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The Young and the Restless' Beth Maitland Talks Amazing Abbott Moments
The Young and the Restless star Beth Maitland (Traci Abbott) is looking back on her fave Abbott family moments. This week, Y&R is airing classic episodes focused on the fan-favorite clan.
Maitland told TV Insider that she just adored Traci's romance with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont). She shared that Brad and Traci's second wedding, airing this week, was a particularly good choice:
This second wedding was way more fun for me and interesting and multilayered. This one hit closer to home. It wasn’t all that teenage stuff. It was more adult. I got to spend time with my darling Don. He remains such a good friend. I admire him and love him so much. He’s a remarkable guy, an amazing father, and caretaker of others. His work has grown tremendously. I love to see that. And I love running into him in the hallway at the studio!
Recently, I was going through a box of old photos and came across some of Don and I appearing on Circus of the Stars, which aired on CBS. Don and I were living our personal bests. We were having fun both on and off-camera. Our lives were full of promise and opportunity. I made [my daughter] Emelia stop what she was doing and look at the photographs – one of which was Don standing on a horse!
The actress also mourned the on-screen losses of Brad and Traci's father, John Abbott (Jerry Douglas). She recalled:
Poor Traci was in and out around this time so, I wasn’t involved with any of the buildup to this particular story. It can be challenging for an actor who isn’t there for the build, but I felt absolutely honest and connected to everyone as John was mourned.
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I think the two most significant loses to the Abbotts were John and Brad especially when you add in how the rest of Genoa City was affected. Losing them was, in my opinion, a mistake. Bill Bell [Y&R’s creator/headwriter/sr. executive producer] once told me that it’s not what happens to you when [story developments] occur – it’s about what happens to everybody else in the long term. Sometimes choices are made but, in both of those cases, I thought they were tragic losses.
Maitland has also loved filming scenes with frenemy Lauren Femore (Tracey Bregman) over the years. In current Genoa City time, the ex-rivals crossed paths, which brought back a whole host of memories.
She recalled:
Yes. Lauren had just come from seeing Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) and Traci was going to see her for some reason. They passed each other and that’s when Lauren apologized. Traci accepted it. I would love to have seen that be explored more.
Maitland added:
Even having a temporary story would be so much fun to play. We’d get to show how we’ve grown. Lauren’s no longer the ‘mean girl’ and Traci is no longer the pushover. There’s been a great deal of change.
