Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but…. an original cast member of The Bold and the Beautiful has decided to part ways with the CBS sudser after more than 25 years. Not two weeks after Ronn Moss announced his own decision to vacate the role of Ridge, castmate Susan Flannery, who plays grand dame Stephanie Forrester, has reportedly given notice as well, sources tell CBS Soaps In Depth.

Per SID, Flannery — who has four Emmys on her mantel, including one from her stint as Days of Our Lives‘ Laura Horton – has inked a short-term deal to stay with B&B long enough for TPTB to pen a proper exit for Stephanie. (Moss’ Ridge, meanwhile, is being written off of the canvas temporarily and then likely recast.) Flannery, Moss, Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke) and John McCook (Eric) were known as B&B‘s “core four,” all having been with the show since its 1987 debut. Of the two remaining original players (“The True Two”?), Lang recently shared her plans to keep on keeping on. “I’m very happy to tell you that I have re-signed my contract with The Bold and the Beautiful for two more years,” she said in a statement. “[Showrunner] Brad [Bell] has come up with an exciting new storyline for Brooke that I think the fans are going to love.”

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Wow...this is definitely a defining moment for the show. Stephanie has been the central, matriarchal figure for the soap since its inception. It will be interesting to see how the show fares with her departure as well as a recast of Ridge after Ron Moss leaves the show...

Wow another blow. This wont be good for the ratings. Why is she leaving?

SF has been wanting to retire for years.
It's more surprising that she lasted as long as she did.
SF is retiring.

The show sucks nowadays, Ronn Moss is leaving, so Susan Flannery picked a perfect time to leave. She's too talented to waste her time on this miserable show. I'm sure Susan and Ronn will be better off. I wish them both lots of luck.

I used to watch the show religiously from around 1995 onwards, but in the past 12 months or so I've just given up and stopped watching it. It's just not the same anymore. The Triangle from hell dominate 90% of the screen time, Ridge and Brooke get married every other week. There's just nothing exciting going on anymore - hasn't been for years. :(