Kyle Lowder Fan Event

Meet Soap Star Kyle Lowder (Rick, The Bold and the Beautiful)

WHAT:
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for fans to meet one of daytime soap's hottest stars, Kyle Lowder who plays Rick on The Bold and the Beautiful.

Kyle will be in Plano, IL as part of Soap Opera Digest magazine's "Shop Like a Soap Star" national tour. The star will be signing autographs and posing for pictures with his fans.

WHEN:
Saturday, September 26th from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

WHERE:
Wal-Mart Supercenter #1003
6800 West Route 34
Plano, IL 60545

COST: Free.

Baby News

Maura West and Scott DeFreitas (Carly and ex-Andy, ATWT, pictured left) have welcomed a baby girl to their ever-expanding brood (the couple has four other children).

Arianne Zucker (Nicole, Days) and Kyle Lowder (Rick, B&B) are expecting their first child together in December. Days executive producer Ken Corday said that Arianne's pregnancy will not be written into the story line.

Jessica Leccia (Natalia, GL) and husband Brian Malloy welcomed their first child, a daughter named Ivy Lola, on June 10.

Interview: Soap Stars Share the Magic of the Holiday Season, Part 1

Alison Sweeney (pictured, Sami, Days of Our Lives): I get to experience the magic of Christmas all over again with my son, Ben. A funny memory I have of Christmas last year is Ben kept saying to everyone “Very Christmas!” instead of “Merry Christmas!” It was the cutest thing!

Eric Winter (ex-Rex, Days): My favorite Christmas tradition was always the part where I’d wake up and my mom — or was it Santa? — would place my stocking on my bed for me to have when I’d wake up. For some reason, the fun stuff I’d get in my stocking would be more exciting than actually sitting around the tree and opening gifts. To this day I still get a stocking from my mom.

Eileen Davidson (Ashley, The Young and the Restless): I was born and raised in Southern California, so snow around the holidays just never happened. In fact, I had never seen snow before. So when I was about 8 years old, my mom and dad took me and my six brothers and sisters up to the local mountains (about a three-hour drive from home) for a week over Christmas. They had rented a log cabin for us. We got a tree from the forest and woke up Christmas morning to a blanket of white snow everywhere. It was a very magical Christmas!

Marsha Clark (ex-Hillary, Guiding Light): Since GL taped a month or so in advance, we always got a jump-start on the Christmas merriment. Because the sets were decorated for the season and story lines were involved with the holiday festivities, our Christmas celebrations (in Springfield) started in November!

The wonderful Charita Bauer, who played matriarch Bert Bauer, was our “Santa,” distributing her own thoughtful hand-picked gifts to the cast and crew when Christmas actually arrived (in New York) in December.

Charita and I both lived near each other and would often leave work at the same time. Some of my fondest yuletide memories are of walking home from the studio with Charita through the snowy streets of Manhattan, listening to her hilarious stories and peeking at the holiday audio-animatronics displays in the store windows. Actually, Charita’s warmth, kindness and humor kept the holiday spirit going year-round!

Kyle Lowder (Rick, The Bold and the Beautiful): I moved to New York with my family when I was 3 years old. I believe there is no place like Christmas in New York. I know I am not the only one who feels that way. It is the absolute tradition — I’ve been doing it ever since I moved away from home, and now my wife joins me on the trip. Always Christmas in New York with the family. My parents live only about 30 miles north of Manhattan in the suburbs. So we’re always down to Manhattan seeing the Rockefeller Center tree, the 5th Avenue windows, and everything you can do tradition-wise in Manhattan, we are there doing it. That is something I make an effort to do every year. I’ve missed only two Christmases in New York since 1985, and that’s because my parents were living in Tokyo for my dad’s job. But if they are here, I am in New York with them, and I hope that’s a tradition that never ends.

Interview: B&B Rick vs. Ridge — The Gloves Come Off

If you have been watching The Bold and the Beautiful for any amount of time, you know one thing: As sure as the sky is blue, there has always been animosity between Rick and Ridge Forrester. And this week, things have really heated up.

Fans have been waiting on pins and needles to see what the straw that breaks the camel’s back would be, and now we finally know: Taylor. Rick’s portrayer, Kyle Lowder, explains: “Rick fell head over heels in love with Taylor; he dedicated his life to her. He put all of his eggs in one basket, so to speak. When he found out that she kissed Ridge and hopes for a future with him, Rick’s world came crashing down.

“He is completely and totally devastated by this, and that kind of short-circuits his emotions in his head. He is coming from a complete and total reactive point of view, rather than proactive. He’s operating purely from an emotional standpoint.”

While Rick is mad at Taylor for what has happened, there is something much deeper that has been brewing. “There are two parts of this story that are all encompassing into one main idea. Since Rick’s childhood, there have been years of animosity, hatred and issues with Ridge that are now coming to a head, where Rick blames Ridge for everything bad that has happened in his life. Ridge took away his mother, he monopolized his father’s attention and, last year, when Rick was trying to be with Phoebe, Ridge was in the middle of that.

“Now Rick has finally fallen in love with a woman that he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and there’s Ridge. Even though Taylor has been the aggressor with Ridge, Rick doesn’t want to hear that, he wouldn’t even believe it. It’s all about ‘Ridge ruined my life yet again,’ and he is like, ‘I am through with this guy. I am going to kill him.’”

When the fight between Rick and Ridge escalates to Rick falling over the railing on the rooftop, that is when the gloves truly come off.

Kyle says: “As soon as Rick comes to in the hospital, I feel he is completely in control of what he is doing, which is complete and total manipulation of everybody in trying to bring Ridge down. He’s trying to spin it that it was not an accident, that Ridge tried to kill him when Rick tried to expose him for what he really is. Rick tries to play on everybody’s sympathies. He’s going to use this occasion to try to bring Ridge down and to turn everybody in his life against him. Rick has come of age. He is emotionally and physically equal to Ridge, toe to toe, and he is going to dedicate his life now to bringing him down.”

Kyle is excited to be able to explore the different sides of Rick’s personality that nobody has really seen before. “Rick has always been the Golden Boy. This is an opportunity for me to — while respecting the history of the character — take Rick in a completely different direction, add more sides to him, make him more well-rounded and deeper.

“Nobody is just good or just bad. It’s an opinion, but I just don’t buy it. It’s important to show a well-rounded character, where you show his darkness and you show his light. I think a one-sided character, ultimately, is a boring character. This story gives me the opportunity to touch upon different sides of Rick, making him a deeper character.”

O' Say Can You Sing?

Kyle Lowder is a gifted actor with a great set of pecs, er, pipes, and as fans of The Bold and the Beautiful know, he and his character, Rick Forrester, certainly can sing -- even while lifting weights!

Before becoming a television actor, Lowder studied music theory and sang in operas. He's proud to announce he has been asked to sing The National Anthem at the opening of the L.A. Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game on Thursday, April 24. The game begins at 7:00 p.m. at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. For information on purchasing tickets visit http://www.dodgers.com/.

You can also visit Kyle's website, http://www.kylelowder.net/ to learn more about the multi-talented star.

NEW! Kyle will also be meeting and greeting fans, and signing autographs, on Saturday, May 10 at two locations in Toronto. He will appear at The Westwood Mall, located at 7205 Goreway Drive in Malton (Missisauga) from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and at Shopper's World Brampton at 499 Main Street South in Brampton, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Kyle Lowder at Whisky A Go Go

If you live in L.A. or if you're a Kyle Lowder (Rick, "B&B") fanatic and want to make the journey, you can catch him at the world famous Whisky A Go Go. "The Existents: The New Rock Musical" is thrilled to announce an exclusive West Coast premiere concert presentation on Monday, Oct. 8th at 9pm at the legendary Whisky A Go Go (on the Sunset Strip). Ty Taylor (RockStar: INXS), Eden Espinosa (Wicked), Jason Wooten (We Will Rock You), Carly Thomas-Smith (Rent), Douglas Crawford (Jersey Boys), Kyle Lowder (The Bold & The Beautiful), and Debby Holiday (Nebula 9 Records) will perform selections from The New Rock Musical written by Douglas Crawford, Ty Taylor, & Jason Wooten! Tickets are $10. This is a one night only opportunity and promises to be an event you will not want to miss! Whisky A Go Go, 8901 Sunset Boulevard West Hollywood, CA 90069. For ticket info, go to www.whiskyagogo.com.

Real-Life Couple Has Split

Kyle Lowder (Rick, BB; ex-Brady, Days) and Arianne Zuker (ex-Nicole, Days), who married on Aug.3, 2002, have gone their separate ways.

The couple released this joint statement: "We are saddened to announce that after five years of marriage we will be amicably parting ways. This decision has come with great consideration and was not easy for either one of us. We continue to have tremendous respect, admiration and hold one another in the highest regard. We greatly appreciate all of the support we have received from our family, friends and co-workers during this difficult time and are grateful to everyone for respecting our need for privacy and healing as we move forward in this process."

This is truly sad news, as they made such a great couple. When I spoke with Kyle a few months back, he had nothing but praise for his soon-to-be ex-wife. He said: "At first, our characters (on Days), never spoke to one another, we never had scenes with one another. We started to date, and eventually married. Then, the writers decided to put us together. It was a little frustrating at times, because I felt like they were taking advantage of the situation. But it was all good. It was so fun to work with her. She is such an amazing actress -- nothing like her character on the show. It all worked out in the end."

I wish them both all the best and know that they will both be able to handle this newest obstacle with dignity and grace.