How do you keep this Brooke-Ridge thing fresh after all this time?
I’m a romantic at heart so their relationship never gets old for me. Brooke gets caught up in love and lets that feeling take her wherever it will. I think the public is the same way. Our audience wants to believe that epic, long-lasting love is possible. It’s very comforting. They want to see long-lasting relationships. Even when Brooke and Ridge are not together, they’re still together. To tune in and see a bunch of new people in new stories gets confusing.

This isn’t the only never-ending plot you have. There’s also the Brooke-Stephanie feud and Brooke and Taylor’s ongoing rivalry over Ridge.
It’s easy to keep all that going for years and years because the actors come in with good positive energy, ready to work and with excitement about their jobs. We get along, which isn’t always the case. I hear on some shows it’s just a nightmare.

Taylor is due to marry Brooke’s ex-husband Whip [Rick Hearst] in early April and, word is, Ridge has something to say so he’s going to stop the ceremony when the minister asks if there are any objections. Should Brooke be worried?
Taylor and Whip have only just started dating so Brooke is very skeptical about this. She’s sure it won’t work out and will propel Taylor right back to Ridge. In Brooke’s mind, this wedding only makes it worse.

B&B does get a little incestuous, don’t you think? Who can ever forget that creepy plot where Brooke was in competition for Ridge with her own daughter!
People keep saying my character’s a slut because she’s been with all of the B&B men, but there are only so many men on a small, half-hour soap. You sooner or later wind up with everyone.

You give the impression you’re fully content at B&B. You’re not the type to seek those proverbial greener pastures?
[Laughs] Here’s my whole thing: I never wanted to go out and try something else only to have nothing happen and then come back to the show out of desperation. There have been times when I weighed the pros and cons of staying but, after I had kids, I didn’t want to take any chances. And now things are so horrible out there that movie stars are taking all the TV jobs. I’m so thankful Bill Bell gave me this great opportunity. And I love that Brad Bell is my boss now and that Lee Bell is still a big part of the show, because families are very important in life! We all need to stick together and watch out for each other and love each other.

On the subject of family, the writers keep aging Brooke’s kids, sometimes by a decade or more. How is your ego handling this?
It’s so weird for me. They aged Hope, but they didn’t age Brooke’s three-year-old, RJ, who is supposed to be almost the same age as Hope. The two older ones have been aged numerous times. I’m like, how old is Brooke really? At this rate, she should be 80!

You’re in awesome shape. Is it hard to stay hot, or are you one of the lucky ones who find it effortless?
Are you kidding? [Laughs] I work hard to preserve myself! And it gets harder the older I get. I do 13-mile runs. I do upper body weights. I swim. I do 50-mile horse races. I recently became a vegetarian. All that helps when I suddenly realize B&B has me in a bikini again this week.

Do you worry about maintaining your status as the show’s No. 1 sexpot? How long can you keep this going?
I like to look at sexy people and I like that people see me that way, too. It doesn’t always have to be about looks. Naturally, I want to back it up with some personality and some kind of good acting, but looking and feeling sexy is a bit of a selfish thing on my part. [Laughs] Of course, I don’t know how long it will last because it requires a lot of work—and now that I’m nearing 50, it’s scary!

You’ve never had an Emmy nomination, despite some years where you seemed like a shoo-in. In fact, it’s starting to feel like a conspiracy. Last year, B&B won the best soap award based on one of your best acting showcases [Brooke’s brother Storm committed suicide]. What’s up with the ongoing snub?
I really don’t know. I was so excited when B&B won because I felt like I had won, too. That was good enough for me. That was my Emmy.

Seriously? Year in, year out, no hard feelings?
I don’t want to think and worry about it. I’ve stressed out in certain years when it comes time to pick out my episodes for submission. I’m no good at it. I sit there for hours and hours staring at shows, and then I leave it up to other people and go with their opinion. The whole process wigs me out. I finally decided to take part in the Emmy judging because I was curious about what’s going on there. But mostly I’m, like, why bother? It’ll just drive me crazy. I love to work and I like to leave the studio feeling I did a good job. That’s what’s important to me.
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