God Restores Soap Star Marriage

KRISTI WATTS (reporting): Most people know her as Dr. Taylor Hayes Forrester on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. People magazine chose her as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world in 1993 and 1998.

Her name is Hunter Tylo. In 1987 she married former actor Michael Tylo. Hes best known for his roles in Guiding Light and The Young and the Restless.

But when Michaels extensive acting career took him to Spain to shoot The New Adventures of Zorro, their marriage suffered. The couples devotion to their work began to tear apart their devotion to each other.

MICHAEL TYLO: I love doing the series, but I couldnt take the family, so I was away in Spain shooting this thing while she got the chicken pox, her father passed away, I couldnt go to the funeral, all kinds of things that kind of build resentments.

HUNTER TYLO: He would do love scenes, or Id do love scenes, and wed get jealous and [would be] wondering whats really going on. I dont care what actors say, that happens it happens. Some people handle it better than others. We were intensely in love and very possessive, and paranoia set in and we just let it eat away and eat away and eat away. Before you know it, ugly words come out of your mouth and words do have power.

KRISTI WATTS (reporting): While Hunter was shooting a series in India, the months of being apart took its toll. Heated arguments over the phone led to the most damaging words of all: Hunter told Michael she wanted a divorce.

(interviewing): I think back at that time, just from what you guys have said, and you guys really had reasons to get a divorce from both sides, from the worlds point of view, but you guys didnt go through with it. Instead you said, 'Were going to work this out.' Why?

HUNTER TYLO: There was this morning when I totally booted him out of the house. We had just had another fight -- I mean, it was just non-stop -- and he was gone. I woke up that morning and I said, 'God, if theres any way You could show me how to fix this, show me how." Theres instant feelings in your heart when God speaks to you, and it was like, 'Then drop the act, Hunter. You need to get it together, humble yourself, drop your pride, go find him.'

KRISTI WATTS (reporting): It was a Sunday morning. Hunter found Michael outside his church. She asked him if they could talk over coffee.

HUNTER TYLO: I said, 'I just want everything back like it was. Can we try to fix this?' He said, 'Yes.' We slowly started going to church together. We just started trying to seek God, and then there was a moment where I really had the major realization that I needed a relationship with Jesus. And he did, too. It kind of happened for us both. Thats where the real, real turning point and healing came.

KRISTI WATTS (interviewing): When you both accepted Jesus into your hearts, was there an instant change in your marriage or was it a progressive thing?

HUNTER TYLO: It was pretty instant, because we just knew that if we didnt buckle down and start asking God to help us that there was no other way out, there was no other way to forgive each other for the things we had done.

MICHAEL TYLO: There was an instant focus and a communication, but its still a process.

KRISTI WATTS (reporting): That healing process included their 3-month-old daughter, Katya. One day in church, Michael and Hunter noticed a strange, white haze inside Katyas right eye. They took her to the hospital.

HUNTER TYLO: The doctor said, 'Im going to look at her with a really thorough eye exam and depending on what I see, I may have to remove her eye.' We had a couple of friends with us that we go to church with and we brought Bibles. We were going to pray through this eye exam. And we were hoping that that would not happen.

KRISTI WATTS (reporting): Finally, the exam results were in. Katya had a rare form of cancer; both of her eyes had tumors. She needed chemotherapy, and her right eye had to be removed.

HUNTER TYLO: Its got to be God that sustained us through it, because it was painful. We signed the papers, but once we understood that this was what was going to save her life, we just went out into a yard while theyre doing this surgery. We sat out there and just read Scripture and had just a peace that I did not know was something that could ever happen through something that was so horrific.

MICHAEL TYLO: It wasnt just about us. It was about her, too, because I kind of heard, 'Dont worry. I will take care of her, shes Mine," that kind of thing.

KRISTI WATTS (reporting): Today, Katya lives a healthy, happy life with her two brothers and sister. As for Micheal and Hunter, they know that God not only saved their marriage, but also made it strong.

(interviewing): What are some of the main lessons as a couple that you guys have learned, that the Lord has taught you about marriage and the sacred union of marriage?

MICHAEL TYLO: To work as a team on everything and to be a forceful team in raising children and to make our focus more on our God, our marriage, than our careers.

HUNTER TYLO: Thats, I think, the responsibility we have to each other is to pray for each other. I think the most powerful prayer is within a marriage, or a mother for her children, because I think God especially gave women a power to pray for her family, and a father, as a spiritual head of the family, has a power to pray for strength for the family. Another important aspect of what makes a marriage work is watching your words. The words that you throw at each are [either] daggers or they are healing.

KRISTI WATTS (interviewing): Good words of wisdom. Thank you both so much for joining us today and God bless you.

MICHAEL TYLO: Bless you.