‘The Bold and the Beautiful’: Eric and Stephanie’s Relationship Needed Conflict
The Bold and the Beautiful characters Eric and Stephanie Forrester (John McCook and Susan Flannery) are an integral part of the show. The power couple ran their highly successful fashion house while raising four children. Eric and Stephanie’s on-again, off-again relationship has been a massive storyline since the show’s premiere in 1987. Their never-ending conflict is what made for good soap drama.
Eric and Stephanie Forrester’s relationship had a lot of conflict in ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’
As the heads of the Forrester family, Eric and Stephanie were featured prominently on The Bold and the Beautiful. When the couple wasn’t dealing with business drama or interfering in their children’s lives, they dealt with their problems. Eric and Stephanie divorced several times and had some heated arguments.
The couple’s rocky relationship is why fans loved them, and they have Flannery to thank for the duo’s quarrels. In an interview with Soaps.com, McCook revealed that Flannery insisted Eric and Stephanie’s romance needed conflict.
“Susan Flannery was a very strong believer that every single scene on the show had to be about conflict on some level. Even if Eric and Stephanie were sipping martinis and talking about the grandchildren, Susan would say, ‘Where’s the conflict? Without that, we’re boring.’ And she was right,” McCook explained.
The couple experienced their share of drama
Eric and Stephanie experienced plenty of conflict throughout the years, including Eric’s roving eye. The Forrester patriarch was a ladies man and unfaithful to his wife. Eric had many mistresses, but the one that angered Stephanie most was Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang).
Stephanie was furious to discover Eric and Brooke’s affair and that Brooke was pregnant with his child. This set in motion her two-decade feud with Brooke, in which Eric and Ridge Forrester (Thorsten Kaye) were caught in the middle.
Whenever Stephanie and Eric split, it got down and dirty. The couple fought over control of Forrester Creations. One iconic moment came Stephanie learned she was the rightful owner of the company because of a trust her father had set up. A furious Stephanie kneed Eric in the groin before firing him.
Eric and Stephanie Forrester reunited many times
Despite all their conflict, Eric and Stephanie never stopped loving each other deep down. The couple reunited several times over the years. But 2012 saw their love story come to an end.
After Stephanie’s lung cancer returned, it progressed worse than the doctor imagined. Stephanie decided to forego treatment and spent the remaining days with her family. She and Eric reminisced about the good times, and he surprised her with a party.
Stephanie died in November 2012, and her death was emotional for everyone. Eric grieved the loss of his love, but eventually, he would begin dating again. In 2016, he married Quinn Fuller (Rena Sofer), who has taken over as the new Forrester matriarch.
While many fans love Eric with Quinn, they can’t stop thinking about his relationship with Stephanie, who they consider the love of his life.
