Michelle Stafford Pays Tribute to Departing Y&R Daughter Allison Lanier
The May 2 episode of Young and Restless marked Allison Lanier’s final episode as Summer Newman, and on that very day, her TV mom, Michelle Stafford (Phyllis), took to Instagram to share a carousel of photos from the set, as well as a video of them having their makeup touched up while shooting, alongside a heartfelt message addressed to Lanier, praising her talents and wishing her well.
My Girl
“This Girl!” Stafford wrote. “What can I say about you? You walked into this role and immediately made it your own. The only unfortunate thing is most of the time, and in particular, during the first year and a half, our characters were at odds. Lots of fighting on screen… But man, you jumped in and killed it every single day.”
Lanier stepped into the role of Summer in 2022, taking over for previous portrayer Hunter King, and earned a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2024. She announced her departure on X (previously Twitter) just a couple of days before her final episode aired and Summer flew off to Europe.
“You are an extraordinary actress,” Stafford added. “What a pleasure for me to work with you. Truly a pleasure. You are a consummate professional. I have no doubt we will be seeing you on the screen sooner than later. I completely believe in you. Thank you for inhabiting the character so thoroughly. I truly felt like I had a real daughter in you. Go out there and soar, you gorgeous girl. I absolutely 100 percent know you will. Thank you for the pleasure.”
Back in 2023, just over a year after joining the cast of Y&R, it was clear that Lanier had made quite the favorable impression on her on-screen mother. “She came into this story when Phyllis and Summer were at odds,” Stafford told Soap Opera Digest at the time. “Phyllis was spouting off all of these speeches to Summer about this, that, and the other thing and I think it was a daunting task for Allison because it was just a lot for her to jump into, but she did such a great job. Everybody here really likes her because she’s so sweet and very professional.
“Allison has been working every day and giving long speeches, and I’m really impressed by how incredible she is,” she added. “She really has a grasp on Summer and made the character her own. She’s really awesome.”
Family Feud: Summer quickly discovered that hiring her mother to work for her was a very bad idea.
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