Tom Arnold is coming to The Bold and the Beautiful — and he couldn’t be more excited for fans to meet the Forrester’s new pilot, Captain Deuce Stevens.
Us Weekly can exclusively reveal that Arnold will appear on two episodes of the beloved CBS soap, airing Tuesday, July 30, and Wednesday, July 31, when Ridge (Thorsten Kaye), Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) head back to Monte Carlo, where they will be relaunching the iconic “Brooke’s Bedroom” fashion line for Forrester Creations.
“It was great fun!” Arnold, 65, told Us. “People love The Bold and the Beautiful. The loyalty, the fans, the opinions … I started going online and listening to fans argue about certain things. It’s like sports.”
The veteran comedian and TV star gushed about his time on set, praising both the stars and crew — and telling a funny story about his first interaction with Kaye. “Every 12 minutes, The Bold and the Beautiful does another scene. It’s a well-oiled machine. They’re just so on top of their stuff,” Arnold said. “I was in makeup and this guy comes in and goes, ‘Hey, can I get you anything?’ I go, ‘I don’t know, do you have Sugar Free Red Bull?’ This guy who I thought was the crew — he had a very hard handshake — was Thorsten. The rich, wealthy father [Ridge]!”
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Arnold previously appeared on General Hospital in the 90s and noted he’s been a fan of soap operas since skipping school as a kid to tune in. His fandom continued into adulthood with famous ex-wife Roseanne Barr.
“Roseanne and I loved soap operas. [After I was on General Hospital], we ended up having all these folks on [Roseanne] from the show on,” Arnold told Us of his time as a writer and actor on the classic sitcom. “Because soap operas are very good actors. They don’t mess around.”
Arnold said that he channeled a story from his days with Barr to play a pilot Deuce. “It was helpful that back in the day I had a private jet and a pilot. I thought at the time about [when] Roseanne and I got to the airport to fly to New York [and] we got into an argument. She left without me. I had to get another jet to fly behind her,” he began.
On B&B, Us can tease that Steffy will be running late to the flight and flustered without her passport. “One thing that is true is you have a window to land at the airport. And if you mess around and you’re late, you will miss that [window]. I like when there’s some reality to this stuff. It heightened the scene because Steffy forgot her passport,” Arnold continued. “You expect [the drama] for a character, but it opens the doors for some hilarious stuff. It’s very funny because things are so dramatic that it lends itself to comedy.”
Arnold credited showrunner Brad Bell, whom he’s known for years, for writing the comedic scene. “I appreciated that. But I felt that everyone in the scene was pretty good about a little improvising too,” he told Us. “[Jacqueline] had to do some Lucy stuff with the comedy, ripping stuff out of her bag. … It’s not easy when you have props and you have to do this and this, but it worked.”
Arnold concluded that he was going to call Bell to campaign to get himself back on the show — and continue to brag to kids Quinn and Jax, whom he shares with ex Ashley Groussman.
“I’m a single dad with an 11-year-old and an 8-year-old. I’m just gonna keep repeating, ‘I was on The Bold and the Beautiful. They’re always like, ‘Dad, you’re old.’ Dude, I was on The Bold and the Beautiful!” he said. “You don’t get on there unless you are bold and beautiful.”
The Bold and the Beautiful is broadcast weekdays on CBS at 1:30 ET (and 12:30 PT).
