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Michelle Stafford shares ’30 years’ of The Young and the Restless, reveals costar called her ‘so bad’

Michelle Stafford as Phyllis on Y&R
Michelle hits a major Y&R milestone. Pic credit: CBS

This week, The Young and the Restless fan favorite Michelle Stafford celebrates 30 years as Phyllis Summers on the hit CBS soap.

A standalone episode will honor Phyllis, who has been wreaking havoc in Genoa City for the past three decades.

Y&R fans know Michelle also played Sheila Carter for a brief stint in 2006 when the character got plastic surgery to look like Phyllis.

Over the years, thanks to Michelle’s undeniable talent, Phyllis has given us much to talk about while being the villain you love to hate.

Ahead of her special episode, Michelle shared a video from a fan that featured some of Phyllis’ best—or worst—moments.

“This is so cool. Thank you @fanofsoaps for making this! So sweet! I don’t know where you got all these clips, but I love seeing this. The evolution of 30 years. So fun! #phyllis30 What a wild WILD ride it has been. ❤️❤️❤️,” she wrote on the IG post that will leave Y&R fans feeling so much nostalgia.

The actress also spoke about her milestone anniversary with some reflection and a bombshell.

Michelle Stafford reveals a The Young and the Restless costar called her ‘so bad’

In an interview with Soap Digest to mark 30 years on the hit CBS soap, Michelle admitted that her stint as Phyllis was supposed to be short-lived.

Phyllis was brought in to cause trouble between Danny (Michael Damian) and Christine, aka Cricket (Lauralee Bell). Michelle didn’t know that the antagonistic character of Phyllis would have longevity on the hit CBS soap.

It turns out Michelle and Y&R co-creator and then-head writer William J. Bell had an unwritten pact to make Phyllis as colorful as possible. They did such a good job that Michelle’s costar had some interesting words for the actress back in the day back in the day.

“I remember Carolyn Conwell, who played Paul’s mom, she would say to me almost every day, every time she worked, ‘Oh, my God, when are they gonna kill you? You’re so bad!’” Michelle told the outlet.

Later, William decided to add more layers to Phyllis, and that certainly helped keep her around all these years.

“Bill Bell switched it up and made her sympathetic — and made her empathetic, which is even more important,” she expressed to Soap Opera Digest.

Y&R celebrates Michelle Stafford’s milestone moment

The cast and crew honored Michelle and her 30th anniversary on The Young and the Restless. Michelle used Instagram to invite fans to participate in the celebration.

The share consists of three photos, including one of Michelle speaking at a podium and Christian LeBlanc (Michael) grinning from ear to ear at his friend.

In the second slide, Michelle poses with her on-screen children, Michael Graziadei (Daniel) and Allison Lanier (Summer), and her children, Natalia and Jameson.

The last picture features cupcakes with Michelle’s face on them. She kept the caption short and sweet, promising her followers more photos from the party.

Congrats to Michelle on 30 years on Y&R. Here’s to 30 more!

The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS.

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