PLAYING DOCTOR
Robin Givens (Sierra, RIVERDALE), who will be seen later this spring starring in OWN’s upcoming new prime-time sudser AMBITIONS, enjoys popping in to B&B as ever-busy obstetrician Dr. Phillips. “I had so much fun doing that,” Givens enthuses. “It’s so funny because my mom always wanted me to be a doctor, and I actually wanted to be an ob/gyn, and she said that I should have been more specific with God because I said, ‘Mom, I’m finally a doctor!’ but I didn’t become a doctor — I was a doctor on TV.” As for memorizing and understanding all of the tricky medical jargon that the role required, Givens reports, “Thankfully, they always have people there on set if you have any questions — and I was amazed because they used real babies in the scenes, these beautiful, brand-new babies who can only work like 15 minutes at a time. It was such fun. They’re a good group of people. They really made it a pleasurable experience.”
COUPLES CORNER
Robert Scott Wilson (Ben) and Victoria Konefal (Ciara) learned all about the power of “Jarlena” fans when DAYS ran the favorite couple contest on the DOOL app back in February. “Obviously, everyone loves John and Marlena,” acknowledges Wilson. “They have been the iconic king and queen of this show for many, many years. For us to be in the same field as them was great. We were kicking ass by a lot. We were actually beating them all the way through until the last day. Then something happened.” Namely, “Jarlena” fans. “I don’t know, man. It’s sketchy,” says Wilson. “No, I’m just kidding. Those guys stepped up. The John and Marlena fans let it be known loud and clear that they are not ready for ‘Cin’ to take over everything just yet.” How did Wilson and Konefal feel about taking second place? “I’m not going to lie,” declares Wilson. “We were pretty bummed. Because I was like, ‘Man, we’re winning by hundreds of thousands of votes.’ Then, all of a sudden, I was like, ‘Wait. What?’ There was nobody even in our path and then they came up and won. They hit the gas on us, and it’s cool. If we’re going to lose, I don’t mind it being to Marlena and John. That’s good company to be in, and I’m grateful to be a part of it. But I think next year we’ve got them, no matter what.”
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
Tracey E. Bregman (Lauren, Y&R) learned the meaning of Southern hospitality after purchasing a home right outside of Nashville, TN. “They are beyond amazing,” she marvels of her new neighbors, some of whom are country music stars. “When it was raining, three neighbors saw that UPS was leaving boxes for me, but out on the road, so they put everything in this screened-in porch at my house, then unpacked boxes and made sure that everything was fine. That was so unbelievable. It’s like I have earth angels. When I’m there, many of the neighbors don’t know me and yet they reach out to me on Facebook, ‘Hey, do you need anything?’ ” Bregman admits she wasn’t so sure about her decision to put down stakes there initially. “I got this feeling to go to Nashville and that’s why I have a place in Nashville,” says the actress. “I kept asking myself, ‘Why am I here?’ Now, I shake my head all the time because it’s so wonderful and unbelievable.”
VISITATION RITES
GH fans wondered why Maxie never paid an on-screen visit to Lulu when her bestie was recovering from nearly being stabbed to death by Ryan — and according to Emme Rylan (Lulu), so did she and Kirsten Storms (Maxie). Appearing on Digest’s podcast, Dishing with Digest, Rylan reported, “If you’re watching the show and you’re thinking, ‘Where is Maxie?’ we’re saying the same thing. We totally agree.” She noted, “We talked about it all the time. It’s weird! I’m not really sure why that didn’t play. Every day that we both worked together, we were shooting like a million episodes, so we didn’t feel like the directors and producers would have a great sense of humor, but we were just gonna have Kirsten just burst into a scene that I was in and have her own scene that they didn’t write. We played that out in our heads a lot ... We had it all planned out for her to burst in and do a monologue and cry and beg God to not let me die. We were ready for it! It would be so good for the Christmas reel.”