The Story Behind Melissa Claire Egan’s Emmy Gown!

It’s almost as much fun to watch the Daytime Emmy Awards for all the gorgeous fashions as it is to see who will be crowned the cream of the crop in soaps! And at the 50^th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards held on Dec. 15, THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS star Melissa Claire Egan (Chelsea) donned a stunning ballgown with a crystal-studded bodice and red swirl tulle skirt that landed her among our best-dressed list.

The day after the ceremony, the Y&R actress — who was a contender for Outstanding Lead Actress — took to Instagram to share several behind-the-scenes photos of her dress fittings with designer Oliver Tolentino… and confessed that she almost wore a different variation of the gorgeous gown!

“The story of the dress!” Egan wrote. “Oliver Tolentino has been so good to me! I screenshot this dress on his Instagram over a year ago and said, ‘If I’m ever nominated again, I have to wear this dress.’”

Tolentino altered the gown’s original design to accommodate Egan’s pregnancy.Instagram

Egan’s 2022 storyline surrounding Chelsea’s suicide attempt and depression garnered the Y&R star her seventh nomination. “But [I] was going to be seven months pregnant at the Emmys,” revealed the actress, who was expecting her second son last Spring when the ceremony was originally scheduled to take place. “Oliver said no problem, he would make me the ‘pregnant version’ of this dress. Could you die?”

Among the photos Egan shared from Tolentino’s studio was one the designer measuring her baby bump and another of her in a modified gown. “It was a shortened bodice, and the skirt became more empire waist,” she explained.

Tolentino made the gown a maternity gown by bringing up the skirt and shortening the bodice.Instagram

But then the 50^th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, originally scheduled for mid-June, were postponed due to the Writers Guild of America strike. By the time the ceremony was rescheduled for December, Egan had given birth to Jake Joseph. “And here we are with the original version of the dress!” the actress concluded. “Oliver has been so wonderful and I’m forever grateful to wear this piece of art!”

You can check out the rest of Egan’s photos from her dress fittings with Tolentino here!