Rick Hearst dropped to recurring status on The Bold and the Beautiful

Actor Rick Hearst has been dropped from the regular cast of CBS daytime soap The Bold and the Beautiful.

The actor plays Whip Jones on the Los Angeles based soap but from June will be dropped down to recurring status meaning the character will appear on an “as and when” basis. The actor returned to the role in July 2009 with much fanfare but less than two years later he’s once again being dropped from the main cast. Rick Hearst originally played the role in 2002 for just six months before leaving The Bold and the Beautiful.

Hearst is no stranger to the world of soaps having appeared in Days of our Lives, Guiding Light, The Young and the Restless and General Hospital. Hearst isn’t the first contract cast member on The Bold and the Beautiful to be dropped down to recurring status in the past year. Actors Windsor Harmon, who plays Thorne Forrester, and Ashley Jones, who plays Bridget Forrester, have also been dropped from the regular cast. Actor Kyle Lowder, who since 2007 played Rick Forrester, was also dropped from the cast.

Earlier this year The Bold and the Beautiful celebrated its 6000th episode and introduced a brand new set of opening titles – only the third in the soaps 24 year history.