The December 9 episode of The Young and the Restless will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc) and Lauren Fenmore’s (Tracey E. Bregman) wedding.
For LeBlanc, the milestone came as a complete surprise. “Tracey knows dates, times, years, everything,” he explains. “I was not clocking it at all. It was like, ‘Ooh, what? Yay.’ That’s the level I’m at.”
In the standalone episode, Michael, who has been in the doghouse with Lauren because of his alliance with Victor, will pull out all the stops to romance her. “There’s a reason they have had us together for 20 years,” observes LeBlanc. “When Michael and Lauren have trouble, it’s a 20-year marriage trouble. They’ve been having trouble with Michael lying to Lauren for months and months now about Victor and just getting himself in danger. It is a continuing battle between Michael’s loyalty to Victor and putting himself at risk.”
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The special hour will dig deep into their shared history, with plenty of flashbacks chronicling the Baldwins’ two-decade union. Seeing the old clips was a fun trip down memory lane for LeBlanc. “I loved it, especially because it was such a surprise,” he says. “I enjoyed watching Tracey and me through the years. I think you all are going to love the stuff they picked for this. That was the fun part of it, because you’re looking at these scenes going, ‘Oh, they’re going to like this.’ ‘Oh, I hope they love this part.’ And it’s not just the clips. They gave Michael and Lauren such wonderful moments, which I love. It’s a lot about romance, and that fantasy and that magic that you can bring as an actor, and specifically a daytime actor. It’s all there in that show.”
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Revisiting those scenes also underscored the enduring bond LeBlanc and Bregman share. “We do act like a married couple,” he notes. “We have such a such a level of comfort with each other, and we had it right from the start. With Tracey, I always know she has my back, and we have that for each other.”
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A quality their costars have taken note of through the years. “There’s that great story I tell about [the late] Kristoff St. John (Neil Winters), God love him,” LeBlanc relays. “Tracey and I were doing a café scene, and they had a bunch of characters at different tables, and they called the five [-minute break]. Everyone had walked off, and we were still sitting there talking as we were talking during the scene, just chatting away, holding hands, and there’s nobody there. Kristoff came in, like, ‘OK, guys, the scenes finished, you don’t have to do that.’ And that’s the great gift Tracey gives me, an absolute level of comfort.”
That connection made filming the anniversary episode even more meaningful. “It was exciting to do,” LeBlanc shares. “It was beautifully written. We have been very, very lucky with the writing of this couple. There’s so much fun to it, whatever they throw at us. I enjoy being the couple that stays together. We’ve had this long, slow arc where we can take the people on a journey with us, and we, with our characters and with our viewers, discover things together.”
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The episode also serves as a heartfelt nod to the fans who have supported this couple from the beginning. “It’s for those people, and it’s a big thank you to them,” he explains. “For Michael and Lauren to be celebrating 20 years is so important, and that they are celebrating it properly is important to the viewers. It’s like a return on your investment. It’s like, ‘This is why we’ve been watching all these years. Now we’re getting rewarded for it.’ That is the unspoken promise we have with our fans, and I think that extends across the board: ‘We will make this happen for you. Just stick with us, listen to the story, and we’ll take you places.’”
And as far as LeBlanc is concerned, there are still plenty of places left to go. “Whatever comes, we still surprise each other even after 20 years,” he says. “The Lauren-Michael relationship is never dull. And Tracey just keeps getting younger. She looks like a sweet, young thing, and my hair is so white you can see it from space. I’m going to have to start playing her father at some point if she doesn’t stop!”
The Young and the Restless, Weekdays, CBS
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