One of the longest running feuds in daytime is the one between Sheila Carter, played by Kimberlin Brown, and Lauren Fenmore, played by Tracey Bregman. It’s spanned parts of four decades and two soap operas — The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful.
The Great Rivalry
The battle between these two women began when Sheila developed an attraction for handsome, kind, successful Dr. Scott Grainger (Peter Barton). But the good doctor was already married — to Lauren. The department store owner put Sheila on notice once she saw her as a potential threat.
Lauren learned the hard way just how devious Sheila could be. The naughty nurse kidnapped Lauren’s baby Scotty (fathered by Scott) and passed him off as theirs. Eventually, the truth came out and Sheila escaped the law by running off to Los Angeles and starting a new life on B&B, Y&R’s sister soap.
Later, Scott and Lauren were united with Sheila (and her new husband Eric, played by John McCook) on Catalina Island. A dying Scott professed his love to Sheila. Brown recently suggested that Scott’s admission is what irks Lauren to this day.
“Lauren has always been a thorn in Sheila’s side,” Brown muses to Soap Opera Digest. “Sheila definitely feels that she has a lot to blame Lauren for. Lauren was a big part of her problems with Eric as well. And it’s interesting how none of these women really wanted the men that they’re with until Sheila was interested in them.
“It was actually beautiful at the very end, when the character of Scott was passing away, and he acknowledged that, you know, ‘You [Sheila] are the one that loved me,'” Brown recollects. “That was such a tender moment. And Lauren didn’t like that either.” Of course, what Lauren likely hates Sheila for is trying to kill her on numerous occasions!
So, it’s interesting how other people are so desperate to take away Sheila’s happiness. Lauren definitely did that. And I don’t know if Sheila would ever forgive her for that.”
Might a reunion still occur between the two women? Time will tell. The two had a showdown in the fall of 1992 that propelled B&B to the No. 2 spot in the ratings for the first time ever. That encounter turned out to be a dream and the duo’s next confrontation unfolded over on Y&R.
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