Liam and Hope are engaged again — another spin on the carousel of heartbreak, reconciliation, and the quiet exhaustion that follows both. It’s classic Bold and the Beautiful — grand emotion and impossible odds, just as Scott Clifton likes it. But earlier this year, the actor wasn’t thinking about proposals or happy endings…he was bracing for a goodbye. Clifton believed Liam’s story was winding down for good. Then, as soap miracles go, the story took a turn no one saw coming — including him.
Key Takeaways
- Scott Clifton believed Liam’s tumor storyline was leading to his exit from the show.
- Clifton said Bradley Bell personally told him that Liam had been “written into a corner” and needed a powerful send-off.
- The actor approached the role with gratitude, calling the experience bittersweet but meaningful.
- Months later, Bell called again with a major twist — Liam wasn’t dying after all.
- Clifton described the reversal as “having my cake and eating it too” and said he’s “pretty damn grateful” to still be part of the show.
Facing the End
Clifton told Soap Opera Digest that it all began months earlier, when Liam drifted to the background of the show’s canvas. His boss, executive producer and head writer Bradley Bell, reached out to talk. “Brad was really honest and generous with me,” Clifton said. “He told me he felt that Liam had been written into a corner.” Bell admitted that Liam’s endless back-and-forth between Hope (Annika Noelle) and Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes wood) had finally hit a wall.
That honesty hit home. Clifton understood exactly what Bell meant — that even good characters can wear out their audience’s patience. So, when he got the news that Bell planned to write Liam’s exit through a terminal illness, it didn’t shock him. “Brad was kind enough to call me into his office and sit me down and have a whole conversation with me about why he was [killing Liam off],” Clifton recalled. “He said he didn’t want to waste Liam, and it seemed like the best way to honor the character was to give him a really poignant send-off.”
It was bittersweet — an ending he didn’t want but one he could respect. Clifton said he approached the storyline with gratitude and focus, knowing it might be his last. He described the feeling of shooting what he thought were his final scenes with long-time co-stars Noelle, Wood, and Don Diamont (Bill) as “a sort of looming sense of loss.”
The Twist That Saved Liam
Then came the call that changed everything. Months later, Bell reached out again — not with a eulogy, but a rewrite. “I had every reason to believe they really were going to kill me off,” Clifton said. “Then I got a phone call at home from Mr. Bell and he said, ‘You know what? I changed my mind. I’m going to figure out a way to spare Liam.’”
That twist — a gunshot, a lie, and a forged medical file — pulled Liam back from the brink. Clifton admitted he didn’t know how Bell could possibly undo what had been written, but the show found a way. And when the dust settled, Liam wasn’t dying at all. “It was like having my cake and eating it too,” Clifton remarked.
He felt it was a strange but rewarding turn of events in his career, having an ending that never came. Instead of a farewell, Clifton got another chapter. “I would trade 100 goodbye deathbed speeches for an ongoing career,” he said, adding, “I’m pretty damn grateful.” (Find out how Clifton kept Liam’s illness authentic.)
