Australia’s starring role in world’s most-watched soap opera

STARS of American soapie The Bold and The Beautiful are brushing up on their Aussie lingo ahead of a trip Down Under to film new episodes.

EVERGREEN US TV series The Bold and The Beautiful will film a series of episodes down under next month in a move set to boost tourism coffers further.

In the last year American visitors to Australia have soared by 20 per cent, on the back of Tourism Australia’s campaign featuring Chris Hemsworth.

The filming of The Bold and The Beautiful in Sydney from February 12 to 17 will provide even greater exposure with the show watched by a global audience of more than 30 million an episode.

One of the stars of The Bold and the Beautiful, Katherine Kelly Lang who plays Brooke. Picture: Supplied

Qantas will bring eight of the show’s stars down under in a plot development yet to be revealed to the actors.

Three of the stars have never been to Australia including Scott Clifton (Liam), John McCook (Eric) and Don Diamont (Bill).

Mr Clifton said he had started to worry he “might die” before visiting Australia.

“Not only do I get to go now, there’s somebody whose job it is to scout the most amazing places with the most amazing scenery,” Mr Clifton said.

“I get to go and capitalise on all of that.”

Mr Diamont said any free time would be spent at Bondi Beach.

“I love the beach. That’s where you’ll find me,” he said.

Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke) and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy) have both visited, and Ashleigh Brewer (Ivy) grew up in Brisbane and said she couldn’t wait to show her cast mates around her home country.

Australia’s Ashleigh Brewer who will return down under with her The Bold and The Beautiful castmates next month. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

“I think they have got used to my accent now. At first they found it pretty confusing,” she said.

“This will actually be a pretty huge world collide when we all travel together.”

Ms Lang said she loved Australia and was thrilled to be filming the show here.

“The people, the weather, the environment — I love it all,” said Ms Lang.

“Whenever I come home from Australia I can’t wait to go back.”

Qantas Group Corporate Affairs Executive Olivia Wirth said the airline’s involvement was part of its investment in tourism marketing.

Actor John McCook has never been to Australia before. Picture: Getty

“This is a terrific opportunity to promote Australia by featuring it in one of the most popular TV programs in the world, Ms Wirth said.

Other US TV shows filmed down under, have delivered a big spike in American visitors, most notably Oprah Winfrey’s 2010 tour which returned more than $26 million in bookings.

After The Ellen DeGeneres Show visited in 2013 Qantas saw a 22 per cent spike in fares sold.

Although details of the film locations remain under wraps, Mr McCook revealed they would visit Melbourne for a day.

The Bold and The Beautiful will celebrate its 30th anniversary of broadcasting on March 23, and the episodes filmed in Australia will air around that time.

Originally published as Australia’s starring role in world’s most-watched soap opera