Jacqueline McInnes Wood joined CBS soap The Bold & the Beautiful 17 years ago as a fresh-faced 21-year-old full of energy.
But as the 38-year-old celebrated her soap-iversary on June 4, 2025, the actress reveals that in the early days she was drinking five-hour energy drinks and “running on fumes,” leaving her no longer looking like herself.
“From the start, I loved working on Bold & the Beautiful, although I’d never worked at a pace like that in my life,” she told Soaps.com, revealing that it was “non-stop for the first three years”.
As Steffy Forrester, Jacqueline was introduced with a series of popular storylines that saw her become entangled with many of the show’s characters, but that pace became overwhelming for Jacqueline, who was fresh in Los Angeles.
© CBS via Getty Images“I was in my 20s, so I was trying to balance a lot of different things,” she added.
“They say that at that age, you’re not even thinking, you’re just very impulsive. And that was me! I was drinking five-hour energy drinks to get me through the day and running on fumes. But I was running myself into the ground to the point where I didn’t even look like myself anymore. I was so thin, and my skin was breaking out.”
Jacqueline was given medication by doctors to help with her skin problems, but she acknowledged that it didn’t fix the root problem which she could only do by focusing on herself.
© FilmMagicIn 2013 she took a break from the series but returned on a recurring basis and has been with the show since 2015 on a contract basis.
As a mother of four, and her fifth on the way, Jacqueline added that she now has the “added incentive of wanting to be healthy for not only myself and my husband but for them, too”.
© Getty ImagesThe soap star shares sons Rise, six, four-year-old Lenix, Brando, three, and one-year-old Valor with her talent agent husband, Elan Ruspoli, who has worked with the likes of Eddie Redmayne, Toni Collette and Luke Wilson.
Earlier in April she gave fans a rare glimpse into her life in Los Angeles, posting a carousel of pictures revealing how she had been spending her days, including baking with her boys, taking them horse riding and to the beach, and reading scripts while pushing the pram.
“I’m almost 7 months pregnant! Our family is beyond excited, and my kids are over the moon,” the actress shared with fans in her newsletter in mid-March.
“It’s such a special time in our home — so much love, energy and anticipation!”
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