Eric Braeden Can’t Hide The Tears As He Remembers Kristoff St. John

As the soap world and YR cast continues trying to process the death of Kristoff St. John, co-star Eric Braeden emotionally remembered his good friend and longtime colleague on the show Extra.

“Everyone was and is deeply shocked,” confided Braeden when asked about how The Young and the Restless cast is doing after hearing the horrible news.

“Kristoff was a hell of a guy, a man’s man,” he continued. “A damn good actor, loved everyone and everyone loved him. One of the most charming and gregarious co-workers we ever had.”

St. John passed away on Sunday, February 3, and everyone is still trying to process that this is even real. He was larger than life and no one has had an unkind word to say about him — rare for anyone in Hollywood, especially someone so successful.

When asked about the change in him since his son Julian took his life a few years ago, Braeden noted that the handsome actor seemed okay, but he wondered if there was more.

“I thought he’s suppressing something deeply and then it slowly but surely… I think he began to succumb under the weight of that until it ended in his death. He lived a kind of double life in the sense that he suppressed all that pain, enormous pain…and anger with the institution where Julian was and he died.”

“And yet, when he came to work, the show must go on as you said at the beginning,” he recalled to the host of the program, Tanika Ray.

Braeden began to tear up during the interview when talk turned about seeing his friend in pain but not being able to necessarily talk about it. It was obviously hard for those close to St. John know exactly what to say and a very emotional Braeden admitted that might have been a mistake — perhaps he needed to talk about it more.