Bold and the Beautiful’s Romy Park Clears Up A Popular Misconception About Poppy

Romy Park talked about how she feels Poppy’s use of the mints is akin to drinking alcohol without being an addict.

Romy Park discussed whether or not Poppy is an addict.Photo bySoap Hub

Some people believe that Poppy was addicted to drugs via her infamous “mints,” and may have caused Tom’s death on The Bold and the Beautiful. Her portrayer, Romy Park, gave her thoughts on whether or not Poppy is actually an addict, and explained how the subject matter was treated on set.

Yamada’s Prop Mints Are Tasty

After Luna (Lisa Yamada) ate her mother Poppy’s (Romy Park) mints — which seemed to be some kind of CBD product — she mistook Zende (Delon de Metz) for her boyfriend RJ (Joshua Hoffman) and ended up sleeping with him. This caused a great deal of turmoil, but once everyone got over it, we thought that was the end of the whole mint fiasco. However, after Tom (Clint Howard) turned up dead from a drug overdose, and Katie (Heather Tom) started to dig into Poppy’s past and realized she and Tom had a prior connection, she not only theorized that Poppy killed him, but also learned about what happened to Luna with the mints.

Thus, the question of whether or not Poppy is addicted to drugs has come up. In an interview with Soap Opera Digest, Park explained that, for the most part, everyone on the B&B set takes the whole drug/mint thing very seriously. In fact, the only time any humor revolved around them was when she first sampled the mints and gave some to other coworkers, who agreed that they tasted good. Beyond that, everyone on the show treated the subject matter with seriousness and dignity. The actual mints doled out by the prop master are given to actors when they are in close quarters or have kissing scenes.

Is Poppy Truly Addicted?

Park addressed the topic of whether or not Poppy is an addict, stating, “Now, Poppy — I think it’s unfair to say that she’s a drug addict, which I know some people have claimed: ‘Oh, she’s a drug addict!’ ” She further explained that after Luna’s horrifying incident with Zende, she quit the mints, adding, “I studied addiction, I went to school for it. An addict can’t stop just like that. It’s a process, you know? It’s not a cold-turkey thing,” thereby illustrating that Poppy’s a casual user, not an addict. Once the damage had been done, it seemed to be enough to scare Poppy straight, and before that, her behavior didn’t indicate she was dealing with any kind of addiction.

Park continued, explaining, “But also, it was alluded to these [being] CBD mints, which are legal in California. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong. I’m saying that I think too much has been made of the fact that she’s a drug addict. It’s recreational. She does not drink, and alcohol is also a drug, right[?]”

She also added that people who drink alcohol but aren’t addicted shouldn’t be throwing stones, and the mints became such an important part of the story that they were almost like a character. Odds are, the drugs that were used to kill Tom, as well as Hollis (Hollis W. Chambers), were far stronger — like heroin — which would indeed kill someone if they ingested too much. (Find out why Zende didn’t nearly get what he deserved when he slept with Luna.)