Articles and Interviews: 2000-2003

Blair's Baby Snatched (TV Guide Online 10/12/01)

by Delaina Dixon

One of life's happiest events turns sour this week on One Life to Live. Down in Mexico, Todd has helped his former wife Blair give birth to their baby boy. "He delivered it, and he's very loving to the baby in front of her," says Blair's portrayer Kassie DePaiva. "She thinks that everything is perfect between them." But Todd, who's convinced that the baby will dampen the road to his and Blair's happiness, spirits the newborn away and tells Blair the baby has died.

"It's just awful. In the most real, gut-wrenching way you could possibly imagine, she just breaks down," DePaiva shares. "She wanted this baby so much. The fact that I've had a baby in real life, and I know that your hormones go wacko, I just tried to play it as real as possible."

Despite her numerous attempts to tell Todd that the baby is his, the couple keeps missing their chance for honest communication. "Blair's tired after giving birth; she thinks he's in the room and she says, 'Oh, it's our baby, he's beautiful, does he look like you?' But Todd's out of the room and never hears her."

Assuming that Max is the proud new father, Paloma contacts him, who quickly makes his way south of the border. For once, Blair decides to come clean. "She owes it to him," deduces DePaiva, whose character abandons her scheming ways once she learns of her baby's "fate." "She's grieving. The audience knows it's a trick, but it's not a very funny joke on Blair."

Blair won't be sharing the laugh with Todd if she ever learns what he did. "I think she should punch him in the face," says DePaiva with a chuckle, "and then go from there."