Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Young and the Restless taped its last episode in March, with its last original episode airing in late April. While fans are missing the show, so are the actors, including Christian Le Blanc.
Christian Le Blanc — Itching For The Set
The actor, who has played Michael Baldwin on YR since 1991, recently appeared on CBS affiliate 4WWL TV in New Orleans, talking with anchor Eric Paulsen about how he and the show are riding out the pandemic.
Le Blanc explains how the show’s strategy initially was to mix new and old episodes, but now that there are no new episodes to be shown, YR is strictly relying on nostalgia and airing old favorites.
“Now, their strategy is to show theme weeks of old, classic shows,” the actor says. “The benefit of having a 47-year-old show and an audience with many people who has tracked you through that whole 47 years, is that they love this. This is right up our audience demographics’ alley.”
A native of New Orleans, and splitting time between there and Los Angeles, LeBlanc explains how he last taped on March 12 and soon after found out one of his The Young and the Restless castmates— Greg Rikaart (Kevin)—was diagnosed with COVID-19.
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That led to Christian Le Blanc isolating himself for 15 days. As he now waits to find out what’s next, he’s unsure about what the show will do when it’s safe to resume.
“Like everyone else, we have to navigate this whole new world,” he says, citing that in the soap world with so many close to you—crew, cameramen, makeup—that can be difficult.
“The problem is me and Lauren [Tracey E. Bregman] are all about the love,” he shares. “It’s a hard one to negotiate how this is going to look and for how long. We will go back to work when the world does.”
Christian Le Blanc isn’t sure if the show will incorporate the pandemic into the storyline but thinks it probably won’t since the show is fantasy and people use it to enter another world as escapism.
And how would Michael handle the social distancing thing? “Give me a courtroom and a lot of room, I will talk loud to everyone around me,” LeBlanc shares. The Young and the Restless (YR) airs weekdays on CBS. Check your local listings for airtimes.
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