THE Young and the Restless is celebrating its 50th anniversary with the return of some familiar faces.
One of the show’s iconic stars has finally agreed to come back after 16 years, despite previously turning down multiple offers.
GettySome of The Young and the Restless’ most beloved alums are returning for the show’s 50th anniversary storylines[/caption]
Twitter/@barbaracramptonBarbara Crampton is returning to Y&R on Friday’s new episode after more than a decade away[/caption]
Barbara Crampton, who first made her appearance on the soap as Leanna Love in 1987, will return to the show with Friday’s new episode.
She last appeared as the villainous reporter in 2007.
As The Young and the Restless is celebrating 50 years on the air, a few of the show’s beloved stars are returning for a big bi-centennial gala storyline.
In a new promo teaser, Barbara shared: “You haven’t seen [Leanna] in about 15 or 16 years or so. It feels like a dream to be back here.
“It’s kind of crazy. I’m seeing a lot of old friends and people I used to know and people I still keep in contact with.”
Along with Barbara, Patty Weaver is back as her character Gina Roma, Veronica Redd returns as Mamie Johnson, and Tricia Cast’s Nina Webster is back, as well.
In a new interview with TV Insider, Barbara revealed she had actually been asked to come back to Y&R multiple times since her 2007 departure but it was never the right time.
The actress shared: “They had called me a few times over the last decade or so.
“The only reason I haven’t before is that I was living in San Francisco. I’m doing other things.
“I let my agent know I was back in [Los Angeles]. I reached out and asked, ‘Do you think you might like to have Leanna visit?’ They said, ‘Absolutely.’ It was a wonderful time.”
Of her experience coming back to the show, Barbara said she had to “re-exercise” her soap acting muscle as they gave her “a lot of dialogue” right away.
She went on: “You have to be performance ready. It was a little daunting. I haven’t used that muscle in a while, but it went great.”
While Barbara and some of her fellow alums were happy to rejoin the show for some 50th anniversary fun, another former Y&R actress was recently slammed for her comments about the show.
Eric Braeden, who has played Victor Newman on the soap since 1980, blasted Y&R alum Eva Longoria earlier this week after he felt she made “derogatory remarks” about the show in a new interview.
While appearing as a guest on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?, Eva was surprised when the host brought up her role as Isabella Braña on The Young and the Restless, which she held from 2001 to 2003.
“Oh god, don’t show a clip! Are you going to show a clip of that,” she asked Chris with a chuckle.
Chris then asked her about having two jobs that that time – one, on Y&R, and the other as a headhunter for a temp agency, which she would do out of her dressing room, to make extra money.
She added: “I would hide the fact that I was on Young and the Restless to my clients because they didn’t want, like, a dumb actress handling their accounts.”
Eva recalled that a client one time told her she looked like someone they’d seen on Y&R, but she insisted to them: “No, that’s not– I don’t know who that is.”
After hearing Eva’s interview, longtime Y&R actor Eric slammed his former co-star on Twitter.
He blasted: “EVA LONGORIA: you just made derogatory remarks about daytime actors! You simply weren’t good enough to survive the pressures of this medium!
“You were very lucky to get on that ‘housewife’ show! You did one show in 8-12 days, with mediocre but salacious dialogue!
“Our actresses would run rings around you!! And they did then!! From Robert di Nero to whoever they all are, many of them started in the medium you denigrate! It shows a complete lack of class!!”
CBSBarbara first made her Y&R debut as Leanna Love back in 1987 and she last appeared in 2007[/caption]
GettyJust as Barbara is returning to Y&R, fellow alum Eva Longoria is being called out for recent comments she made about her Y&R past[/caption]
