The Truth About Sheila's Reign Of Terror On The Bold And The Beautiful

Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown) is one of the most infamous and unhinged villainesses in soap opera history. No matter how many times she has tried to reform herself, she just can't seem to do it.

But that is also the appeal of the character, who made her soap opera debut on "The Young and the Restless" in 1990. She seemed like nothing more than a mild-mannered nurse when she first appeared in Genoa City, but she was anything but.

It wasn't long before Sheila fell for Lauren Fenmore's (Tracey E. Bregman) husband, Scott Grainger (Peter Barton), and decided she wanted him for herself. So, one night, she seduced him and got pregnant. 

Lauren was also pregnant, and, when Sheila lost her baby, she faked her pregnancy, kidnapped Lauren's son right after he was born, replaced him with a black market baby, and got Scott for herself. Lauren learned the truth after her black market baby sadly died (via Soaps In Depth).

That's when the Sheila Carter we know today came out to play. She kidnapped both Lauren and her mother and burned down a cabin, killing her mother. Sheila was also presumed dead but showed up on "The Bold and the Beautiful" next, where her reign of terror has played out for decades (via Soaps In Depth).

With everyone in Genoa City thinking she was dead, Sheila thought she could start over in the fictional version of Los Angeles on "The Bold and the Beautiful," but her better angels didn't win out. 

She set her sights on the Forresters and their life right away and thought she'd be a perfect nanny for little Rick Forrester, the son of Eric Forrester (John McCook) and Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang), via Soap Central. She made sure to get rid of the other nanny so that she could get the job, and she did. She even managed to get Eric to fall for her and want to marry her.

However, when Sheila learned that Brooke was pregnant and her ex-husband, Eric, might be the dad, she fudged the paternity tests to make sure Brooke believed Ridge Forrester (then played by Ronn Moss) was her baby's father. Then, she became Mrs. Eric Forrester, but her marriage didn't last long. 

Sheila cheated on Eric to become pregnant, and Eric immediately knew what she did because he told her he had a vasectomy. He also told her their marriage was over (via Soaps In Depth).

Eventually, Lauren learned that Sheila was alive and made her way to Los Angeles, too. That's when Sheila tried to drown her in a hot tub, but, thankfully, Lauren survived. 

When Lauren tried to get a message to Dr. James Warwick (Ian Buchanan) about Sheila, the latter came undone and kidnapped James by keeping him hostage in Harry Houdini's old Hollywood mansion, according to Soaps.com. 

After James managed to escape, Sheila went even further by holding all the Forresters at gunpoint. That was the end of the road for her — at least, for a little while, because she was committed to a mental health facility (via Soaps In Depth).

When Sheila returned to life in LA, she tried once again to start over and even got James to fall in love with her. Sheila even finally realized her dream of becoming a mother when she gave birth to James' daughter, Mary. However, Sheila did not like James' friendship with Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery), so she tried to kill her. 

To avoid getting caught, she took her baby daughter and hightailed it out of town.

Years later, Sheila returned with a teenage daughter, whom the audience knew was really Mary. However, "The Bold and the Beautiful" characters knew her as Erica Lovejoy (Courtney Draper), and even Mary thought that was her name because that's what her mother told her. 

Sheila wanted revenge on the Forresters, so she convinced her daughter to seduce a now-teenage Rick (Jacob Young). It was Stephanie who discovered who Erica really was, and she realized Sheila couldn't be far behind (via Soap Central).

Sheila was clearly as unbalanced as ever when Erica's identity was revealed. That caused her to go on a rampage in the Forrester mansion with a gun in hand. Sheila then shot both Taylor Hayes (then played by Hunter Tylo) and Brooke Logan, and Taylor was believed to be dead. Sheila was also revealed to have had another child she named Diana (via Soaps In Depth).

In 2017, Sheila made another "The Bold and the Beautiful" comeback after a stint in prison. She once again claimed to be reformed but caused a few problems between Eric and his new wife, Quinn Fuller (Rena Sofer). The latter had also been unhinged, but, unlike Sheila, Eric's love made her a better person. 

For about four years, the people whom Sheila tortured believed she was a waitress at their favorite Italian restaurant and didn't pay her much mind (via Soaps In Depth). In 2021, she showed up at Steffy Forrester's (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) wedding to John "Finn" Finnegan (Tanner Novlan) and announced she was his biological mother. 

Steffy told her new husband to have nothing to do with this woman who had hurt her family, but Finn was curious (via Soaps.com). 

Oddly, Taylor (now played by Krista Allen) also returned to town and decided it was time to forgive Sheila. And that's when things got weird again.

Sheila decided Taylor was her new best friend, so she would give her the gift of Ridge Forrester (now played by Thorsten Kaye). But, she had to break up his marriage to Brooke first by making sure Brooke got drunk on New Year's Eve and strayed. 

So, Sheila switched the labels on a champagne bottle and a sparkling cider bottle, leading Brooke to kiss Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan), according to Soaps In Depth. When that secret came out, Ridge left Brooke, and Sheila felt satisfied.

Sheila was then very unsatisfied when Steffy found out what she did and threatened to expose her dirty deed to Finn. Sheila couldn't allow that, so she pulled out a gun, and Finn showed up out of nowhere — and the bullet hit him in the chest. Sheila then shot Steffy to make sure she didn't rat her out, but Finn died and Steffy survived (via Michael Fairman TV). 

After trying to jump off the hospital roof and being saved by Taylor, Sheila became fixated on how to quiet Steffy now that she had awakened (via Soap Hub).