The Young and the Restless Star Michelle Stafford Shares a Body Positive Message

Last week, Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) posted a confident shot of herself in a bikini when she was at the beach. The Young and the Restless star shared a message with her fans and updated it with a follow-up post, clarifying her position on being body positive.

A Message From Michelle Stafford

“Hey beauties!” Stafford began her post. “First, you are ALL lovely. Second, regarding my last post when I said I’m OK with being called an ‘old bag’ I was just sort of making a joke but actually, I AM ok with it. That post seemed to evoke a lot of emotion in so many of you…

“You were also very protective of me and I am so grateful,” she added, but assured her followers she can handle catty remarks on the web. “This is the thing, I really don’t care what anybody says about me. I don’t care about any hate that I get here or on any other social media platform. Words from somebody that I don’t know have no bearing on me. Truly.

“It’s not my mom saying it, it’s not my best friend saying it,” Stafford pointed out. “It truly is water off a duck’s back for me. If I took a comment that was negative toward me and it affected me, well then…Shame on me. Shame on me for believing something that somebody else said, somebody that I don’t even know, somebody with their own thing going on in their life.”

Stafford hopes that her good-hearted followers can learn from this viewpoint. “So beauties,” she says, “It truly doesn’t matter what people think of you. If you think things on your own that are negative about yourself then that’s something else and of course, that’s something to work on.

“We all have stuff to ‘work on,'” Stafford added. “It’s ok. But honestly, I really think that all of us have to stop tripping out about people who are sitting behind a computer feeling good about saying mean things to strangers.

“Our acknowledgment of those comments gives it power. Give yourself power. You’re all extraordinary, extraordinary people. Absolutely beautiful people with beautiful hearts. That’s what I’m going to say to YOU. That’s my comment to YOU.” Check out Stafford’s post below. The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS. Check local listings for airtimes.