With Nikki’s birthday coming up and the mystery around Aristotle Dumas’ true identity only intensifying, The Young and the Restless fans have much to look forward to in the CBS series’ upcoming episodes. Nevertheless, one plotline that continues to remain unresolved in the long-running soap drama is the Newman v Abbott war. With Michael finding himself stuck between the two clashing parties, actor Christian LeBlanc has clarified the motivations of his character in the show.
Here’s what he had to say about Michael’s role in the never-ending feud between the Abbotts and the Newmans.
Christian LeBlanc explains Michael’s role in Newman v Abbott war in The Young and the Restless
During his recent interview with Soap Opera Digest, Christian LeBlanc revealed that Michael actually respects Eric Braeden’s Victor Newman a lot on The Young and the Restless, primarily due to the issues with his own father. He noted, “He [Michael] keeps coming back to Victor after these yeses and nos and quitting and firings. Because [Michael’s biological father] River Baldwin wasn’t a great person — abandonment and stuff — but he’s always admired [Victor’s] sense of family, and that he would welcome [Michael] into his family at different times.”
Due to his admiration of Victor, Christian LeBlanc’s Michael intends to be a “guardrail” and stop his mentor from escalating his clash with the Abbotts in The Young and the Restless. LeBlanc explained, “As much as Michael defers and adds other subjects and tries to get Victor off the topic of the Abbotts, he comes back to it, because that’s a rivalry older than time. He’s trying to keep Victor in his lane and keep Jack and the Abbotts and everyone else in the other. And he is getting pressure from all sides.”
He also added, “There’s not many people that can convince him to move otherwise — or even be conniving enough to get him to move otherwise.”
As Michael continues to secretly work for both the Newmans and the Abbotts, Christian LeBlanc believes that more drama will follow in upcoming episodes due to the Newman v Abbott war. “With this revving up of the ancient feud between Jack and Victor, the stakes get a little higher. We’ve got exciting places to go. There’s a lot of surprises ahead…There’s so much coming after this,” he remarked.
