advice is more like [imitating Kaye’s brogue], ‘Quit your worrying. You’re so neurotic. Just stop it.’ I’ve got the best of both worlds.”
As for future family expansion, Clifton shares, “As an only child, yes, I got all the presents at Christmas but there’s nobody I got to share my childhood with, from a child’s point of view. So, I do want Ford to have a sibling. I just don’t want to have to parent that sibling. Dude, I am so not ready to do what we just did all over again. This has been the hardest year of my life.”
But one that has been transformative in ways he never could have imagined. “There’s no switch to click that turns you into a grown-up,” Clifton observes. “We’re all just faking it, aren’t we? I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel — but I know what I’m supposed to do, and you just fake it until you’re not really faking it anymore. It could be just me, but I bet that’s what happens with everyone when they become a parent. We all just fake it until we make it, and before you know it you’re an adult, and you don’t know when that even took place.”
Family Business
Clifton is planning ahead should Ford decide he wants to be an actor. “I’m building a dungeon right now just in case that happens,” he jokes. “He’s too bright to be an actor. I know that sounds funny but I actually mean it. I hope he wants to be a scientist or an engineer, somebody who changes lives or helps people in a tangible way, not just via entertainment. But that said, I would never tell him no. I don’t know what kind of father I’m going to be. When Ford is 5 years old, I’m 5 years old as a father, so there’s an evolution there. I don’t know where I’ll be then as far as personal ethics, so if he says, ‘Dad, I want to be an actor,’ I’m just going to swallow it and say, ‘Okay, if that’s what you want to do….’ But I hope he doesn’t [laughs]!”
Just The Facts
Birthday: October 31
Two Hearts: Clifton married wife Nikki on October 20, 2012.
Son Day, Fun Day: Son Ford Robert was born May 6, 2016.
Mom’s The Word: “Nothing I brag about in terms of fatherhood comes close to what Nikki does. It blows me away how she is with him and how much of her life energy goes right into him.”
Gone, Beard Gone: “I shaved it all off and I’m devastated. Ford hasn’t expressed much of an opinion but he enjoyed pulling on it and playing with it. The beard doesn’t hurt nearly as much as the hair when he pulls on it.”
Oh, Kaye: “Can you guess which castmate will drop everything and run over to Ford whenever he’s on set? Thorsten [Kaye, Ridge]. Thorsten is a big softie when it comes to little kids.”
Golden Moments: With his recent Lead Actor win at the 44th Annual Daytime Emmys, Clifton became the first man to win in all three acting categories, having previously won Younger Actor in 2011 and Supporting Actor in 2013.
