As Michael Baldwin pulls out all the stops to surprise Lauren Fenmore on their 20th wedding anniversary on The Young and the Restless, soap opera icons Christian LeBlanc and Tracey Bregman talk to Woman’s World about creating the magic onscreen—not to mention the friendship that solidified as an entire Genoa City family was built around their characters.

Thanks to their bestie energy, it’s hard to get a word in with these two—so here, we just sit back and let LeBlanc and Bregman riff off each other as they look back and to the future.

With Michael in the doghouse since renewing his alliance with Victor Newman, we have everything you need to know about today’s stand-alone The Young and the Restless episode—which sees him trying to rekindle the romance with Lauren and also includes classic clips and callbacks to their epic love story.

Michael & Lauren’s 20th Anniversary flashbacks made ‘Y&R’ stars ‘proud’

Tracey Bregman’s Lauren and Christian LeBlanc’s Michael have been getting into the drama on The Young and the Restless since 1983 and 1991, respectively, and spent quite a bit of that time causing serious trouble—but that’s not the story these two actors have gotten to tell since being paired up in late 2004 and becoming one of the show’s longest lasting couples.

Woman’s World: What was it like to shoot this stand-alone episode honoring Michael and Lauren’s history and look back at your love story? 

Tracey Bregman: “We’re celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, and we’re thrilled!”

Christian LeBlanc: “We had to crowd around the iPad to watch these scenes, and it was, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re so adorable!’”

Bregman: “Our special episode has a lot of flashbacks, because I, like the audience, have to figure out what I’m going to do next… because I don’t remember a lot.”

LeBlanc: “Right? It’s weird. You don’t remember them the same way. Most of our reaction was, ‘These are beautiful!’ We’re definitely objective enough to watch a performance now and go, ‘Wow, I did that. I’m proud of what we did.’”

Bregman: “We’ve just had so much fun. I won the costar lottery. Sorry, everyone! I did.”

With Michael & Lauren, ‘Two wrong people made a right’

Were it not for Creepy Kevin’s rough years, recovering bully Lauren and one-time rapist Michael might never have crossed paths—let alone become upstanding citizens celebrating a big anniversary.

LeBlanc: “I knew we had something when they had Lauren make fun of Michael. I also knew she was another character who’s shifted.”

Bregman: “We were both bad people.”

LeBlanc: “And those two wrong people made a right, which I loved.”

Bregman: “We helped each other find a different center.”

LeBlanc: “Though I’d never actually seen evil Lauren–”

Bregman: “–until your Wonderful Life episode!”

LeBlanc: “Yes, [in that special episode] she was playing Lauren if she’d never met Michael. She was so mean and cold, and I thought, ‘That is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen!’ She had her hair up in a tight bun like Marianne the librarian. Were you actually a librarian… or something else?”

Bregman: “No, I was still head of Fenmore’s. I was just a little nasty!”

On making out for 20 years and counting – ‘Now, it’s Pavlovian’

With this duo prone to finishing each other’s sentences, they can’t put a finger on when they slid into becoming besties.

LeBlanc: “Tracey and I groom each other like monkeys before scenes. They ask us, ‘When did you discover you were close?’ I don’t know. We were making out from day one, kind of! So you don’t really lean back and go, ‘Oh, that’s changed.’”

Bregman: “We actually did everything we could to work together. We begged, we pleaded, and they finally relented and gave us this crazy family that was so very different from anybody else on the show. We’d all killed people and gotten away with it!”

LeBlanc: “Now, we have been kissing for 20 years. We have a solid core there of making out, so it’s Pavlovian. It’s like, ‘Get her!’ Tracey has to have a safe word—it’s Schenectady.”

Bregman: “There never was one. We don’t need one. We have no boundaries, and he’s so appreciative. We did some scenes a while back and he sent me a message, ‘The scenes were so beautiful,’ and I wrote back, ‘All I do is look in your eyes and hold on.’ It’s just all right there.”

Where are the kids – and Greg Rikaart’s Kevin?

Amazingly, in their 20 years together, their reformed characters have, for the most part, been quite good to each other. 

LeBlanc: “We never separated in all those years. I think we have a record, and I love that the show has found trouble within the marriage, rather than having to split us up repeatedly.”

Bregman: “When they shake it up, the fans don’t always like it, but the fun is getting it back on track. We love to do emotionally rich stories with each other, so we hope there’s more—and we’d love to have our sons (Fenmore Baldwin and Scotty Grainger) back!”

LeBlanc: “And my brother! But once Greg Rikaart (who plays Kevin, earned a Daytime Emmy Supporting win for playing Days of Our Lives’ Leo, and hosts Soapy) wins his Best Actor award, he’ll never talk to us again.”

Bregman: “He’s gonna be expensive, but we miss him every day!”

LeBlanc: “He does such a wonderful job.”

Michael and Lauren ‘can be horrible people when called upon’

Though they’ve played out impressive redemption tales, Bregman and LeBlance insist they’ll never let go of Lauren and Michael’s infamous dark streaks.

Bregman: “We haven’t lost our ability to go bad, at any moment!”

LeBlanc: “Yes, we can be horrible people when called upon.”

Bregman: “We love trouble, as long as we can do it together. Can we get in trouble together?”

LeBlanc: “I can just see us calling each other from our prison cells.”

Bregman: “Exactly! ‘Hey, what did you have for breakfast?’”

Bregman and LeBlanc on how community has helped them survive

Amid all of the fun of Lauren and Michael’s drama on The Young and the Restless, both Bregman and LeBlanc have taken some personal hits. With Bregman having lost her Malibu home to wildfires in 2018 and LeBlanc having beaten multiple myeloma in 2023, the soap opera veterans tell Woman’s World they’re grateful to their tight-knit soap opera family for getting them through tough times in the real world.

Bregman: “When people show up for you, even when you say ‘I’m okay,’ that’s pretty extraordinary—and that’s what they did for me.”

LeBlanc: “Yeah, time is the most valuable thing someone can give you. These people have families of their own and problems of their own, but when they come and make the space, as we all do for each other, that’s the best gift you can get.”

Bregman: “I’m just so thankful to everyone for always being such an incredible source of support, and to everyone who’s been watching and enjoying Lauren and Michael.”

LeBlanc: “Yes. We’re just very lucky.”

In honor of Michael and Lauren’s special 20th Anniversary The Young and the Restless episode premiering today on CBS/Paramount, here is a clip from their Elvis Vegas wedding on December 9, 2005