Christabel Duah
It’s a series wrap for this soap star.
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Amid rumors that she’d be heading out the door after six years on CBS’ “The Young and the Restless,” Melissa Claire Egan confirmed her exit Wednesday with a statement posted to her Twitter and Instagram accounts.
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The 36-year-old actress wrote:
After much thought and six wonderful years, I have decided to leave “The Young & the Restless.” I love this show (and this genre) so very much, and am so grateful to this amazing crew and cast, especially my beyond wonderful Josh Morrow. This cast, crew, and everyone behind the scenes at Sony and CBS are truly the best at what they do and are my family. To you incredible fans, thank you for EVERYTHING.
This isn’t goodbye. Truly. Just goodbye for now.
— Melissa Claire Egan (@MClaireEgan) January 31, 2018
Egan joined the show in 2011, playing Chelsea Lawson, a reformed bad girl and con artist who arrived on the series carrying the child of Billy Abbott (played by Billy Miller). Egan earned two Daytime Emmy nominations in 2013 and 2014 for her work. No stranger to the daytime world, Egan got her soap start on “All My Children” from 2006 to 2011 as Annie Lavery for four seasons before finally leaving that show. She eventually returned to “AMC” for three episodes to wrap up her character’s story arc, so, coupled with the closing lines of her statement, it stands to reason that Egan won’t be saying goodbye to Chelsea Lawson forever.
Late last year, Egan’s “Y&R” co-star Kristoff St. John was reportedly hospitalized and placed under a psychiatric evaluation after allegedly threatening to harm himself with a gun. TMZ originally reported that St. John’s ex-wife Mia St. John called the police to report that he was sending her photos of himself with a gun to his head. St. John, 51 — he’s starred on the long running series as Neil Winters since 1992 — was reportedly struggling with the second anniversary of his own son’s suicide weeks prior.
