Christian LeBlanc Shares Cancer Battle
Fans who have been missing seeing Christian LeBlanc as Michael on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS were happy to learn that he would be back on screen soon along with the rest of the extended Baldwin-Fisher clan. However, now the actor has explained the reason behind his absence from the soap.
In an interview with WWL-TV in New Orleans, LeBlanc revealed that he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and was undergoing treatment. “I was diagnosed around June at Santa Monica St. John’s Providence Hospital, which I’d never been to,” he revealed. “I’d never spent a day in the hospital in my 65 years until this year.”
The Daytime Emmy winner explained that he began noticing worrying signs that led him to realize something was seriously wrong. “They put my wedding ring on — Michael and Lauren’s wedding ring — and I put my hand down and the ring fell off without friction,” LeBlanc confided. “And I said, ‘What an odd thing.’ My nose started bleeding on set sometimes. This eye kinda got a little wonky. And there was a tumor in the sinus cavity.
“If I hadn’t gone in for an eye exam…” he added. “It’s a very fast cancer. And that’s the danger of it. And also because the speed at which a cell reproduces is a signifier of cancer, it also makes it very obvious that it’s a cancer. And easily attacked and easily spotted once you get in there.”
Thankfully, LeBlanc is currently in remission and is happy to be recovering the weight that he lost during his battle. “They said eat like it’s your job,” he chuckled at his doctors’ orders. “I lost 35 pounds. I said, ‘I was raised to fulfill this promise.’”
The actor is also already back at work at Y&R and viewers can look forward to seeing Michael back in Genoa City for the Thanksgiving show.
