Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
Bill’s dismal love life has taken a turn for the better since he reconnected with long-ago fling Poppy. This week, Bill and Poppy take the next step forward in their rekindled romance and head to the bedroom at the beach house. “They’re gonna get down to business!” winks Don Diamont, Bill’s portrayer.
But as things heat up between the duo, they don’t actually have the privacy they think they do. That’s because another pair of lovebirds, R.J. and Luna, are also getting romantic … also at the beach house! “They believe that they are alone in the house, obviously,” Diamont explains. “And then Poppy hears something out in the living room and she’s like, ‘Wait — that’s my daughter!’ Bill is like, ‘Get outta here, nobody’s out there!’ But lo and behold, she was right.” Her suspicions are verified via a text from Wyatt, who reveals that he’s rented the property to R.J. “Bill check with Wyatt and gets confirmation from Wyatt and Bill’s like, ‘Ah, great.’ ”
Needless to say, the realization that her daughter is in the next room spoils the mood for Poppy. “Poor Bill,” sighs Diamont. “I mean, I don’t know what he’s been doing off camera, but if we just stick with what’s been on camera, it’s been a long time [since Bill has gotten some action]. Let’s not forget that this guy was introduced to the show as the ultimate Lothario, the ultimate billionaire playboy. Honestly, I don’t even think Bill even cared! ‘Lock that door. Let ’em listen, let ’em hear it!’ Poppy is much more wound up about it than Bill.” But Bill capitulates when Poppy insists that they have to make themselves scares. “Bill is like, ‘Oh, okay, let’s go. Fine, let’s get out of here.’ ” So, Bill and Poppy scramble to sneak out and elude detection by Luna and R.J. “It’s very funny,” says Diamont of how the scene unfolds. “It’s charming and sweet.”
Though Bill and Poppy succeed in exiting the house without drawing attention to themselves, they are unable to make a clean getaway when Luna looks out the window and spots them on the grounds. When the four characters come face to face, reports Diamont, “It’s not obvious, certainly, what was happening [between Bill and Poppy in the bedroom]. Poppy is more uncomfortable than Bill. He’s uncomfortable for her, because she doesn’t want her daughter to know, but what does he really care? But he is able to kind of play it off and gives an excuse. ‘Yeah, I was just showing her around, showing her the house, it’s so beautiful and I thought she’d like to see it.’ They don’t know that we were inside the house. So, it’s a bit awkward, but not terrible.”
Once Bill and Poppy are alone again after having successfully deflected suspicion, he makes it clear that he’s eager for a raincheck. “One hundred percent,” chuckles Diamont. “He is very into her. He feels everything that he felt all those years ago,” when he met Poppy at a music festival and was instantly smitten, “and he’s just absolutely thrilled that she has walked back into his life.”
Diamont is likewise delighted to see his character with a new pep in his step courtesy of Poppy. “Bill’s been in such a shut-down place,” he observes. “With the Katie thing falling apart and his misguided attempts with Brooke and then Katie at the same time, he was just not in a good place. And this is kind of an awakening for him.”
