What Happened to Taylor on Bold and Beautiful — Her Wild Life Story Revealed

Taylor Hayes has come and gone from Bold and Beautiful a lot, so it’s understandable if viewers might need a little refresher on the character’s epic history on the soap. The beautiful psychiatrist was introduced to B&B back in June 1990 when Hunter Tylo joined the cast. She played the role until 2002 when the character was killed off. After a brief return as a ghost, Taylor reprised the role permanently in 2004 (in a shocking return from the dead the soap went out of their way to keep secret), making her last appearances in 2014. But she made another surprise return (though not from the dead this time) in April 2018 and continued stirring up drama for about a year before leaving the canvas again. In October 2021, it was announced that the role was being recast with Krista Allen, who remained with the soap until November 2023. Then, in August 2024, B&B surprised viewers with Taylor’s latest unexpected return, this time played by Rebecca Budig!

A renowned psychiatrist, Taylor counseled Ridge Forrester and Caroline as they dealt with her leukemia diagnosis. After Caroline’s death, Ridge was drawn to Taylor, who was seeing Storm Logan. The shrink turned down Storm’s proposal and began dating Ridge, eventually marrying him in 1992 despite Brooke’s best attempts to split them up. A year later, while trapped in a cabin during an avalanche, Taylor slept with James Warwick so he wouldn’t die a virgin. Taylor was then presumed dead in a plane crash, and Ridge went on to remarry Brooke.

In a bizarre twist, Taylor survived the crash but suffered from amnesia. She was rescued by Prince Omar Rashid and made his wife in Morocco. Taylor managed to escape and returned to California, where she posed as a British nurse caring for a temporarily blinded Ridge before finally revealing herself.

But Ridge and Taylor’s marriage soon fell apart, and he returned to Brooke. So when she discovered she was pregnant, Taylor let Thorne Forrester claim paternity instead. But after Thomas’ birth, Ridge learned the truth, and they remarried. The following year, Taylor gave birth to their twins, Steffy and Phoebe. Tragically, in 2002, Taylor tried to save Eric from Sheila Carter, only to be shot by the psycho! She survived emergency surgery but ultimately died in Ridge’s arms.

Despite appearing to her loved ones as a ghost, Taylor showed up in the flesh at Bridget and Nick’s wedding and revealed that she had been abducted by Prince Omar again and kept alive in a coma until she had fully recovered. Ridge found himself torn between the women in his life, but Stephanie Forrester faked a heart attack and begged him to choose Taylor over Brooke. However, after Taylor kissed Hector and confessed to her long-ago infidelity with James, Ridge dumped her.

Taylor began drinking heavily and, while driving to pick up Phoebe on the Pacific Coast Highway, accidentally struck and killed Thorne’s wife, Darla! After an ill-fated relationship with Thorne, Taylor fell in love with Nick Marone, and they conceived a child, Jack, through in vitro fertilization. Unfortunately, Taylor was crushed to learn that a mix-up at the lab caused Brooke’s eggs to be used, meaning that the boy was biologically her rival’s!

After an affair with Rick, Taylor divorced Nick and then ended up marrying Whip Jones. She also bought 25% of Forrester Creations and signed those shares over to her daughter, Steffy. Whip dumped Taylor when he realized she was still in love with Ridge, and the shrink flitted between Ridge, Thorne, and briefly, Eric Forrester. At Brooke’s birthday, Taylor revealed that her rival had cheated on Ridge with Bill Spencer and then abruptly left town. In 2014, it was revealed that Taylor had reunited with Thorne and was living with him in Paris. After a brief return to Los Angeles, the couple returned to France, where they ultimately broke up.

The next time that Taylor returned to Los Angeles, she revealed that she had actually come back for a visit a little while earlier — on the night that Bill was shot! Distraught over how Bill had destroyed her daughter’s life, Taylor took revenge by putting a bullet in his back! Although Steffy convinced Bill not to press charges against Taylor, the shrink was still overwhelmed with fear that her crime would be exposed. 

Although she was supposedly in therapy, Taylor continued to act emotionally, supporting Steffy’s adoption of a second daughter and pushing her to steal Liam away from Hope. She even helped pay for the adoption of Phoebe, not realizing that the infant was really Hope and Liam’s daughter! When she welcomed Thomas home from New York following Caroline’s death, Taylor also began pushing him and Hope together, which just reignited her ongoing rivalry with Brooke.

Taylor surprised her family when she came home to stay in December 2022, and offered Ridge a shoulder to lean on as he opened up about Brooke accepting Deacon back in their lives. And when Brooke fell off the wagon and kissed Deacon on New Year’s Eve, Taylor offered Ridge a place to stay while he got his head together. Although Steffy and Thomas were excited that their parents might get back together, Taylor slowed things down with Ridge after a passionate kiss.

Taylor was horrified when Steffy and Finn were shot, and while her daughter barely survived, her husband had died. When a despondent Sheila tried to throw herself off the hospital roof, Taylor tried to talk her down and nearly fell off herself until Sheila pulled her back up. However, after it was later revealed that Sheila was behind the shooting, Taylor joined Steffy and Ridge in setting her up to be arrested. She also found herself connecting with Deacon Sharpe as they vented together about Brooke and Ridge.

Taylor and Ridge went to France to see Steffy and were stunned to learn that Finn was really alive. In their excitement, the pair shared a passionate kiss. Although they tried to put it behind them, Steffy was determined to reunite her parents and enlisted Thomas to help. As the love triangle started up again, Taylor found herself clashing with Brooke more, so she decided to remove herself from the situation and leave town. Steffy invited her to come to Aspen to check out a property that Bill was selling, and she agreed.

Ridge followed Taylor to Aspen, where he declared that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Initially reluctant, she finally caved, and they planned another wedding. But on the day of the ceremony, Taylor learned that Thomas had framed Brooke for calling CPS on him so Ridge would dump her. She kept quiet and was going through with the union, so Steffy revealed the truth, and Ridge went running back to Brooke! However, when she turned him down, Ridge left town to get his head together, and Taylor and Brooke decided they’d be better off as friends!

Taylor was horrified to learn that Bill had fallen in love with Sheila and blackmailed Steffy and Finn into not pressing charges against her, threatening to turn Taylor in for shooting him. She offered to turn herself in, but Steffy talked her out of it. Brooke supported Taylor through this crisis, and the women deepened their friendship. And both of them were stunned when Ridge showed up and revealed that he’d never really left town but had been working with Bill on a sting operation to trick Sheila into confessing her crimes so she’d rot in prison forever!

When RJ returned home, Taylor worried that it would bring Brooke and Ridge back together again. So she tried to tempt Deacon to rekindle things with Brooke. Taylor and Brooke then clashed over Hope and Thomas’ relationship. And when Deacon made his play for Brooke and she knocked him back, he admitted Taylor had put him up to it. And after Brooke caught Taylor badmouthing her to Ridge, that unlikely friendship was dead in the water. Also, Ridge reunited with Brooke, leaving Taylor out in the cold. She offered her kids some life advice and warned Deacon not to trust Sheila as she’d made that mistake herself in the past.

After November 2023, Taylor wasn’t seen or heard from again until August 2024, when she stopped spying on Ridge and Brooke in Monte Carlo long enough to call Steffy and tell her she was on her way home! Once back, she got caught up on recent events and was horrified that Hope had kissed Steffy’s husband. And after Steffy was rescued from being abducted, Taylor went back to work, warning Hope to keep her distance and urging Brooke not to let her daughter follow in her adulterous footsteps.

Taylor insisted she had come home to be with her family and admitted to Ridge he would always be the love of her life. And then it became clear what was really going on when she informed Dr. Li Finnegan that a doctor in Europe told her she had heart failure and was dying! Taylor swore her to secrecy, but when Ridge found her passed out, he insisted she come clean. Ridge took Taylor to see Dr. Grace Buckingham for a second opinion, and after doing some tests, the cardiologist diagnosed her with broken heart syndrome.

Eventually accepting her new diagnosis, Taylor even allowed Ridge to introduce her to a spiritual healer who helped her get in touch with her emotions. It also created an intimate moment between Taylor and Ridge, which made Brooke jealous! When questioned, Taylor insisted to Brooke she didn’t need a man to be happy, but after the coup at Forrester, she happily offered Ridge a shoulder to lean on when he felt betrayed by Brooke!

As 2025 began, Ridge asked Taylor to move into the mansion with him, and they officially reunited. She also supported Steffy as she wrestled with the revelation that Luna was Finn’s daughter. After catching Brooke at work waiting to model some new lingerie for Ridge, Taylor put the kibosh on that being part of his job description. During a fashion show, Taylor went to tell Brooke off, and they got locked in the room together. They were released in time for Taylor to fume as Brooke walked the runway in the showstopper as Ridge watched admiringly. 

Taylor supported Steffy when she revealed that Liam had an inoperable brain tumor, but also found time to warn Brooke that she was never getting back together with Ridge. When Nick showed up for a visit, Ridge groused to Taylor about his half brother, and she worried their old rivalry over Brooke might restart. So she surprised him by popping the question, and he accepted.