Why Kim Matula Left Her Role As Hope On The Bold And The Beautiful

The character of Hope Logan on "The Bold and the Beautiful" was originally born to Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan) in 2002. Several child actors portrayed the character as a young child, but in 2010, the show decided to age Hope up to the age of 17. Kim Matula was cast to play Hope, and over the next few years, viewers watched as Hope found trouble, love, and chaos. Hope found herself falling in love with Liam Cooper (Scott Clifton), butting heads with Steffy Forrester (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood), and subsequently connecting with Wyatt Fuller (Darin Brooks).

The complicated dynamics of the romantic relationships involving Hope, Steffy, Liam, and Wyatt were front-burner storylines throughout Matula's time with "The Bold and the Beautiful." In November 2014, however, it was announced that Matula was leaving the show. At the time, Hope was mourning a pregnancy loss. After a fight with Wyatt's mother, Quinn Fuller (Rena Sofer), Hope fell down the stairs at the Forrester mansion and had a miscarriage. Although Wyatt had been the baby's father, Hope admitted to Liam she still loved him. Despite her love for him, she had decided to leave town so she could heal. She chose to spend time with her mother in Milan, Italy, leaving both Wyatt and Liam behind.

On November 5, 2014, Kim Matula shared a goodbye message to "The Bold and the Beautiful" fans on Instagram. "What can I say about today? I can officially confirm that I filmed my last scenes at 'The Bold and The Beautiful.' For now," she began. Matula added, "It was a day full of love and laughter and reminiscing about the past 5 years." She also explained it had been a very tough decision to make, but she chose to leave "so that I could spread my wings as an actor and see what this big beautiful world has to offer."

While Matula left "The Bold and the Beautiful" to pursue other acting opportunities, she initially did not fully shut the door on a return. In her goodbye Instagram post, she shared, "I can never put into words just how amazing and inspiring this show has been. What a huge part of my life." She insisted she was saying "see you later" instead of "goodbye," and she did return briefly twice.

Matula filmed a single episode in March 2015, and at the time, told Soap Opera Digest her departure "hasn't sunk in yet. I feel like I'm on vacation or something and one of these days soon, I'm going to wake up and go, 'Why aren't I at work?'" Matula returned again for an episode that aired in March 2016, but the role of Hope was recast in 2018.

When Kim Matula left "The Bold and the Beautiful," the soap opera indicated they were not planning to recast the role of Hope. In 2018, however, plans changed, and Annika Noelle took over the role. When Matula said goodbye to fans upon her initial departure, she wrote, "Cheers to the next adventure!!" She wanted to try new things, and Matula has had quite the ride since shifting her focus to prime-time television. She starred in the second season of the series "UnReal," and in 2018, played Ronnie in "LA to Vegas." Unfortunately, that show was canceled after one season.

Matula told She Knows Soaps in January 2023 that "LA to Vegas" had "fed my soul in a way that a lot of other jobs haven't, because I got to do the comedy that lives inside of me every day." When she was asked if she would consider a return to soap operas, she was non-committal. "It would depend if the time was right, and where I am at in life. It would all depend on the circumstances." The former "The Bold and the Beautiful" star explained she loved the character of Hope, but there were times the character's actions got to her. "Because I played her, I have a soft spot for her. But so often, I wanted to shake her and just be like, 'You need to get it together, girl! You've got to get it together!