CBS Actor Returning to His Show After 2024 Exit

The Bold and the Beautiful fans can expect to see a familiar face return this fall.

Matthew Atkinson will return to his role as Thomas Forrester in early September for the first time in a year, Soap Opera Digest confirmed Tuesday.

Atkinson, who took over the role of Ridge Forrester (Thorsten Kaye) and Taylor Hayes’ (Rebecca Budig) only son in 2019, initially teased his return on Aug. 11 with a cheeky Instagram video taken outside the set of the CBS soap.

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A post shared by Matthew Atkinson (@jmattatkinson)

In a brief clip, Atikinson filmed himself playing cornhole in front of a sign featuring the show’s name. Landing his throw on the second try, Atkinson captioned the video, “Second time’s a charm.”

The Bold and the Beautiful fans were quick to read into the post Atkinson’s return, with one person writing, “Are you coming back? We NEED some excitement,” and another commenting, “Soooooo does this mean I have a reason to tune in again?” A third added, “I hope this means you’re coming back to Bold and Beautiful, you have been missed. We need a Thope reunion!”

Atkinson left the show in March 2024, after having his marriage proposals repeatedly turned down by Hope Logan (Annika Noelle) and deciding to move to Paris. In June of that year, Atkinson returned for a brief story arc, during which Thomas revealed he was now engaged to Paris Buckingham (Diamond White). Atkinson left the show again in July 2024 as he and Paris headed back to France.

At the time, Atkinson told Soap Opera Digest in an interview that he was amazed at the interest fans had in Thomas and Hope’s romance.

“I just never expected the response that I’ve gotten and we’ve gotten from the fans, especially [with] Thomas leaving,” he told the outlet at the time. “I can’t speak for all the fans, but there’s a wealth of people that are either really, really upset that Thomas is gone for a period or really sad. [They] reach out and they’re like, ‘Hey, when are you back? When are you back? When are you back?’ That just speaks to their care for this character. And that means a lot to me because I would have fun doing this in a vacuum, but it’s really great to have a response that shows that these people care about what you’re doing. And so it’s just been so much love from so many fans that comes out in so many different ways.”