The Young and the Restless fan favorite Christian LeBlanc has revealed he was diagnosed with cancer this past summer.
Christian has played Michael Baldwin on the hit CBS soap for over 30 years.
However, Michael and Christian have been noticeably absent since July.
It turns out that thanks to Y&R fans, Christian discovered he had Multiple Myeloma, a blood cancer that develops plasma cells in the bone marrow.
The actor quietly took a leave of absence to battle the disease and has only recently shared his story.
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Speaking with WWL-TV, CBS in New Orleans, his hometown, Christian opened up about his diagnosis and battle.
The Young and the Restless star Christian LeBlanc reveals cancer diagnosis
In the interview, Christian revealed that life imitated art for him because, as fans know, Michael also battled cancer. Before Christian got into his story, he gave a shout-out to Eric Braeden (Victor), who also battled cancer this year.
“Mine happened so fast. There was a lot of me dealing with it first,” Christian spilled about why it took him some time to share his journey.
Christian admitted that The Young and the Restless fans were first to see something was wrong with him. After getting messages where fans noticed something off with his eye, Christian went to the doctor for an eye exam.
“I was diagnosed around June at Santa Monica St. John’s Providence Hospital, which I’d never been to. I’d never spent a day in the hospital in my 65 years until this year,” he shared. “
The actor revealed that one test they did was to have him put on the wedding ring that Michael wears because he’s married to Lauren (Tracey E. Bregman), and it immediately fell right off. Christian recalled it being such an odd thing before sharing other symptoms of his cancer.
“My nose started bleeding on set sometimes. This eye kinda got a little wonky. And there was a tumor in the sinus cavity,” Christian expressed.
Going for the eye exam saved his life because of the fast pace the cancer moves, which also makes the cancer easy to spot and attack once diagnosed. Christian also shared the good news that he’s in remission now and working on regaining some of the weight he lost.
“They said eat like it’s your job. I lost 35 pounds. I said, ‘I was raised to fulfill this promise,’” he stated.
Despite the good news of his remission, fans can’t help but wonder what it means for Christian’s future on the CBS soap.
Is Christian LeBlanc leaving Y&R?
Although he has been on leave to focus on battling his cancer diagnosis, Christian has no plans to exit The Young and the Restless permanently. In fact, Christian will be back on screen just in time for Thanksgiving.
The entire Baldwin clan was spotted on the set of Y&R recently, including Kevin (Greg Rikaart) and Gloria (Judith Chapman) finally making appearances on the show too.
Christian LeBlanc hopes his cancer story will inspire others to get checked out and pay attention to anything off with their body. The actor spoke in his interview about working with an organization that helps with the after-effects of cancer because he wants to do more following his battle.
The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS.
