Now that Thomas is back in Los Angeles in The Bold and the Beautiful, protective sibling Steffy wants Hope to stay away from her brother for good. But can she force Hope to stay away?
Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) was smug when Hope (Annika Noelle) realized that Steffy was aware of Thomas’ relationship with Paris (Diamond White). In fact, Steffy kept it a secret from everyone, even her father, and it really feels like she made that decision to be able to shock Hope upon Thomas’ eventual return.
After catching Hope giving Thomas a kiss on the cheek in the June 27 episode, Steffy was frank about Hope interacting with Thomas from now on given that he’s with Paris now. Hope doesn’t think that this engagement makes sense, nor does she think it’s real, so we think Steffy is going to issue a harsh warning to Hope: stay away from Thomas, period.
The warning will be toothless, of course. There’s nothing Steffy can do to keep Hope from interacting with Thomas, nor can she force her brother from being around anyone, either. Steffy played her hand when she got into Thomas’ head about leaving LA to get some distance from Hope, but that’s not likely to work a second time.
The problem that Steffy is facing stems from doubts about Thomas being engaged so quickly after being engaged to Hope. Steffy was just as shocked about the engagement as everyone else — and she knew about his relationship with Paris. Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) is openly questioning Thomas’ decisions and Hope truly doesn’t think this is anything more than a reaction to her turning down both of his proposals.
Steffy knows that Thomas is getting pressure from her family about his engagement, so she needs Hope to stay away from her brother. Hope could still be his Achilles heel, so maintaining distance is probably for the best. Steffy has been issuing ultimatums and orders to just about everyone lately, and it looks like she’s going to have to do it again if she’s going to keep Hope from finding her way back to Thomas in the end.
The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS and the following day on Paramount Plus. Check your local listings to see when it comes on where you are.
