Exclusive: Young & Restless Stars Warn That ‘a Dark Place’ Threatens Michael and Lauren as They Reach a Major Marital Milestone
Christian LeBlanc and Tracey Bregman are celebrating twenty years of Michael Baldwin and Lauren Fenmore on a special Dec. 9 episode of
The Young and the Restless, including fun flashbacks and the actors’ commentary on the scenes. So, cue the champagne, cue the nostalgia, and cue the twist that just might blow their love sky-high!

Both characters have a history of misbehavior over the years in Genoa City, but their redemption arc has evolved into an enduring love story. Still, LeBlanc warns to Soaps.com why their “complex and pretty dark histories of their own families” could eventually lurk in the shadows and haunt them again, despite their current state of bliss.
Bregman doesn’t disagree with that sentiment at all either.
“We’ve been the bad characters, and now we’re more hero and heroine with an edge,” she reminds daytime fans. “But the characters could go back bad like that.”
LeBlanc expands on his beloved co-star’s assessment and draws in Michael’s perspective into the conversation.
“We come from a dark place, and from Michael’s point of view, she keeps him sane. So, if you want to make Michael crazy or a serial killer, you take Lauren… if anyone ever hurt her, if she left me,” he says. “Those are the things in your character, it’s a real hook.”
Bregman chimes in, “You see the darkness.”
“It would be a dark place. It would be really interesting,” LeBlanc concludes.
Of course, this week is all about leaning into the sentimentality of Michael and Lauren’s romance — and it’s exactly where LeBlanc and Bregman want to be right now.
“We don’t do this alone,” LeBlanc says, praising the writers and The Young and Restless creator, the late William J. Bell. “We were given these parts, Bill Bell started it off, and they have built our history step by step.”
Bregman shares the same sentiment, revealing that Lauren and Michael’s magic also extends to their off-screen friendship.
“We got very lucky. I got very lucky,” she sums up. “I always say I won the co-star lottery, and I think that’s what people pick up. There’s so much love and respect and fun.”