Inside Hope & Liam’s ‘B&B’ Wedding With Scott Clifton and Annika Noelle — Will It Last?

The Bold and the Beautiful‘s Hope Logan (Annika Noelle) and Liam Spencer (Scott Clifton) will say “I do” once again in episodes beginning December 10.

The duo, who have been married three times before (after eight planned ceremonies), is hoping nine is the magic number. “It is not their first wedding, but it is a wedding that still feels very true to them,” says Noelle. “And what this union means to them in the moment is very much about family.”

The latest walk down the aisle isn’t just another “Lope” redo — it follows some heavy emotional fallout after Liam believed he was dying from a brain tumor, only to learn it was a ruse. “Liam had taken inventory of his life and his choices and reflected on how quick he was to jump back and forth between Hope and Steffy [Forrester, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood],” notes Clifton. “I was worried that it was going to look like, ‘The minute we find out Liam’s okay, he’s going to get married to Hope, and it’s going to be the same thing, and it’s going to look like there was no lesson learned.’ But then the way it was handled, it really felt like Liam and Hope were getting married in a way that was a tribute to their history rather than getting married and having to sweep their history under the rug.”

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Hope, meanwhile, did her own soul-searching in her time apart from Liam, which gave her some much-needed clarity. “Hope went through a lot of upheaval with her personal life,” points out Noelle. “She’s been engaged twice since she and Liam got divorced, not to mention her [fashion] line has faced a lot of adversity, as well as within her family life, and she’s really seeking some stability in her life. And I think with this health scare, she and Liam have both reevaluated a lot of things and what they meant to each other in their lives, and almost losing him kind of woke Hope up a little bit. Now she believes that they have done enough growing in this time apart from each other to where she feels like, ‘OK, as two adults, we can look at each other and make these promises and hopefully stick to them.’”

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For Noelle, the storyline arrived at a particularly surreal moment. The actress tied the knot in real life with John Patrick Amedori on October 5, then discovered she’d be heading back to the altar in character. “I was off for a couple weeks celebrating my own wedding and honeymoon, and I was pretty shocked to see that I was going to have to have another wedding dress fitting as soon as I got back to work,” she muses. “It was a very interesting thing as an actor to come off of your own nuptials into your character’s. It was almost like an echo in some ways, so I will say as a performer, it was interesting to experience that.”

The ceremony will take place in an intimate setting. Liam’s father, Bill Spencer (Don Diamont), offers to host the gathering in his home, which is attended by Hope and Liam’s nearest and dearest. “It’s a small wedding with family members and Beth [Jordyn Gracie] is their officiant,” previews Clifton. “And Jordyn, I still can’t wrap my head around what a professional that kid is; she is such a dream. She memorized pages and pages of dialogue, and she could just stand there on set all day and stay still and listen to blocking. I mean, most kids would be going stir crazy. And I’ve known Annika for so long now, and there was a familiarity, a backstory behind it. The speeches and the vows and filming felt fresh, and we were all kind of emotional on set. It’s not this ‘fireworks’ big event, but it was the first time that it just felt like an excuse for some really nice scenes.”

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The guest list includes some meaningful returns. “I was ecstatic that Henry Samiri [Douglas Forrester] was back,” enthuses Noelle. “Not only do we have the amazing Jordyn, who just nailed the vows — I was so proud of her — but Henry was there, which was just a kind of full circle moment because Douglas in the past has also played the officiant, at their ‘T-shirt’ wedding [in 2020]. I feel very maternal to them, and it felt really lovely to have them both be involved in the wedding. Henry and I snuck in our secret handshake, and I hope they didn’t cut it.”

Though Noelle and Clifton haven’t been paired on camera in two years, they slipped into their old dynamic with ease. “We picked right back off where we left off,” Noelle shares. “It really is effortless, and we have that rhythm and that harmony because we have been working together now for eight years. But it was very apparent to me in those scenes when we thought Liam was going to die that there was still more story to be told there and that there was still some kind of magic with Hope and Liam. I’m so blessed to be able to work with Scott Clifton, and I am happy he’s still with us. He’s someone I look up to and I admire as a performer. He is one of the best costars you could ask for.”

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Still, the looming question is whether this marriage will finally last. “The answer has to be yes, right?” says Clifton. “I have to believe that they can. Do I believe they will? That’s a totally different question. But it would be very, very difficult to have made these scenes what they were if I didn’t, on some leve,l convince myself that these characters can actually pull this off this time and it can work for them.”

Adds Noelle, “At the same time, this is a soap opera, so, well, light a candle and say a prayer.”

The Bold and the Beautiful, Weekdays, CBS