Why are there rumors about John McCook leaving The Bold and the Beautiful? Plot dynamics explained

CBS and Paramount+’s The Bold and The Beautiful is one of the longest-running American daily soap operas that first premiered on March 23, 1987, and was created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell.

The central storyline and plot arc of the show focus on the glamorous lives of the Forrester family members, who are the owners of the brand and founders of the fashion empire of Forrester Creations.

The show is critically acclaimed and has won numerous Daytime Emmy Awards. Veteran actor John McCook plays the character of Eric Forrester, who is the founder of Forrester Creations and also the patriarch of the Forrester family. 

In a recent episode of the show, which aired on December 8, 2025, there was a huge conversation among the Forrester family members regarding Eric’s retirement, and they also threw him a surprise retirement party.

Ridge Forrester, Eric’s beloved son, urged his father to quit his job at Forrester Creations as the main designer and rest; however, that was not received well by Eric, who retorted that he will continue to work till the day he dies.

Due to these events being a part of The Bold and The Beautiful's current ongoing storyline, there have been a few rumors regarding the actor John McCook leaving the show; however, with the current plot line in place, it seems unlikely that he would do so.

Details explored on the rumors regarding veteran actor John McCook leaving The Bold and The Beautiful and letting go of his role as Eric Forrester

CBS Network and Paramount+’s The Bold and The Beautiful first premiered decades ago in 1987 and continues airing new episodes to this day. With roughly 9000 episodes aired so far, the storyline and plot arc have evolved quite a lot over the last few years.

Veteran actor John McCook joined the cast, crew, and production of the show to play the role of Eric Forrester during the debut of the show itself, and has been a part of the show for the last 38 years.

Eric Forrester’s character on the show is the founder of the fashion empire of Forrester Creations, which is a designer brand based in Los Angeles. Eric is also the father to seven Forrester children, almost all of whom work for the family fashion business. In addition to that, he is also the patriarch of the Forrester family.

Recently, after the December 8, 2025, episode of The Bold and The Beautiful aired, there have been a few rumors regarding actor John McCook retiring from his role on the show; however, neither the production house of the show nor the actor has commented on this yet.

The rumors began on the December 8th episode. Eric Forrester entered the Forrester Creations office building and seemed to be recollecting his old memories of starting the business humbly and how much he had invested in it for it to grow into an empire.

He was also shown sitting alone in his office and thinking to himself about how badly he wanted to continue working as a designer in the company that he had built himself.

Soon, Ridge, Brooke, Steffy, Carter, Daphne, and Finn were shown throwing a surprise retirement party for him. However, Eric said he would not leave, but Ridge insisted that his father had to retire. 

Stay tuned for more updates.