How to replace asterisk symbols (*) with bold tags to denote important words and phrases?

Question

I have a document of nearly 20K lines. Many (but not all) of the lines use asterisk symbols to denote important words and phrases.

Example:

What kind of *vegetable* is it?
You are *best?!*
I hope I am not late.
All *the "good"* shows are *no longer* broadcasting.

I would like to replace the asterisk symbols with html bold tags. E.g. so it looks like this:

What kind of <b>vegetable</b> is it?
You are <b>best?!</b>  
I hope I am not late.
All <b>the "good"</b> shows are <b>no longer</b> broadcasting.

What's the best way of doing this? I can't just do a find and replace, because it won’t insert the appropriate closing </b> tag when required.

My document is currently in a spreadsheet but I can import it into any other format, so long as it can be returned to the spreadsheet.

My environment: I am using Apple Numbers on Mac OSX. But I am happy to install another application. I also have Windows on Virtual Box but would prefer to avoid using that if possible.

update

One more question: If I wanted to create a new column that had just words in asterisk symbols prefixed with the word "Emphasize"" and nothing else, would that be possible with plugin? If so, how?

Example:

• What kind of vegetable is it?
  becomes
  Emphasize: vegetable
• All the "good" shows are no longer broadcasting.
  becomes
  Emphasize: the good, Emphasize: no longer.

Answer 1

In Excel you can use free RegEx Find Replace add-in to perform a replace using regular expressions:

I'm not affiliated with that add-in in any way, just use it as I find it useful.

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Update

The expression should work also in other tools with regex support (https://regex101.com/r/928oKB/1)

If your entries may contain other characters too, then just change "Find what" expression to:
\*([^*]+)\*
It'll capture everything between two *

(you can test it here)

Update:

Yes, you can add "Emphasize" too, however that is easier with a helper column.

• Formula for the helper column:
  =RegExReplace(A1,"[^*]*\*([^*]+)\*[^*]*",", Emphasize: $1")
• Formula for the result:
  =RIGHT(B1,LEN(B1)-2)