Here is your The Bold and the Beautiful recap for Tuesday, May 12, 2026 featuring Ridge blindsiding Steffy.
What happened on The Bold and the Beautiful
Hope loves Liam, but Forrester was still her professional home. If Brooke successfully became co-CEO, there was a solid chance that Hope for the Future would be brought back to life. She believed that Brooke was essential to Forrester’s success over the years, and she was confident she’d soon stop answering to Steffy.
Liam pointed out that it was frustrating to see Hope allow herself to be mistreated at Forrester. There was a viable option to move her career forward at Logan, but she wasn’t ready to cut the cord from Brooke. Her mother didn’t know she was considering defecting, so it was a lot.
Liam was hopeful for Hope’s sake that things would work out with Brooke. However, he asked her to consider walking away if it didn’t work out that way. She had another option ahead of her, and all she had to do was reach for it.
Brooke’s feelings come first
Katie stopped by Donna’s house, and her sister was still jumping down her throat about the mere suggestion of bringing Hope into the fold at Logan. She was having a full-blown panic attack at the idea of Hope working for Katie’s fashion house. Despite no decisions having been made yet, Donna wanted Brooke’s feelings to be paramount to everything else.
Katie insisted that Liam was the one who wanted Hope to come work at Logan. Did that matter to Donna? Absolutely not. She insisted that Katie was “poaching” Hope away from her own mother. It didn’t matter that Hope felt unvalued and underutilized at Forrester. All that mattered to anyone was that Brooke’s feelings remained intact.
Katie was furious with Donna because she didn’t want her to jump on the bandwagon. She wasn’t going to back down about hiring Eric in the first place or moving forward with the Logan name. Katie wanted to make a success of herself out of Brooke’s shadow, and she was hit with resistance at every turn.
Donna knew that Brooke wouldn’t have a positive reaction to Hope considering a future at Logan. She agreed to keep quiet, not only to avoid a family feud, but also because she told Katie that Hope wasn’t an option for her. Katie could have had anyone she wanted as the face of the brand, but it couldn’t be Hope. That was nonnegotiable.
The Queen’s request
The morning after, Brooke made her official pitch to be Ridge’s new co-CEO. She seemed convinced that it was a foregone conclusion for her to be named as Ridge’s right-hand. If Brooke got her way, Steffy would be immediately demoted the moment Ridge showed up at the office.
Naturally, Ridge was apprehensive about demoting her own daughter. However, Brooke assured him that it was time for her ascension. She called it a changing of the guard, but that wasn’t enough for Brooke. Instead, she audaciously told Ridge that he couldn’t mull it over with Carter and that Steffy needed to be informed of the change as soon as possible.
Brooke brought up that Steffy seduced Bill to get her current position in the first place. Ridge wasn’t pleased to hear his wife dredging up his daughter’s past. He was in an impossible position because Brooke wasn’t budging. She was vehemently opposed to Steffy remaining as co-CEO, and she begged Ridge to get Steffy the boot and welcome her as the new reigning queen of Forrester Creations.
Hope met with her mother at home, and Brooke was elated to fill her in about her talk with Ridge. She was certain that Ridge warmed up to the idea of becoming co-CEO alongside him. The only hurdle in the way was telling Steffy, which she hoped didn’t create a new rift between father and daughter.
A father’s blindside
Finn stopped by Forrester Creations to visit Steffy, and one of her employees boasted about how amazing it was to work for her. Finn was proud of her success, but the more Steffy talked about how much it meant to her to work alongside Ridge, the more obvious it became that the eventual fallout would hurt her.
Ridge arrived at the office to speak with Steffy, mentally preparing himself to inform her of Brooke’s latest ambitions. Steffy discussed how pleased she was to work with her father and grandfather, especially given their equal positions of power.
Ridge complimented Steffy on her success at the job, and although he believed she’d do great things in her career, he needed to tell her something. Ridge slid in a comment about Brooke’s career, and it piqued her interest. He reflected on Brooke’s contributions to the company, and all he succeeded in doing was leaving Steffy confused.
Steffy incorrectly assumed Ridge was advocating for Hope for the Future, but that wasn’t the case. Eventually, he got to the point and told Steffy that Brooke asked to be co-CEO of Forrester. Steffy laughed at the idea, but once it was clear that Brooke wanted Steffy to step down, the vibe shifted.
Brooke wanted Steffy to leave the position, and Steffy asked if that was the case. She was stunned that her own father was actually looking her in the eye and asking her to step aside in favor of his wife. If betrayal had a face in that moment, it looked just like Ridge.
Catch all-new episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful weekdays on CBS and Paramount Plus.
Edited by Bryce Cameron