Kelly Kruger Reveals How Being Fired From Y&R Changed Her Life!
While Kelly Kruger will forever be known to soap viewers as Brock’s daughter and Katherine Chancellor’s granddaughter, Mackenzie, on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS or as chic Forrester International publicist Eva on THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL, the actress has created quite a following for herself on social media over the past two years as a food influencer, of all things! And if she hadn’t been let go from Y&R a year and a half into her run, Kruger recently admitted, she wouldn’t be where she is today as a content creator who shares fun and relatable videos about motherhood, makeup, and recipes!
In a “get ready with me” video that she titled “Story time,” the daytime alum did her makeup for the day as she shared how being cast on Y&R in 2002 “completely changed” her life. “I went from literally counting change to put gas in the car to being a very popular character on the No. 1 soap opera. I was able to support my family and wake up every day and live my dream.”
Unfortunately, when she was written out in February 2003, Kruger took her exit “very personally” even though it was storyline related. “[I] felt like a failure and like I was letting everybody who was counting on me down,” she confessed. “I felt like I needed to get a job right away to put food on the table. So I got a job at my friend’s restaurant. They stuck me in the kitchen. I was completely unqualified to be in the kitchen and even know how to chop a vegetable.”
Despite being given a chef’s coat and essentially working in the kitchen as a sous chef, Kruger only lasted three days before she was fired from the restaurant. Shortly after, she decided to recreate the one recipe she learned during her short-lived time as a chef and recreate the dish at home. “It took me the entire day and was kind of a disaster,” she chuckled. “With acting, what you create is on camera forever. With art, it’s on canvas forever. With cooking, I didn’t understand the art of it because you make it, you spend all day creating it, and then it’s just gone.”
But when the coronavirus pandemic hit in early 2020, Kruger found herself with plenty of free time on her hands while she was at home with hubby Darin Brooks (Wyatt, B&B) and their daughter, Everleigh. “I started cooking everything and sharing it with you guys and you loved it. That’s where this all began,” marveled the actress, who used to be teased by her family that she could burn boiling water. “The moral of the story is, if I can do it, you can do it. I love cooking. It has become therapeutic for me and something that I love to do. And I believe that once you try some of my quick, easy recipes, I think you’ll be hooked, and you’ll love cooking as much as I do.”
And that is how Kruger became an actress who loves to cook and test out new recipes! Be sure to follow her on Instagram for some of her delicious and nutritious dishes and snacks!
