The new COVID-19 safety guidelines aren't the only changes to hit The Bold and the Beautiful, which became the first soap opera to resume production when it got back up and running in June. The CBS soap opera has also recast the role of Zende Forrester and is bringing in a hot new doctor as a love interest for one of the show's most popular female characters.
TV Line reports that Zoo actor Delon de Metz has joined B&B as the new Zende. The character, who's the adopted son of Kristen Forrester (Tracy Melchior) and Tony Dominguez (Paulo Benedeti), was previously played by Daytime Emmy winner Rome Flynn from 2015 to 2017.
Delon de Metz -- a New York, New York, native with Dutch and Caribbean heritage -- studied at the Horace Mann School before attending Harvard University, where he graduated with an honors degree in economics. In addition to Zoo, some of his TV credits include Scorpion, Castle, NCIS, and NCIS: Los Angeles.
B&B has also plucked actor Tanner Novlan to play the brand-new role of Dr. John 'Finn' Finnegan, a love interest for Steffy Forrester (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood). Some of the actor's credits include Modern Family, Mohawk Girls, Roswell, New Mexico, and several Liberty Mutual commercials. Novlan is married to B&B alum Kayla Ewell (ex-Caitlin Ramírez), with whom he shares a child.
Novlan will make his B&B debut on Wednesday, July 23. For more from the B&B newcomer, check out Tanner Novlan teases Finn's "outsider" status on The Bold and the Beautiful
B&B will return with all-new episodes on Monday, July 27, 2020. The show has been successfully back in production since Wednesday, June 24, following a slight hiccup the week prior concerning coronavirus testing methods.
As for what else fans can look forward to when B&B returns, the show's executive producer and head writer, Brad Bell, tells Soap Central, "We've been writing nonstop [since the COVID-19 pandemic began]... and the greatest thing about it was that we were able to take more time and really plot out the different storylines carefully, so not only do we have a stack of scripts ready to go, we have some great plans with some incredible twists and new characters."
This article has been updated to include the date that new episodes will resume airing on The Bold and the Beautiful.
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