Michelle Stafford Mourns the Loss of a Dear Friend

Celebrity hairstylist Nick Chavez passed away on Dec. 23 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, and THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS star Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) shared some heartfelt words about her late friend. “This beautiful man left us a couple days ago,” she posted on Instagram with a selfie of the two of them. “He fought the most valiant fight.

“He was strength personified,” the actress continued. “He was constantly telling me that he was blessed. Every day I talked to him, “God is good Michelle, I’m so blessed,” he would say. He was. He was blessed.”

Chavez is best known for his line of Nick Chavez Beverly Hills hair products. “He had the top-selling product on QVC for years,” Stafford noted. “His hair products were and are spectacular. He won countless awards for his hair products and styling. How’s that for a guy who never had any formal education in the field? He knew color. He really cared about making women beautiful.”

And one of those women was Stafford herself, who credits Chavez with the look that soap fans know her best for. “I met him at 19 when we were both models,” she recalled. “He was so supportive of me. Always supportive of anything I did. Anything. Nick created my red hair color. Women would go to him (as I found out) to get the same color as I.”

Looking back at their decades of friendship, Stafford takes comfort in her many fond memories of their time together. I have many wonderful, wicked stories,” she teased. “Too many. Stories I can’t tell! Ha! Oh boy… I’m at a loss for words and at the same time, I have so much to say about this incredible man. We have so much history. So much.

“You know, I have lost many friends in the last two years,” Stafford concluded. “It’s a hard thing. I keep checking myself and telling myself that it is never promised that we know someone forever. We are so lucky to have a real friendship for the time we do… and we must respect it and be grateful for it. Grateful that these beautiful people have been in our lives and that we have been fortunate to know them in the first place. I am the lucky one for having had Nick in my life. Until we meet again, my amazing friend…”