The Young and The Restless Shocker: - Actress Leaving

[DRW50]

When Stafford left before she was an increasingly prominent part of Y&R, and the show had started making Phyllis more sympathetic and vulnerable. This time around the character mostly seems in flux. I do think she will leave a void, but that speaks more to the emptiness of the canvas in recent years. They really need to find strong women who don't seem to be some sort of poster children for National Asexuality Day, like the various AMC rejects brought in over the years.

[Ann_SS]

Other than CK AND AH, I think that the women on Y&R are fine and sexual. They are merely the victims of poor writing and other than Nikki, they all have the wrong love interests. The major problem with Y&R lies in the men that they feature who are for the most part bland and uninteresting.

[DRW50]

I think some of the new hires are, but MCE, EH, Heinle, etc. don't give that vibe for me.

[frequentsoapfan]

Yep MCE, EH, AH, and CK(especially her) are all asexual and dull.

[Ann_SS]

I don't agree, but why are you focusing on the women when the real problem with Y&R is the men featured?

[DRW50]

I was mostly doing so because one of the show's most high-profile women is leaving.

Believe me, if I started firing the men from this show, just about everyone would be gone. I'd probably keep rarely seen Brock, Victor (I loathe him but he's too integral to Y&R's image to get rid of unless Braeden goes totally off the rails), Michael, Paul, Devon, some of the new guys, and that's about it.

[y&r_fan]

It's a sad day when CBS will protect Christel Khalil but they won't protect Michelle Stafford.

[frequentsoapfan]

I think Devon is gone.

[y&r_fan]

I don't know. I think if he was gone we would have heard something, either from the press or from Bryton.

[sheilaforever]

Who knows. Judging by the last regimes, Stafford was the ONLY one besides Jeanne Cooper whose contract got never slashed. Now they probably put her down to 2 episodes from like 3.5 or so.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

This is one MS/Phyllis fan who's not "losing it". And I don't even know where all this anecdotal evidence that Phyllis fans have somehow gone nuts cuz she's leaving.

Its done and over with. Nothing to see her. Nothing to do but decide whether to keep watching or drop Y&R. I plan on the latter and that's that.

As for PR nightmare I don't think it's quite that level. Does it feed into the anti-JFP thing that seems to be going around? Sure...but regardless it seems like some people are starting to turn on her either way.

I don't understand all the cheering about her leaving. I guess some are happy cuz of that incident between her and VR. I don't know all the details and I'm not God so i have no idea what was going thru her brain when it happened but I honestly don't think MS is a racist or had any malicious intent when she did that.

Was it absolute inappropriate and wrong? YES. Should MS have apologized? Also yes....as to that I don't know if she has or not. All I know is that I have the utmost respect and love for Victoria Rowell and i long for her to one day return as Drucilla....but I think if she felt insulted and MS gave her a genuine apology then we all need to let it go at this point. It happened YEARS ago and if the two principles have handled it and moved on like adults that I wish the people who are still furious at MS would also let it go. People make horrible decisions and bad mistakes. Its about whether they learn from them or not.

As for her "obsession" with Phick.....it was more than sex. They share a child together. It was genuine emotions that Nick and Phyllis felt for each other. It was organic and just way too hot to deny. I don't blame her for wanting to work with a coworker when the couple has such a huge following and could possibly generate more storylines down the road....

Anyways those are my thoughts/opinions. I'm truly sad to see her leave and I hope perhaps she can return in the future. If not it was an epic journey Red and I'll miss you terribly. I'll never forget the "GET IT ON" promos between Phyllis and Diane and will always be a fan of the one true Phyllis Summers Abott Newman...

[DRW50]

Sorry that your favorite is leaving. I wish I was still that emotionally invested in these soaps. I hope you'll get to see Michelle in a good project soon.

[JONNYSBRO]

JFP must have it in with Steve kent and Angelica to make be on board to let Michelle walk. JFP is the kind of woman over the years u don't f@@k with. i think Michelle didn't realize who she was dealing with and Jill didn't back down. Her salary must have been huge.

[frequentsoapfan]

WHy? He was off screen for months recently with no word about it. I think he'll pop up again for Katherine and be gone again.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

One thing I did appreciate about this regime was how hellbent they were in destroying the borefest that was Phyllis and Nick. What a nasty pairing that did absolutely no good to either character involved.

I am glad Stafford is ending the role with Phyllis and Nick at odds and their "DOTTER" (as Stafford says) possibly turning out to be Jack's. Someone clearly wanted to destroy this insipid pairing, and I'm glad they got their way.