Soap stans rejoice: Greenlee is back on TV.

That’s right. Rebecca Budig, the Emmy-nominated actress who played Greenlee Smythe for 11 years on All My Children is returning to the soap world.

Budig made her first appearance today on The Bold and the Beautiful as Dr. Taylor Hayes, the beloved, no-nonsense psychiatrist played off and on over a span of 20 years by Hunter Tylo. Tylo officially exited the series in 2019 and was recast two years later by Krista Allen. Allen earned an Emmy Nomination for the performance in 2023, but ABC declined to renew her contract.

On today’s episode of The Bold and the Beautiful, Hayes resurfaced in the form of Budig.

Hayes was seen hiding out in Monte Carlo, her head surreptitiously covered by a scarf, spying on her ex-flame Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) and longtime rival Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang), and placing a phone call to her daughter Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood).

“That’s right, Steffy, it’s your mom,” Taylor is shown whispering into the receiver, “I’m in Europe. That’s why I’m calling, to tell you I miss you and I’m coming home. That’s right, honey, mama’s coming home.”

Dr. Hayes is a major player in the Bold and the Beautiful universe. She’s the ex-wife of the show’s resident heartthrob, Ridge Forrester. She first met Ridge as a couples’ counselor when he and his wife Caroline sought help after she was diagnosed with leukemia. Taylor was seeing rival heartthrob Storm Logan at the time, but after Caroline’s death, the doctor married Ridge in a widely viewed 1992 episode.

Over the years she has been presumed dead in a plane crash, gotten amnesia, been rescued by Prince Omar Rashid and married him in Morocco, actually died, reappeared as a ghost, reappeared alive, committed vehicular manslaughter, and more.

When we last saw Dr. Hayes, she was plotting to keep Ridge and Brooke apart, so it seems she’s pretty much up to her old tricks.

“Before this job came up, I thought about going back to school and studying psychology, because it actually fascinates me,” Budig said in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE. “It’s ironic that I got this part, given that that’s what I was going to try and do in the fall, anyway.”

Budig’s last soap role was a recurring role as Hayden Barnes on General Hospital in 2019. Stepping back into a full role on The Bold and the Beautiful doesn’t just mark a homecoming to daytime TV, it marks a reunion with costar Kaye, who she previously worked with on All My Children.

“I’ve always loved Thorsten,” Budig told PEOPLE. “I’ve been to his house for Thanksgiving once, so I love Thorsten and his family.” Reflecting on Kaye as a scene partner, she said, “He does something different every time. He doesn’t say the same thing every time, so he keeps you on your toes — and that’s all you can ask for, really.”

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The actress has also appeared in Blue Bloods, CSI, How I Met Your Mother, Castle, and Guiding Light, her last role on a CBS daytime soap.

The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS at 1:30 p.m. ET and can be streamed on Paramount+.