News
Y&R's Christian LeBlanc Named Power Performance Of The Week!
Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins
It’s been a few months since we have given out the On-Air On-Soaps Power Performance of the Week accolade, but that is about to change, because in riveting and key scenes on this week’s episodes of The Young and the Restless, three-time Daytime Emmy award winning actor, Christian LeBlanc (Michael) was once again in the spotlight, and boy … did he deliver!
The brilliant complexities set in motion by the Y&R writing regime has once bad boy Michael Baldwin desperately trying to keep his troubled son Fenmore (Max Ehrich) from going down the same path as he did. And with that comes drama between father and son, and husband and wife.
Lauren (Tracey E. Bregman) is beyond frustrated with her husband that he could choose and believe helping bullying victim Jamie (Daniel Polo) over their own son, Fen! On-Air On-Soaps previewed this story back in December with our very special interview with LeBlanc, Bregman and Max Ehrich here!
In key scenes on Tuesday and Thursday’s episode of Y&R, Christian LeBlanc reminded us all of just why he has those three Daytime Emmys! When Michael confronts Fen about Jamie, and the possibility he could face jail time for his actions, Fen pushed back and played dirty throwing Michael’s previous crimes in his face! It was here that the masterful work of LeBlanc was at its best. Horrified that his son knows of his past with Christine and Paul, and through his tears, Michael tells his son that it is indeed true. However, through years of therapy and begging forgiveness to all those that he hurt, he was able to change his life. Now Michael fears for his son, if he doesn’t change his ways.
And still later in a subtle and magnificent performance, LeBlanc listens as Jamie is brought to the Baldwin home to give his statement to Michael (who is the DA), with Paul present, of his account of what Fenmore had perpetrated on him. As Jamie gives his statement, Michael listens intently with tears in his eyes at the thought of what the more underprivileged Jamie suffered at the hands of his son! Next, Michael has Fen arrested and cuffed, as Lauren looks on and says she will never forgive Michael. This sets the stage for significant trouble for Michael and Lauren’s relationship! The question is; will this duo be able to withstand the riff that Fenmore’s troubled life is causing them?
In his portrayal as a conflicted father on the right side of the law, Christian LeBlanc’s range of emotions, and his ability to convey so much, whether it is in a emotional battle of words, or a restrained scene where you see it all play out through his eyes, gives him the honor of On-Air On-Soaps Power Performance of the Week!
Watch Christian’s ‘Power Performance’ clips below! Then let us know, do you agree with our choice? And, are you into this storyline that is tearing the Baldwin family apart?
Congratulations are in order for three-time Emmy winner, Tom Pelphrey (ex-GL and ATWT) and his fiancée Big Bang Theory star, Kaley Cuoco! The couple welcomed their second baby daughter together on October 12, and revealed they named the little bundle of joy, Philomena Carmine Bobby Pelphrey.
Tom and Kaley shared the news via their Instagram accounts on Wednesday with some adorable baby pics. Cuoco captioned the photo“🎀Philomena Carmine Bobby Pelphrey🎀. 💖10/12/26💖. There are no words to describe this feeling once again. What a blessing.
Cuoco added, “We are so grateful for the crazy wild up and down journey that brought us to our little Philo! Family officially complete 😭Time to bring Matilda’s baby home! 😂💕”
Photo: KCuoco IG
BABY MAKES FOUR
Next, Kaley shared her love for the father of her children, exclaiming, “Tom Pelphrey, life exploded the minute we met, and the gifts keep coming. I love you forever , girl daddy! 💘.”
Philomena now joins big sister, Matilda mwho was born in 2023, as part of the Pelphrey/Cuoco family! Tom and Kaley began dating in 2022 and became engaged in 2024.
Daytime fans first saw the talented actor on Guiding Light as Jonathan Randall, the son of Reva Shayne (Kim Zimmer). Tom won two Daytime Emmys for his memorable performances during his run from 2004-2009.
He later played Mick Dante on As the World Turns from 2009-2010, before heading to work in primetime and motion pictures. Last month, Pelphrey one the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role in HBO’s Task.
TOM PELPHREY CELEBRATES EMMY WIN AND NEW DAUGHTER WITHIN A MONTH OF EACH OTHER
After winning his Emmy, the expectant dad told E! News, “We’re both so excited. Our daughter’s excited. We’ll see how it goes when it actually gets there.” Tom added, “The things that are new and the things that feel like not a big deal this time. But mom and baby are healthy, so God willing, that keeps up, and we’re thrilled,” added the actor.
Pelphrey took to his own Instagram and said on the birth of his second daughter, “Philomena Carmine Bobby Pelphrey. Another miracle. Welcome to our family youngest queen! Kaley you showed up in every way as a partner and a mom even when you weren’t feeling your best- you’re a CHAMPION. The girls and I would be lost without you. Thank God for the gift of this family and these girls.”
Jumping in to the comment thread to congratulate Tom and Kaley were Beyond the Gates star Ashley Jones (Heather), Dave Annabelle, Martha Plimpton, Alyssa Milano and many more.
Share your congrats and well-wishes to Tom, Kaley, Matilda and their new addition to the family, little Philomena via the comment section below.
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Congratulations are in order for Jen Jacob (Ashley Morgan, Beyond the Gates) and her husband, musician Jesse Ruben. The two will be welcoming their first baby girl to their growing family in March of 2027 after Jacob that she is pregnant!
Jen took to her Instagram account and shared sonogram images of the couple’s little bundle of joy growing inside of her. She captioned the montage of images, “Mom & Dad have entered the chat. Baby girl coming March 2027 🩷” The post is set to the music of Thurston Harris’ “Little Bitty Pretty One.”
This marks the first child for the duo who have been married for the last 8 years and recently celebrated their wedding anniversary just last week on October 7.
Photo: JjacobIG
Ruben wrote on the occasion, “Eight years ago today, I got to marry my favorite person. Jen Jaccob, hank you for saying yes, and being the best, most patient and kind and loving partner. How lucky am I, to get to do life with you. I love doing life with you.”
BEYOND THE GATES CAST OVERJOYED
Upon the news, several of Jen’s Beyond the Gates costars were on the ready and jumped in the post comment thread including: Daytime Emmy nominee Arielle Prepetit (Naomi).“I’m gonna be an auntieeeee!! Yasss!♥️” That was followed by RhonniRoseMantilla (Chelsea), who aded, “YAYYYYY BTG BABY BTG BABYYYY💕💕💕”
Daytime Emmy nominee, Karla Mosley (Dani) wrote, “❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ love love LOVE – there aren’t enough hearts in the world.” Meanwhile, Daphnee Duplaix (Nicole) added, “Can’t wait for our newest family member!!!!” Lauren Buglioli (Vanessa) expressed: “EEEEEE!!! Aunt Lauren loves you baby girllll”
Photo: CBS
WILL THE CBS SOAP OPERA FOLLOW SUIT AND MAKE ASHLEY PREGNANT?
Meanwhile on CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates, Ashley still remains unlucky in love. Her ex-boyfriend, Derek Baldwin (Ben Gavin) died, she had initially split with suitor Grayson Perez (Jordi Vilasuso) after the The Impaler blood plasma reveal, but now seems back together with him. Previously, Ashley had a flirtation with Andre Richardson (Sean Freeman), which could still come back around in the future.
No word yet if Ashley will become pregnant on-screen during the time of Jen’s pregnancy or if she will be hiding behind the nurses station desk to cover her baby bump at Garland Memorial Hospital.
Share your congrats to Jen and Ben on the announcement of their baby on the way via the comment section, and let us know if you think Beyond the Gates should or will, write Jen’s pregnancy into the story for Ashley?
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News
B&B’s Dual Emmy-Nominee Lawrence Saint-Victor on Black Representation in the Soaps, ‘Our Voices Are Being Heard. I Want to Make Sure That Continues’
When Lawrence Saint-Victor (Carter Walton, The Bold and the Beautiful) was announced to be nominated this year at the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards for not only Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Daytime Drama Series, but also as part of the nominated Writing Team from the CBS soap, it was a big moment in his life and his career.
As many know, Saint-Victor has been a veteran of soap opera since back in his early days as Remy on the now defunct Guiding Light. Fast-forward to some 17 years later since the conclusion of GL, and Lawrence is nominated in a year that is a breakthrough for Black performers and creatives behind the scenes in the soaps, which for decades was never the case in daytime television.
With the advent and launch in 2025 of the first Black-led hour-long daytime drama, Beyond the Gates locking down 15 nominations going into Emmy night on October 30 and a host of other writing and acting nominees, the tide seems to have shifted. It’s something Saint-Victor hopes will continue for years to come.
Photo: JPI
THE TIDE HAS TURNED
Speaking with Ebony, Lawrence shared on his dual nominations, “I’ve sat with those thoughts and feelings for some time, thinking about what these nominations mean to me, especially as the first Black man in daytime to be nominated for acting and writing in the same year.”
Saint-Victor is nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actor alongside: Sean Dominic (Nate, Y&R), Mike Manning (Smitty, BTG), Michael Graziadei (Daniel, Y&R), Roger Howarth (Matt, Y&R), Timon Kyle Durrett (Bill, BTG).
On his journey in soaps, Lawrence explained, “So many Black men and women, both in front of and behind the camera, pushed the door open and kept pushing so that I could walk through. They fought to be seen, heard, and given an opportunity. I don’t take for granted that I get to stand on the other side of those doors now. And I believe it’s my responsibility — as well as the responsibility of my brothers and sisters in this industry — to keep pushing. That feels especially important to me as a writer.”
MORE WORK TO DO FOR INCLUSIVENESS
Lawrence added, “Representation can’t exist only in front of the camera. Our perspective and our experiences need to be present in the work too. Our experiences are not one thing. Black people are not one thing. We are romantic. We are funny. We are angry. We are heroic. We are flawed. We are sexy. We are vulnerable. We are complicated. We still have a lot of work to do, but we have also come so far.”
Win or lose, Lawrence believes this will be a moment for inclusiveness, celebration, and to inspire: “The fruit of the fight to be heard is coming to harvest. I am a leading man in a leading story on my show, and I’m also a writer on that very show AND I stand on the shoulders of giants. Our voices are being heard. I want to make sure that continues.”
The 53rd annual Daytime Emmys will be streamed on the official Emmys You Tube Channel as well as streamed on the official website The Emmys via watch.theemmys.tv.
So, have you been thrilled to see how the door has opened for Black representation in front of the camera and behind the scenes at your favorite daytime soaps? What do you think about Lawrence’s dual nominations heading into Emmy night? Share your thoughts on the state of the soaps via the comment section below.
Tom Pelphrey and Kaley Cuoco Welcome Baby Girl, Philomena into the World
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Agree. Christian LeBlanc was perfect with the bullying storyline as does his on-screen son, Max Ehrich (Fen).
Agreed! Christian LeBlanc is an awesome actor and would be great in movies. I am also loving Josh Griffith as a head writer. He is giving Christian great storylines to show his awesome talent.
Yes. I am enjoying JG’s writing too! Y&R is back……………….Thank you so much CBS!!!
Excellent pick, Michael – I hope Mr. LeBlanc submits either day’s episodes for Emmy consideration! This bullying storyline has been very entertaining & well-performed by all involved!
Christian is doing an awesome job. He is a wonderful actor. This storyline has become my favorite storyline on the show right now and I am looking forward to seeing how this is all going to end.
Yep I truly agree! Christian, Tracey, Max & Daniel were great!
Wow I am stun- it has been so long since I heard anything positive about this show that I forgotten what it is like — I agree CL did a great job, but I still find it difficult to believe Fen went being this nice nerdy guy to Ricky 2.0 just because he liked Summer and was jealous of Jamie. I think the actors are doing a good job portraying it, just find the premise of it is a bit of stretch given Fen has no history of behavioral problems– I’m incline to take Lauren’s view- that Fen is innocent and Michael is projecting his past onto his son. There has to be more to the story than what is being told. But congrats CL for giving an outstanding performance, reminding us fans there is still stuff to love about this show.
I agree! Those scenes this week have kept me on the edge of my seat! Very exciting!
With Friday, February 1 being the last day that we saw Hogan Sheffer’s (his contract expired in November and he was not kept on. So any material we saw up until the 1st of February did have some of Hogan’s writing in it) name in the credits as a part of the writing team and the last hold over from MAB’s regime, we can now breathe a collective sigh of relief and now know that anything on the screen that is written is written by the entire writing team that Josh Griffith assembled together from the time he was hired up until now. The only hold over really is Susan Dansby (who wrote for As The World Turns and was the writer who wrote most of the Luke and Noah storyline on ATWT), who is African-American and she was hired because of the bad publicity that former Y&R star Victoria Rowell (ex-Drucilla) gave the show due to its lack of diverse talent behind the scenes.
I too agree with Michael that CL has been killing (no pun intended) this storyline as have Tracey Bregman, Max Ehrich, and Daniel Polo. Of all of the bullying storyline’s that I’ve seen on daytime, this has been the most riveting bullying storyline to date. I suspect that when the Emmy nominations are announced in the Spring of 2014, you’re going to see most, if not all of the performers in this storyline having Emmy nominations. Josh Griffith definitely should also submit key scenes that his writing team has written for this storyline for Emmy consideration for Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team.
But overall, Y&R as a whole is definitely on it’s way back to it’s glory days of yore and I for one cannot wait to watch each and every episode. It is so nice to see storylines and characters that actually make sense and don’t leave me scratching my head wondering what the hell just happened.
Great job by all involved!
Fantastic!!!!! CL did as he always does, delivers the goods.
Christian was awesome in his scenes. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t up for another Emmy Award. Such a brilliant actor.
I agree. Both he and Tracey are awesome. I just wish the storyline weren’t so forced. Y&R just doesn’t flow organically like it did up until 2005. The new regime can take a cue from Cartini at GH and start mining this show’s rich history of interesting characters and stop forcing new ones on us.
Amazing actor I think he will be nominated for an emmy. The new writers are really bringing very powerful material. Keep up the good work.
Y&R has gotten it’s groove back. The writers are magnificent. Yes, I agree, Christian LeBlanc delivered Big Time. I was getting kind of fed up with him letting his family get away with murder. By right, Keving and Phyllis should be in jail. Now he is keeping it real and delivering as only he can. Let us not forget about Peter Bergman in his scenes dealing with his addiction. Another great talent. I am loving Michael. I take my hat off to the new writing team. They are Bringing it to the table.
Finally someone appreciates this great actor who always hits it out of the park..Not only is handsome, Sexy and so believable..I laurgh with him and i cry with him..CLB is delivering and I to am congratulating the writers for seeing this talented man front and center where he belongs..Christian has always made Michael real and you and you sometimes forget that Michael Baldwin is not a real person but a Y and R character.. I have always been a Michael fan and a Christian LeBlanc fan there is no better human being and truly one of he best actors on TV today..Brave Christian Bravo Josh..you are bringing me back to Y and R.
CLB was very moving and powerful in his scenes. He, Tracey Bregman, Doug Davidson, Max Erlich, and Daniel Polo have all been terrific in this story. It is tough to see such a strong marriage as Lauren and Michael’sgo through this, but I think it resonates more because we know how solid they are as a couple and how much they love their son. This situation can happen to any family. Thank goodness Josh Griffith realized the talent he had in Christian, Tracey and Doug as well as young actors Max and Daniel and wrote a compelling story for them. Michael and Lauren were used as support for other favored characters for too long and now are being given the opportunity to shine and have run with it. I hope we will see that a strong marriage can overcome such trying circumstances, Fen admits to his bullying and commits to being a better person, and Jamie can find love and Paul redemption with each other.
Great choice Michael. I am beyond thrilled to see CLB finally get a storyline again that showcases his amazing talent. He is well deserving of those Emmys; and it was beyond frustrating for the fans who know him to be the Powerhouse actor he is to see him be written simply as Victor’s lapdog all that time.