Patrick Duffy Says 2-Episode ‘Bold and the Beautiful’ Return Feels Like ‘Dallas’

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It’s been 11 years since Patrick Duffy’s The Bold and the Beautiful character, Stephen Logan, left Los Angeles for Dallas. The actor’s reason? Dallas! Duffy exited the soap to return to his iconic role of Bobby Ewing on the TV reboot.

Now Stephen is back for two more episodes, November 23 and November 28, surprising daughters Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang), Donna (Jennifer Gareis), and Katie (Heather Tom) — and bringing along his new significant other, Lucy, played by Duffy’s real-life partner of more than two years, former Happy Days actress Linda Purl.

Over the years, Duffy and B&B executive producer Bradley Bell had joked about Stephen’s return. (The two have a mutual friend who owns a ranch next to the actor’s in Oregon.) Then Bell suggested it for real. Recalls Duffy, “I said, ‘What if Stephen comes back with a woman on his arm?’”

In the episodes, the Logan sisters know about Lucy and embrace her — but Brooke’s love life is in tatters. Stephen is caught off guard by news that Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) has not only dumped her but is marrying her nemesis Taylor (Krista Allen). Dad offers solace to his devastated eldest child, who’s unaware Ridge believes (falsely) that she reported his adult son to child protective services.

Sonja Flemming/CBS

“Stephen’s primary goal, no matter what happens, is the welfare of his three daughters,” Duffy says. “The way I played that scene was ‘I’m here for you and he isn’t. Feel the difference between somebody who really does care for you and this person that’s putting you through this angst once again.’”

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Thankfully, things weren’t tense behind the scenes. In fact, according to Duffy, it felt like a family reunion with Lang, Gareis, and Tom.

“Back in the day, whenever I would walk into makeup, they would just squeal ‘Daddy! Daddy!’ and give me a hug,” Duffy says with a laugh. “So I stepped into the makeup room, and it hadn’t changed. Kelly saw me in the mirror and went ‘Daddy!’ And in comes Heather and it’s ‘Daddy’s here!’ And Jennifer comes in… They’re like schoolgirls and it’s so refreshing.”

Although Duffy doesn’t know whether he and Purl will return to the fashionable world of B&B anytime soon, he enjoyed being part of a couple of drama-packed installments that reminded him of Dallas in its heyday.

“It’s what we would have done as the season-ender,” he says. “This is like the Oil Baron’s Ball fight, where everybody [destroys] the room, or everyone ending up in the swimming pool at Southfork. It’s a real clash of titans.”

The Bold and the Beautiful, Wednesday, November 23, CBS, Check Local Listings