Bill Spencer Jr. is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. He is portrayed by Don Diamont. Bill Spencer Jr. is the previously unknown illegitimate son of media mogul, Bill Spencer (Jim Storm), a character that appeared from the series premiere until 1994 and then only sporadically afterwards. He is also the half-brother of Karen Spencer and the late Caroline Forrester (both played by Joanna Johnson). He was born in early March 1963.
Creation Don Diamont briefly appeared on The Bold and the Beautiful's in 1993 as Brad Carlton, who crossed over from The Young and the Restless. When Diamont was fired from The Young and the Restless in 2009, The Bold and the Beautiful's executive producer and head writer, Bradley Bell, hired Diamont to play the younger Bill Spencer, a character Bell created specifically for the actor. "It's funny how one door closes and another opens," Diamont said. "I had a lot of emotion tied to Y&R. My entire adult life had been there, including so many relationships. Little did I know that such a great character and work situation was literally around the corner." Though never mentioned before in the series, he is the son of a character from The Bold and the Beautiful'''s early years, Bill Spencer, who ran Spencer Publications. With the departure of Bill from the series in 1994, that business was no longer featured in the sexy light of the other characters. "We're bringing another powerful presence to the show by getting Spencer Publications going again," Bell said. "We're going to show how fashion magazines influence the fashion world." Diamont described the new character he would portray as "uncensored" and "devilish". "Bill is a publishing bigwig, so he's very powerful, but he didn't grow up with a silver spoon," he said. "In fact, he was estranged from his father for a long time, but some years back, they developed a relationship. It wasn't exactly a cuddly one, but it was still a relationship, and they bonded over business." He was a contrast to Brad Carlton, the character he used to play on The Young and the Restless. "It's not like they're taking a facsimile of Brad and plugging him into this show," Diamont said. "This guy could not be a bigger departure from Brad. Bill dresses and thinks completely different. He's ruthless and twisted." Bill is a "Richard Branson-esque businessman" who speaks his mind no matter the consequence.
Diamont's character crossed over to The Young and the Restless on February 18, 2021.
Storylines After his father dies, Bill receives 50 percent ownership of Spencer Publications and is named co-CEO with his sister, Karen. He hires his father's close friend, Stephanie Forrester, to promote Jackie M Designs by writing a scandalous daily blog/webcast entitled The Logan Chronicles. It makes Spencer Publications a lot of money and gives Stephanie her revenge on her ex-husband, Eric, and his new wife, Donna Logan. Bill begins dating Katie Logan, but her sisters, Brooke and Donna, assume Bill is just using her and oppose their relationship. Bill and Katie marry at her childhood home with their families present.
When the Forresters are thirty minutes late in a loan payment, Bill pressures the banker to foreclose and the Forresters reluctantly sell to Bill and Forrester Creations becomes a subsidiary of Spencer Publications. Katie is suspicious but Bill says he is doing the best thing for the company. When moving into the Forrester beach house, that Bill secretly bought, Katie discovers Bill's true motivations when she finds a DVD, in which Bill Spencer, Sr. promises his son half of Spencer Publications on the condition that Bill use the company to avenge Stephanie, whom he reveals to be his true love, by crushing Eric and taking away his company. Bill names Katie CEO, much to the resentment of the Forresters. Bill and Katie both make it known that they are the ones in charge, which nearly causes Ridge and Eric to quit the company. Meanwhile, Ridge's daughter, Steffy, is attracted to Bill and makes several attempts to seduce him away from his wife. Steffy even finds a way to blackmail Bill into selling Forrester Creations back to her family by nearly seducing Bill and taking Katie's ring from the dresser in the bedroom. Bill agrees to sell Forrester Creations to Eric and Ridge but Steffy has the document state that the company will be sold to Eric, Ridge, Stephanie, and Taylor. Bill tells Katie he is selling Forrester Creations. Katie doesn't understand his motivation for selling it; but he gets the company back anyway.
Bill helps Donna win a percentage of the stock in the company as part of her divorce settlement with Eric and then buys it from her. Bill soon learns that he is the father of a former Spencer Publications employee named Liam Cooper, whose mother, Kelly Hopkins, Bill had dated in college. Both Katie and Hope Logan encourage Bill and Liam to get to know each other. Bill and Liam soon become close. The devious schemer and gold digger, Amber Moore, pretends to have sex with an unconscious Liam at a party and then claims to be pregnant with his child. Bill forces Amber to get a paternity test, which proves Liam is the father, Bill is furious and threatens revenge. Bill buys a beach house for Amber, but finds the perfect opportunity to be rid of her when she falls over a bannister. He does nothing as she hangs on for dear life, but Steffy arrives in time and saves her. Amber gives birth to a daughter and it is revealed that Marcus Forrester is the father not Liam.
Bill's marriage to Katie is further strained as she overhears him confiding in Steffy his intent to kill Amber. Katie learns of Bill's near affair and his plans to leave her for Steffy. The shock causes her to have a heart attack, which leads Bill to realize how much he cares about her. Bill then decides to stay with Katie and ends his relationship with Steffy. Liam stops by Steffy's condo to drop off the spare key that Bill had and finds Steffy unconscious and submerged in her bathtub. After regaining consciousness, Steffy tells him how grateful she is to him for saving her but uses the experience to further antagonize Hope. Liam becomes engaged to Hope and in an attempt to save his son's reputation as a potential lady's man he and Steffy plot together to destroy Liam and Hope's engagement. Bill also relates to his friend and right-hand man Justin Barber that he thinks Steffy is a much better woman for his son and he wants his son to marry Steffy. Bill sees Hope as a manipulative tease since she wants to wait until they're married before having sex. Bill wants his son with Steffy. Thanks to Steffy, Bill gets what he wants; Hope breaks off her engagement to Liam after seeing him & Steffy kissing, and he ends up proposing to Steffy, who happily accepts. Steffy's father, Ridge, punched Bill over his involvement with Steffy, so Bill went to Nick with an offer to buy 50% of Jackie M to crush Forrester. Nick was tempted, but Nick's mother, Jackie Marone, ultimately nixed the deal. Bill again deemed Hope unsuitable for Liam, so he teamed with Steffy to get rid of Hope. On Bill's orders, Steffy kissed Liam at Liam's bachelor party. Hope saw it and left her engagement ring on Liam's mantel. Liam offered the ring to Steffy, and Bill capitalized on it by sending Steffy and Liam to his cabin in Aspen. When Hope followed, Bill arranged a wedding for Steffy and Liam, which Hope was forced to watch while trapped in the Silver Queen gondola, courtesy of Bill. Bill encourages the relationship and even tells them to go out of town on a romantic getaway. Bill is further delighted and happy when he learns that on October 11, 2011 Liam and Steffy get married. Katie, however, doesn't support the marriage and is very suspicious of it because she believes that Steffy has other motives to marry Liam. Katie vows to get him and Hope back together, which she does when she finds out that Bill and Steffy conspired to keep Liam and Hope apart. She tells Liam everything, resulting in him blasting both his father and Steffy. Liam reunites with Hope despite Bill's objections. Bill vows to do whatever he can to keep his family together despite Liam's and Katie's anger and disappointment in him.
In 2012, Bill learns his sister Karen and niece Caroline, an aspiring fashion designer, are moving to Los Angeles. Bill continues to try to make sure that Liam doesn't end up with Hope. He is shocked to learn Katie is pregnant, and fearing for her health, demands she get an abortion, but she refuses. He eventually comes to accept the pregnancy upon realizing how much it means to Katie. Karen then tells Bill that she is gay, and that their father, Bill Spencer Sr. threatened to disown her if she came out publicly, for fear it would hurt Spencer Publications. Bill tells her that unlike their father, he loves and accepts her for who she is, which Karen greatly appreciates. In September, Katie gives birth to a son William Logan Spencer. Later, suffering from postpartum depression, Katie leaves Bill and their son, and starts pushing Bill towards her sister Brooke. Bill and Brooke become very close, kissing multiple times. When Katie eventually returns home with the help of Taylor Hayes, he and Brooke seem disappointed, when Katie asks why they seem mellow, they inform her that Stephanie Forrester had died just a few hours earlier. Bill also ends up having to face up to his part in Liam and Hope's breakup when Liam confronts him about his role in the whole sorted mess.
Despite his decision to be with Hope, Liam realizes that ending his marriage to Steffy may be harder than it seems. Despite trying to get an annulment, Steffy refuses to cave in, stating that she would rather get a divorce, resulting in Liam and Hope being forced to wait 6 months until they can get married. Steffy finally agrees to an annulment, but Liam ends up tearing up the annulment papers and passionately kisses Steffy unbenownced to Hope. The divorce happens, but Liam tells Steffy that he does not regret his marriage to her.
Despite Katie having come back, Bill can't seem to deny what he feels for Brooke, and they start spending more time together. Bill even encourages Brooke to relaunch her popular Brooke's Bedroom line, which Eric approves of. However, Katie catches them fooling around and becomes angry over what she assumes is her husband cheating on her with her sister. All the stress over Bill's closeness to Brooke takes its toll on Katie, and she winds up in the hospital after suffering a heart attack. Despite having had sex, Bill and Brooke decide to end their affair for Katie's sake, and Bill makes an effort to show Katie that he loves her and is committed to her.
Bill's half-sister, Karen Spencer, paid occasional visits from New York, but relocated to Los Angeles when her daughter, Caroline Spencer, took a job at Forrester. Bill raised an eyebrow when he met Danielle and assumed she was Karen's roommate. Fearful that Bill would be homophobic, Karen was adamant that Bill not find out Danielle was her spouse and that Caroline was their daughter, even as Karen arranged a job interview for Danielle at Spencer. Bill was intrigued by Danielle's international exploits as a freelance writer and thought that Danielle was coming on to him. But when Karen finally explained about her relationship with Danielle, Bill gave Karen his acceptance.
Bill Spencer got Hope's father Deacon out of prison to stop their wedding. Deacon was hesitant at first but later agreed. Bill then took Deacon and Alison to Italy to stop the wedding. Bill told Steffy (Liam's ex-wife) to stay in Italy knowing something might happen. When Deacon and Alison Montgomery were alone Deacon decided to ask Alison about Liam and Hope. Alison admitted she doesn't know Hope very well, but she sees she loves him as much as he loves her. Deacon went along with Bill's plan and Liam and Hope never got married.