Maya Avant is a fictional character from The Bold and the Beautiful, an American soap opera on the CBS network, portrayed by Karla Mosley. Introduced as a series regular in 2013, ex-con Maya comes to town looking for her daughter who was put up for adoption by Dayzee Forrester (Kristolyn Lloyd). After the child is revealed to have died, Maya falls for fashion executive Rick Forrester (Jacob Young) when she mistakes him for a waiter. Discovering Rick's true identity scares Maya into the arms of attorney Carter Walton (Lawrence Saint-Victor). Maya quickly rises to fame in the modeling world. After a failed engagement to Carter who realizes Maya loves Rick, Maya pursues Rick putting her at odds with Rick's then wife Caroline Spencer (Linsey Godfrey). After successfully breaking up the couple, Rick and Maya settle into their cushy new life ruffling quite a few feathers along the way as Maya supports Rick's ruthless business tactics. Characterized by some critics as a "social climber" and a "gold digger", Maya becomes a popular "love to hate" character for viewers due to her schemes and manipulations in her attempts to get what she wants. Daytime Confidential specifically referred to Maya as the black version of the iconic All My Children character, Erica Kane (Susan Lucci). In 2015, Maya makes history when she is revealed to be transgender—becoming the first regular transgender character in the history of American daytime television. Not only did the reveal send shock waves through the soap genre, the story also made headlines in several mainstream media outlets including USA Today, People magazine and several LGBT publications. Maya's presence on the typically conservative soap also allows for the introduction of her family, including her sister Nicole Avant (Reign Edwards), her parents, Vivienne Avant (Anna Maria Horsford) and Julius Avant (Obba Babatundé), her half sister Sasha Thompson (Felisha Cooper) and her cousin Alexander Avant (Adain Bradley) with the Avants becoming the first and only central African American family in the show's nearly 30-year history.