HOLLYWOOD—This week’s gold standard goes to two beautiful actresses who portray women who have been holding secrets from those they love. Lauralee Bell, who is daytime’s biggest leading lady and star, portrays Christine Blair on “The Young and the Restless.” She had a highly emotional week of scenes that kept us on the edge of our chairs. Ashley Jones, who portrays Bridget Forrester in “The Bold and the Beautiful,” is a new mother, who is falling in love with the father of her baby. The problem is, the baby’s father is married to Bridget’s former mother-in-law. Both actresses prove that they are strong contenders for Emmys in 2011.

Lauralee Bell had all of our attention this week, as Christine dealt with the fallout of the death of her godson Chance at the hands of his own brother, Ronan. Christine had been hiding Ronan’s maternity from his own mother Nina, who has spent nearly three decades searching for the baby that was stolen from her at birth by Rose DeVille. Christine learned that Ronan was her best friend’s child, but she was keeping it a secret at the request of Ronan and also the FBI, who has Ronan working undercover to blow the lid off of a drug ring run by the highest levels of power in the city.

When Nina slammed the door in Christine’s face, the heartbreak she felt was visible on Bell’s gorgeous face. Later, when Christine confronted Ronan for making such a terrible mistake and killing his own brother by shooting Chance to death, you could see that her trust was wavering and that she was still in shock. “How could you do this to your own brother,” Christine asked a shell-shocked Ronan. Lauralee is such a great actress, still strikingly beautiful and the fact that she never gives a bad performance makes me sad that she is leaving a hot storyline that will continue to reverberate emotionally throughout the other characters for years to come.

Ashley Jones as Bridget on “B&B” is one of my favorite actresses as well. This week Bridget fought back the tears and the joy she is feeling just being around Owen, who is the father of her baby. She is also hiding the secret that her handsome brother Rick is trying to seduce Owen’s wife Jackie, so that Bridget and Owen can be together. Bridget, like her mother Brooke Logan, is not very good at keeping secrets. Surely Stephanie or Jackie will figure things out soon. Watching Jones play the role as a mother is fascinating and the writing is excellent. The young actress has really come into her own in this role, and fans can’t wait to see where the storyline is going.

“Y&R” and “B&B” air weekdays on CBS.

Photographs Courtesy: Lauralee Bell by Lesley Bohm and Ashley Jones by Gilles