Inside Deacon And Sheila's Twisted Romance On The Bold And The Beautiful

"The Bold and the Beautiful" is widely known for its epic love stories and dramatic love triangles. However, nobody could've anticipated the unholy alliance and eventual romance between longtime villain Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown) and bad boy Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan). Both characters returned to "B&B" after years away from the canvas, ultimately connecting and wreaking on the lives of their Los Angeles friends and family. While Sheila's reign of terror has been far worse than anything Deacon has done, he's no saint with his fair share of wrongdoings since his return.

Both Deacon and Sheila have been involved in significant romances on "B&B" throughout their many years on the show. Deacon, most notably, cheated on his wife Bridget Forrester (then Jennifer Finnigan) with her mother, Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang), resulting in the conception of Hope Logan (via Soap Central). In fact, successfully pursuing Brooke is still an item on Deacon's list of things to accomplish. On the other hand, Sheila was married to family patriarch Eric Forrester (John McCook), a relationship that she's resorted to violence — and murder — to protect or reclaim at various points during her three-decade run (via Soaps In Depth).

However, when these former convicts returned to town last year, something in the stars aligned, and they entered each other's orbit for the first time. With these two personalities united, nobody was safe — and neither were their feelings, which eventually gravitated toward genuine romance.

In 2021, "The Bold and the Beautiful" had several bombshell returns. First, Sheila Carter showed up in Los Angeles, crashing the highly-anticipated wedding of Steffy Forrester (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Dr. John "Finn" Finnegan (Tanner Novlan), per Soaps. Following the ceremony, Sheila approached Finn and revealed herself as his biological mother, hoping to establish a relationship with him. However, once the Forrester family learned the identity of Finn's mother, they encouraged him to wash his hands of her and ruined any chance of a positive reunion.

A few months later, Deacon Sharpe returned to town after being released from prison, looking to finally prove himself as a father to Hope Logan (Annika Noelle). Like Sheila, most of the Forrester family scoffed at the idea of Deacon infiltrating their lives (via Soaps In Depth). Despite Hope's desire to have a real relationship with her father, everyone essentially made that impossible. However, a chance encounter at a bar proved to be the stroke of luck that both Deacon and Sheila needed.

After being verbally decimated by those closest to Hope, Deacon went to the bar to drown his sorrows. While there, he encountered Sheila for the first time, and the two hatched a plan. They decided to work together to achieve their goal of reuniting with their children, and Sheila convinced Deacon to fake a relationship to do so. They put on a convincing show by passionately kissing in front of Hope and Finn.

Sheila Carter and Deacon Sharpe's faux relationship didn't last because Deacon couldn't keep up the charade. His heart had always been set on Brooke Logan, and being with Sheila was hurting his chances of winning her over. Even though they weren't a couple, Sheila and Deacon remained friends, and she even attempted to help him reunite with Brooke — and get a little revenge of her own against an old enemy.

On New Year's Eve, Sheila set the stage to ensure Deacon got the chance he wanted with Brooke. Knowing that Brooke was a recovering alcoholic, Sheila switched the labels on a bottle of champagne so it would appear non-alcoholic, hoping the other woman would drink (via Soap Central). Not only could lowered inhibitions lead to an intimate moment between Brooke and Deacon, but Sheila also found delight in destroying the other woman's sobriety. Brooke did end up drinking real champagne and kissed Deacon, even though she was married to Ridge Forrester (Thorsten Kaye). Unfortunately, there were eyes on Brooke and Deacon during that kiss, as young Douglas Forrester (Henry Joseph Samiri) had spotted them. Eventually, Ridge discovered what had occurred and left his wife, though this was far from Brooke's worst sins.

Sheila's desire to hide her role in the clandestine kiss drove her to an even greater level of deviance. To keep the secret from coming to light, she set her sights on her son's wife, Steffy Forrester.

Steffy Forrester eventually learned the truth about Sheila Carter's role in Brooke Logan's betrayal of her father, Ridge Forrester. She immediately went to confront Sheila, resulting in a stand-off in an alley (via Soaps In Depth). Sheila feared that the reality of what she had done would push her son Finn even further away from her, which led to a drastic escalation in violence. After a minor physical altercation between the two women, Sheila pulled a gun on Steffy. However, Finn arrived just as she pulled the trigger, jumping in front of the bullet to save his wife. Even as Sheila realized she had just killed her own son, she still turned on Steffy and shot her too, before fleeing and leaving the married couple bleeding in the alley.

Deacon Sharpe was the first to come upon the lifeless bodies, immediately calling the police, per Soaps. At the time, he had no idea that Sheila was the culprit, but any friendship or romance they were building toward stopped when her crime was revealed. Sheila was eventually arrested, but she used an old friend at the prison to aid her escape. 

Once on the run, Sheila discovered that Finn was still alive and being cared for by his adoptive mother, Li Finnegan (Naomi Matsuda), while everyone else believed he was dead (via Soap Central). Sheila kept Finn hostage for some time before Bill Spencer (Don Diamont) showed up to rescue him. Sheila escaped custody once again and turned up on Deacon's doorstep, seeking refuge and forcing him to keep her secret and shelter her from the authorities.

There was always a flirty banter between Sheila Carter and Deacon Sharpe, though she was much more persistent than him. Sheila didn't give Deacon much choice when she showed up at his apartment, making herself at home and forcing him to lie to the police. Eventually, Sheila did leave town and ended up faking her own death, leaving everyone to believe she had been mauled by a bear, leaving only a severed toe behind (via Soap Hub).

One night not long afterward, Deacon encountered a woman at a bar to whom he was feverishly attracted, per Soaps. He brought her back to his apartment, where the two passionately made love. The next morning, Deacon was shocked to learn that the woman he slept with was Sheila, wearing a disguise — her missing toe giving away her identity just before the big reveal.

Deacon attempted to throw Sheila back onto the streets, but she had a convincing offer for him. She claimed to possess a large sum of money that would make harboring her worth his while. Not only that, but they could continue their intimate relationship, which they had both said was the best sex of their lives. Deacon couldn't pass up the offer and agreed to let Sheila hide out at his place for the foreseeable future (via Soap Opera Spy).

Since Deacon Sharpe agreed to let Sheila Carter stay with him, the feelings between the two appear to have grown astronomically. Deacon genuinely seems to want Sheila in his life, even planning romantic date nights for her at the restaurant where he works, per Soap Hub. However, their relationship exists in a bubble since Sheila can risk being seen by the wrong person.

Their relationship hasn't been without its challenges, as Sheila's jealous streak has already come to the surface a few times. When Deacon's ex Brooke Logan became single, he was immediately interested in a possible future with her, causing Sheila to see red. Sheila also has a tendency to leave the apartment to spy on her son Finn and his family, which could ruin everything for her and Deacon if she gets caught (via Soaps).

The biggest hurdle they have to overcome is Sheila's desire to one day reclaim her life and no longer be in hiding. She wants a future with Deacon out in the open, with no secrecy necessary. However, Deacon knows this isn't possible. If anyone, especially his daughter Hope Logan, learns about his association with Sheila, he'll be ostracized by his family once again. Not only has he been harboring a fugitive, but someone that almost murdered her own son and his wife in cold blood. If they're found out, Deacon's bizarre relationship with Sheila will send them both back to prison.