Brooke and Ridge: we can no longer count the separations and reconciliations of the most emblematic couple of “Top Models”. In 2027, it will have lasted forty years on the RTS. Present at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, teasing as every time we see them again, Katherine Kelly Lang and Thorsten Kaye spoke of their complicity, the escapades of their characters and their wishes for the future. Between tender confidences and schoolboy jokes, the duo did not disappoint.
After all these breakups and reconciliations, why do Brooke and Ridge continue to choose each other? Is it fate, or is there something more?
Thorsten Kaye: Destiny is already huge. But there is also something very pleasant about really knowing someone else. The older I get, the more I tell myself: I don’t want to start from scratch. It’s reassuring to know how someone will react to certain things you do. This doesn’t mean that it takes away from the romance, but there is something truly beautiful about knowing who you share your life with.
Katherine Kelly Lang: I think there’s still this genuine love and respect that they will have for each other, no matter what they’ve been through. They’ve been through so many crazy situations, but in a way, that’s also what kept them together, because they always managed to overcome it. It feels like nothing can really end their relationship.
Thorsten, what is the worst decision Brooke has ever made?
TK: Leave Ridge. This is the worst decision anyone could make! (Laughs.) Seriously, whatever she did, it was always forgiven in the end. I think these characters know how to move forward without holding grudges, and that’s important in their relationship. As for his worst mistakes, personally, I wasn’t there yet, but sleeping with Ridge’s dad is always something you have to wash away in the shower! (Laughs.) And then there is also the fact that she took control of the company. It was almost more personal. She knew how much it mattered.
The same question for Ridge: what was his worst decision?
KKL: Go back with Taylor. Every time he went back with Taylor!
Precisely, Rebecca Budig took over the role of Taylor replacing Krista Allen. How was the transition, Thorsten?
TK: I have known Rebecca for a long time. We have already worked together on other projects. She’s a solid actress and, more than that, she doesn’t create drama: she’s an adult. She comes in, she does her job, she’s a great partner and a lovely person.
“I would love to find a way to bring back Susan Flannery, the unforgettable Stephanie Forrester, for a few episodes” Thorsten Kaye, Ridge Forrester in “Top Models”
And what’s your relationship like off camera, with John McCook who plays Eric, your on-screen father?
TK: John is my favorite of the men in the series. After filming, we always meet up in his dressing room. It’s the most comfortable: there are leather sofas, brick walls… And then, we always drink a beer after work. I’m looking forward to this moment. And then, I like beer!
“Top Models” is filming an episode in Monte-Carlo this week. What can you tell us about the plot?
TK: We can’t reveal too much. In reality, there’s not much to reveal, we only have a few scenes.
KKL: We are shooting a scene with a French actress who has already come to Los Angeles several times to work on our series: Elsa Esnoult, from “Mysteries of Love”. I like it very much.
The series will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year. What is one thing you would absolutely love to see happen?
TK: I’d like to see forty more.
KKL: Yes, long may it continue!
TK: But if we talk about the intrigues, I would love to find a way to bring back Susan Flannery, the unforgettable Stephanie Forrester, for a few episodes. I think it would be a lot of fun. Mother-son relationships are complicated, but also fascinating. This would be interesting to explore.
Last summer, the series left the CBS studios it had occupied for years to move elsewhere. Was it strange working in a new environment?
KKL: It feels good to have a change after so many years at CBS, even if I still sometimes want to go back to my old dressing room. The new decors are magnificent. They are larger, more open, and allow us to move from one room to another without interrupting a scene. At the time, we had all kinds of settings: Jack Wagner’s boat, a swimming pool, a sauna… And we actually had a lot of sex in that sauna!
“My mother always watches the show, but she doesn’t like seeing me upset on screen”
Katherine Kelly Lang, Brooke Logan in “Top Models”
After all these years, do your loved ones still watch the show?
TK: Person. Absolutely no one. My mother doesn’t watch, she has better things to do. My brother, on the other hand, is watching. It’s quite funny, because he’s a former rugby player. He calls me sometimes to ask, “By the way, what happened today?” When he travels, he even catches up on all the episodes when he returns. It’s completely crazy!
KKL: My mom still watches the show, but she doesn’t like seeing me upset on screen. It’s funny, because she was an actress too. You’d think she’d know how to sort things out, but it still affects her.
TK: But she agrees to see you in sex scenes?
KKL: Oh that, yes! (Laughs.)
If you had free reign to write the very last scene between Ridge and Brooke, what would it look like?
TK: I never thought about it…
A happy ending?
TK: No, “Thelma and Louise” style!
KKL: I see “Romeo and Juliet”!
TK: If it’s the end, it’s the end.
KKL: Yes, exactly.
TK: We’ll take one of Bill’s cars.
