The Bold And The Beautiful Relationship Timeline: Eric And Stephanie

When "The Bold and the Beautiful" first premiered 35 years ago, the matriarch and patriarch of the core Forrester family were Eric Forrester (John McCook) and Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery). These two people had been married for decades and produced Ridge, Thorne, Kristen, Felicia, and Angela Forrester. Although it was eventually revealed that Ridge Forrester (then played by Ronn Moss) was really Massimo Marone's (Joseph Mascolo) son, he still thinks of Eric as his dad to this day.

Although Eric and Stephanie seemed to be leading charmed lives of the rich and famous with their thriving fashion design business, all was not well beneath the surface of their relationship. This is what prompted Eric and Stephanie to split within a couple of years of the soap premiering. After all, Eric was not happy in his marriage and sought company somewhere else with someone else. For many men on this show, that someone else frequently turns out to be a woman named Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang). But before Brooke entered his life, there was another Logan he knew named Beth.

Stephanie Forrester was a jealous woman from the first time "The Bold and the Beautiful" fans met her. She was convinced her husband was having an affair with his long ago girlfriend, Beth Logan (Nancy Burnett). Eric and Beth were in love in college, but he also cheated on Beth with Stephanie and then married her when he learned she was pregnant. It was Stephanie who brought them together again.

Stephanie threw a posh Los Angeles party in 1987 and both Beth and her daughter, college student Brooke, were catering servers. When Stephanie saw Beth with Eric again, she worried he would leave her and he did. She had already convinced herself she was having an affair with Margo Lynley (Lauren Koslow), so that was enough for Eric and he left Stephanie.

However, Eric returned to her when he learned the truth about their daughter, Angela, who he believed died at birth. Instead, Stephanie believed she had sent the ill baby to an institution. Eventually, Eric and Stephanie both learned their daughter was dead and for years, Stephanie had been visiting an imposter the doctor hired (via Soaps In Depth). The shock split up Eric and Stephanie once again.

Eric Forrester had so much going on in his life and needed someone to listen to him and Brooke Logan fit the bill. She was heartbroken when Ridge chose to marry Caroline Spencer (Joanna Jonson) rather than be with her, and she and Eric became comforts for one another. While Stephanie had been paranoid that Eric would have an affair with Beth, it was her daughter who he had the affair with.

Stephanie was devastated when Eric divorced her to be with Brooke after Brooke told him she was pregnant. She eventually dubbed Brooke the "slut from the valley" and she became her longtime rival. She also saw that Eric and Brooke were very much alive and it hurt. Eric and Brooke did marry in a lavish ceremony that included a hot air balloon ride and she soon gave birth to Eric Forrester Jr, who they named Rick. However, it was not meant to be for Eric and Brooke. When Caroline died and Ridge was available again, Brooke made a beeline for him (via Soaps In Depth).

Eric and Stephanie Forrester spent years breaking up and making up, with Eric being furious when he learned that Ridge was not his biological son, but Massimo Marone was. Eric and Stephanie were married at that time, but the revelation prompted him to divorce Stephanie once again and marry Brooke, once again. The second marriage to Brooke didn't last long, but Stephanie had other problems that were her very own as she paid more attention to her grown adult children than ever.

During those years, Stephanie Forrester spent her time trying to run her son's lives and playing tricks to ensure Brooke and Ridge didn't ever get together for long. As for Eric, he married Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown), and that didn't end well for anyone in their family. Luckily, Eric learned to keep Sheila out of his life after their marriage ended.

When Stephanie Forrester finally dealt with her childhood and her abusive father by reuniting with her mother, Ann (Betty White) and sister, Pam (Alley Mills), Eric was there to support her. Stephanie and Pam later had to take care of her mother during the last days of her life as Ann passed away from cancer. This also brought Eric and Stephanie closer to one another again.

Despite the ups and downs in their relationship and their myriad of marriages and divorces, the couple celebrated 50 years of on-again, off-again togetherness by getting married one last time and this time for keeps. However, fate had other plans. No, they did not divorce again. Instead, Stephanie was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2012 with her old rival, Brooke, singing to her in one of the most memorable scenes in the soap's history (via Michael Fairman TV).

Eric Forrester is a man who cannot seem to be without a woman in his life and in 2016, he married Quinn Fuller (Rena Sofer), a younger manipulative woman his family didn't approve of. Still, through their ups and downs, Quinn and Eric remain together, as of this writing.

Stephanie Forrester is also still a presence in everyone's lives as she is frequently spoken about. Whenever Eric is on the outs with any woman, he even sticks Stephanie's portrait above the mantle so her watchful eye can look over them all. In fact, when Eric married Quinn, Stephanie's portrait kept falling, as if she was trying to tell him something, according to Soaps.com. It didn't matter because Eric didn't listen, but Stephanie is still a looming presence in his life and quite possibly the true love of his life as well. She also remains a looming presence in Ridge and Brooke's lives as they hung her portrait temporarily when they married in the Forrester living room in 2018 (via Soap Hub).