The strong bond Susan Flannery and John’s characters Stephanie and Eric Forrester share on B&B also continues off screen. One day, after more than 12 years of co-starring Susan finally realized while running lines together with John in his dressing room how she really feels about him. “I just looked at him and said ‘I never told you this before, but I want you to know how much it means to me to have you on this show with me.’ ”, Susan recalls. Though surprised, John was moved and his eyes even welled up a bit.