The soap world was set ablaze last month when The Bold and the Beautiful's Winsor Harmon revealed that he had been surprised to be replaced by General Hospital star Ingo Rademacher in the role of Thorne Forrester. Viewers couldn't believe the bolt from the blue and are still trying to piece together just how and why the recast happened. Luckily, Rademacher has a little insight.
The actor shares that B&B originally reached out to cast him in a short-term role on the CBS soap opera a role that eventually fell through.
"I was supposed to go right into The Bold and the Beautiful and play this character, Mateo, which didn't really sound right," he reveals. "They were casting a groundskeeper for the Forrester family, and it sounded like he would be Hispanic, that's how the character was written, and then I guess Brad [Bell, executive producer/head writer] got ahold of it and said, 'Why are you using Ingo Rademacher for this role?'"
He continues: "My manager told me they were looking for this role for a really long time. He was supposed to be in his 30s, which is a bit of a stretch [laughs]. Anyway, I guess Brad said, 'No, I don't want you to waste him on that; can we make a deal real quick?' I was supposed to start shooting literally the next day, and I said to my managers, 'Don't put this kind of stress on them, just have them recast it, even if the full-time contract doesn't work out for us. It really doesn't fit me at all, and I want to hear what Brad has to offer.' I've always heard great things about B&B. People have loved working there, same with The Young and the Restless, too. So I was happy to hear what the offer would be and happy to say that we worked out a deal, so I'm stoked to come on the show."
It will be interesting to see what Bell has up his sleeve for Rademacher's Thorne, who will make his first appearance on November 27 -- especially because the character has rarely been seen on-screen in recent years. Thorne was taken off contract back in 2010 and has appeared on a recurring basis since then, with his last significant appearance coming in 2015 when his daughter, Aly, was killed off.
For more from Rademacher about joining B&B, including how he feels about replacing Harmon, check out Soap Opera Digest's interview with the actor here.
How do you feel about Rademacher playing B&B's new Thorne? Could you imagine the GH alum in the role of groundskeeper Mateo? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
