A spokesperson for The Bold and the Beautiful has now confirmed what eagle-eyed viewers suspected: Sarah Brown (Agnes Jones) has been downgraded to recurring status.
Talk of Brown being dropped from contract status first started earlier this month when B&B unveiled its new opening credits. While fans overwhelmingly applauded the show's CGI-laden opening, most noticed that Brown was conspicuous by her absence in the revamped sequence. As most fans know, only contract performers appear in a show's opening credits.
Brown, a three-time Emmy winner, joined B&B in November 2009, fresh from a run as Claudia Zacchara on ABC's General Hospital. As previously reported by Soap Central, ABC granted Brown an early out from her GH contract in order to allow her to take the role on B&B.
Claudia was not Brown's only General Hospital role. The actress made her daytime debut in 1996 as Carly Benson. She remained with the show through 2001, winning Emmys as Outstanding Younger Actress in 1997 and 1998 and Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2000.
After exiting General Hospital, Brown landed the short-term role of Julia Larrabee on As the World Turns.
B&B asserts that Brown will continue to appear on the show, and that her recurring status is not designed as a way to cut the actress loose. Brown, however, noted in an interview with Soaps In Depth that she was aware that her story had all but dried up.
"I definitely feel like just a supporting player, and I'm not used to that," Brown told the magazine.