Michelle Stafford Spills the Tea On A Long-Running Daytime Tradition

Later this year, Michelle Stafford may be having lunch with other Daytime Emmy nominees if she secures a nod at the 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. She chatted with Soap Hub about last month’s gathering, in which the 2023 Lead Actress nominees got together.

Michelle Stafford: Nominees Who Nosh

Over 20 years ago, Susan Flannery (ex-Stephanie, The Bold and the Beautiful) started a tradition in which the previous year’s Outstanding Lead Actress winner at the Daytime Emmys would host a luncheon for the following year’s nominees. This year, those honors fall upon Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, who picked up her third statuette in the coveted category a few weeks ago. Mishael Morgan (Amanda, Young and the Restless), who won the 2022 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Led Actress hosted the 2023 event. Her guests were 2023 nominees Stafford (Phyllis Y&R), Wood, Finola Hughes (Anna, General Hospital), Sharon Case (Sharon Y&R) and Melissa Claire Egan (Chelsea Y&R).

“It was horrible,” deadpanned Stafford to Soap Hub about how this year’s luncheon went. She hastened to add in a more serious tone, “No, it was amazing. You know what, I really enjoyed it! It was devoid of gossip or anyone complaining about their job. I’m serious. It was the first one I’d been to where everyone was honored and humbled to be there.

“I felt great about this group,” Stafford added. “Everyone’s lovely. Two of them [Hughes and Morgan] are my really close friends. Missy, too, is a good friend. Finola is one of my best friends.” (Hughes and Stafford starred in the 1997 short-lived Aaron Spelling nighttime series Pacific Palisades.)

Egan posted on social media how much fun she had at the luncheon. Before the show, the actress wrote: “To be nominated alongside this incredibly talented group of women is a TRUE HONOR!!! Thank you to last year’s winner, the fabulous @mishaelmorgan for hosting an epic Lead Actress Nominee Luncheon today. It’s so nice that they all offered to give me their Emmy if they win!!”

“I did not offer,” Stafford deadpanned in the post’s comments section. In response, follower @orlaw143 quipped to the red-haired actress, “I absolutely love your sense of humor. ❤️😂.”