The Young and the Restless' Chelsea Lawson will be back in Genoa City on Tuesday, December 14, and portrayer Melissa Claire Egan teases that viewers better buckle up, because her troublemaking alter ego will be firing on all cylinders.
The actress, who has been on maternity leave since August for the birth of her first child, Caden, spoke with Soap Opera Digest about what's ahead. "They've been writing a lot for Chelsea, which is really exciting," she teases. "What I've shot this past month of being back is so fun."
As fans know, Chelsea's 2021 mostly consisted of being confined to a wheelchair, spending time in a mental institution, and taking care of her mother, Anita (Catherine Bach). Egan previews that all of those experiences had an effect on the character, who returns to Genoa City a (mostly!) changed woman.
"She worked hard on herself [while she was away]," the actress shares. "She obviously was in a bad place last year with all the bad stuff she did; she went a little crazy, she was very manipulative, but she went and got help, and she went away to take care of her mom, and she's learned her lesson. I mean, she'll always have a little bit of that con artist in her, but she's back with a mission to try to repair her family."
However, as Egan says, Chelsea will always be Chelsea, so her homecoming isn't likely to be smooth -- especially with Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope) now in the picture!
"[Chelsea] knows she did some bad stuff, and she wants everyone to forgive her, but she's still herself, so she's still very threatened by Sally, and that's a really fun story," Egan previews. "Chelsea is a very jealous, threatened person -- you know how she gets with Sharon [Sharon Case]! She's very threatened by strong, beautiful women who are into Adam [Mark Grossman], so, that's going to be a really fun story; I can't wait for everyone to see that fun soapy goodness."
Egan recently posted a photo of herself with Courtney Hope and Elizabeth Hendrickson (Chloe Mitchell) in a Charlie's Angels pose, which immediately got fans excited about the storyline possibilities ahead. Egan is also thrilled about what's coming down the pipeline for the trio, which she likens to classic soap situations that have been seen on shows like Dynasty and Dallas.
"There's so much good soapy potential!" the actress enthuses. "It's so fun, the three of us together, and Liz is so funny as her character, because she's always like, in the middle, trying to [make Chelsea and Sally get along]. She's so great with comedy. So, it's fun, it's light, but it's also the good soapy juice that we all love when we watch our soap opera, so, I hope everybody likes it. And it's just catty and it's fun, and it's funny to be catty sometimes, you know? We need that -- life gets too serious. We need the cattiness!"
For more from Egan about her return to Y&R and what her motherhood experience has been like so far, check out her full chat with SOD here.
What do you think about the teases Egan shares about Chelsea's return to Genoa City? Are you excited to see a Chelsea/Sally rivalry? What would you like to see for the character when she returns to the canvas next week? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
