Melissa Claire Egan Reveals What’s Next for Chelsea on Y&R (EXCLUSIVE)
Some viewers might have thought that Chelsea being shipped off to a mental hospital was how Melissa Claire Egan would exit THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS for maternity leave, but there’s still more drama to come before that happens! In fact, when Soaps In Depth caught up with the actress for the latest scoop, she had just come off set! “I’m not done,” she reported. “I’m still working. I’m not due until August, so still causing some drama in Genoa City!
“The fans will be interested to know that [Y&R headwriter] Josh Griffith had written all this before he knew I was pregnant,” the mom-to-be added. “This whole meltdown in Victor’s living room and Chelsea going to the psych ward was already written. Nothing to do with my pregnancy!”
Chelsea concocted a grand scheme to hide her recovery from her stroke and use that as her alibi to frame Adam for attempted murder, but unfortunately, the truth came out and put her in a precarious position. “She really got backed into a corner,” Egan admitted. “She thought she had this brilliant plan and thought she had covered all her bases, but Victor is a clever guy and he figured her out. So when he threatened to take Connor away, she knows that he has the money, the power, and the resources to do that. Connor is obviously her weak spot.”
So Chelsea agreed to go along with Victor’s plan to fake a breakdown so she would be committed to a mental health facility instead of being sent to prison. “She kind of has to play that game,” Egan mused. “She wants to be better because she just wants to get out and go back to her life and see her son again. She hasn’t been able to see her son in so long, which is so sad. But she has to stick to the plan and not be exposed. So she’s kind of in a tricky predicament. And she’s also just not in a great space. Victor wins, Adam wins, but Chelsea… she’s in a better position than if she went to jail, but it’s isn’t great. She’s still away from her son, she’s still locked up… she just has to keep this ruse if she ever wants a chance to be free again.”
And, of course, there’s the fact that she’s had to put her trust in Victor. While he did arrange for the doctor to come and take her away, can she really trust him to keep up his end of their bargain? “She never fully trusts Victor because she knows he’s got all the power,” she reminded. “But she also realizes she doesn’t have a choice. He promised he’d take care of her and she really doesn’t have any choice.”
Not that getting some therapy wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for Chelsea right now! “Something has changed in her,” Egan allowed. “I think the stroke changed her. Something switched in her brain. Adam was the love of her life and now she’s trying to frame him for murder. So obviously something has snapped in her and she is a little crazy. She’s just not as crazy as she pretended to be in Victor’s living room.”
After a rough year that included suffering a brain aneurysm that led to a stroke that left her immobilized in a wheelchair, Chelsea could use this time in the hospital to help put her life back together and try to make a fresh start. “I think deep down she doesn’t think she did anything wrong, which is why I love this character,” Egan confided with a laugh. “She’ll always have issues with Sharon, she’ll always have this back and forth with Adam, but I think she just wants peace and she wants to be with her son. Conner’s always her focus. She wants to start over and be free.”
Stay tuned to Y&R to see how Chelsea manages to pull that off without ending up in prison for her crimes!
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