Television June 18, 2019
‘Extra’ Exclusive: Michelle Stafford’s First Day Back on the Set of ‘The Young and the Restless’
CBS
Actress Michelle Stafford is giving the fans what they want!
For years, soap opera viewers have been expressing that they would love to see Michelle back on the daytime drama "The Young and the Restless," and they are getting their wish fulfilled this week!
Only “Extra” with was Stafford for her first day back on set. Michelle said she is happy to be back and that she is ready to resume bringing to life Phyllis Summers Abbott, a role she played for 16 years before leaving in 2013. She pointed out, “It's been six years since I worked here, and nothing has really changed.”
She smiled, joking, “I think it's something here at CBS Television City that makes people just ageless. I'm staying.”
Michelle is loving her career on soap operas. Of her role on “The Young and the Restless,” which earned her nine Daytime Emmy Award nominations and two wins, she noted, “The character was always fun.”
In April, it was announced that Stafford was exiting “General Hospital” after five years as Nina Reeves. The role required her to shift from playing a dangerously unstable woman to playing a successful magazine editor with a wealthy fiancé. She commented, “The character on 'GH' was fun too.”
She left “General Hospital” on a high note, adding, “Everybody there is so lovely... And they were supportive of me coming back here.”
Michelle did her due diligence before returning to Genoa City, where “The Young and the Restless” is set. She shared, “Honestly, I spent a really long time researching and reading everything that had happened to the character — watching and every show I could — while I was away.”
Dishing on where Phyllis is nowadays, she teased, “Phyllis is really kind of controlling her life again... and possibly the town. I'm just gonna leave it at that.”
What's life like for Michelle when she's off set? She commented, “I have a boy who's 3 and a daughter who's 9. And I'm a single mom, a single mom to two kids.”
Michelle welcomed both of her kids via surrogacy.
She laughed, saying, “That's work. This is fun”
Watch Michelle as Phyllis on “The Young and the Restless” starting Friday.
