Bold & Beautiful’s Annika Noelle Gets Candid About the Twist That Left Viewers Stunned

What in the world is Hope thinking on The Bold and the Beautiful? It’s what we’re all wondering. She’s married to a great guy — OK, she’s married to Mr. Wishy-Washy himself, Liam, but still — has an amazing job and a family with two kids. Well, one of them technically isn’t hers, but for all intents and purposes, she should be happy with her life!

But she’s not. Instead, she’s inching closer and closer to Thomas and just can’t seem to get him out of her head! And according to spoilers, even Thomas is starting to catch on to her obsession. So what is going on in Hope’s mind?!

Oh, how the creepy tables have turned.

Credit: Howard Wise/JPI

“I don’t know what Hope’s thinking,” Annika Noelle admitted with a laugh while on Soap Opera Digest’s podcast. For one thing, she doesn’t know where the story’s headed any more than we do. They just don’t get scripts that far in advance and even the folks who might know aren’t telling. So that’s just been leaving her to find the truth of Hope’s feelings for herself — crazy as they may seem to a lot of us!

“How do I justify this?” she mused. “How do I take whatever they throw my way and rise to the occasion? How do I meet that and make it truthful and make it resonate?”

Well, part of what’s going on right now is, Noelle thinks, that Hope is finally letting a bit of her control slip. It’s something that, up until now, she’s needed to maintain an iron grip on. And that’s something else we can blame on Brooke. Well, blame might be a harsh way to put it… but it’s certainly thanks in large part to Brooke!

Hope needs control, Noelle explained, “Especially in growing up with the shadow of her mom and a lot of the judgment that was cast upon her mother. Subconsciously or not, her character has inherited some of that. She just didn’t want to be like her mom, and so much of her identity and her messaging that she’s sending herself is not wanting to be like her mother.”

That’s the look of a daughter who is just absolutely mortified to be around to hear Brooke defend the “Slut from the Valley” moniker for the thousandth time.

Credit: CBS screenshot

Noelle then brought up a bit of Hope’s history, like back when needed to take an anxiety pill to have sex. That’s how tightly wound she was. And that’s kind of understandable growing up with a mom dubbed the “Slut from the Valley.” That’s the last thing Hope would have wanted for herself so she constantly “strives for that image of morality and control.”

Add in the fact that her dad was always kind of a cad and a con, and you can see how Hope’s entire life has basically been trying to convince herself that she’s better than her parents. But that kind of rigid grip on yourself is exhausting to maintain and sooner or later, it has to slip.

“For me,” Noelle told Digest, “Thomas is that forbidden fruit. He encapsulates everything that Hope has not allowed herself in her own life. And I think he fascinates her because he is kind of the polar opposite. He’s the opposite of control.”

“If Thomas is your opposite, Hope, I’m supposed to represent control? I don’t even have the discipline to decide which woman I love from one day to the next!”

Credit: CBS screenshot

More: Why Hope’s new triangle is different from any before

Of course, that doesn’t answer why it’s happening now, but at least it helps explains a little bit why Hope’s become so fixated on Ridge’s oft-troubled son. With all that said, we can’t exactly see this ever going well because this isn’t the healthiest way to fall for someone — especially since Hope’s portrayer made it clear that “It’s not something she’s enjoying. She’s horrified that she’s feeling this way!”

Yikes. If that doesn’t scream trouble, we don’t know what does! In the end, Thomas’ pull may be both irresistible… and doomed. And Hope’s likely to throw away the perfect(ish) life with Liam for absolutely nothing!

If you think this pairing is destined for failure, take a look at our photo gallery of daytime’s most toxic couples of all time.