Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
Aunt Love Grand? Melissa Ordway (Abby, r.) is a huge fan of her Y&R aunt, Beth Maitland (Traci).
Although Melissa Ordway (Abby, Young and Restless) adores all of her fellow castmates, she considers herself especially lucky to be connected to the co-stars who comprise her TV family, the Abbotts.
“First of all, I always love working with Beth [Maitland, Traci], and I really love, when she gets any sort of love story,” declares Ordway. “It just makes me so happy that Aunt Traci has a new man in her life because she needs some love, too, and, I mean, who wouldn’t be in love with Aunt Traci? She is the heart and soul of the Abbott family and I feel like every time Beth is on camera, the audience is getting a warm hug coming through the TV. She just makes you feel so good. Every time I get to work with her, I smile the whole entire time — even if Abby is supposed to be upset — because Beth just brings that energy and love that is pure joy. And I love any time I get to work with her and any time I see her on the show is just amazing.”
And as can be imagined, the conversation flows freely between these two women, who are both mothers to daughters away from the show. “I love chatting with her about her daughter, Emelie,” Ordway shares. “The other day, after we worked together and we’d already talked all day, I ran into her in the parking lot and we ended up talking for another hour.”
Ordway also reports that she doesn’t hesitate to seek out Maitland or TV mom Eileen (Davidson, Ashley) for words of wisdom. “They both have great advice about so many different things,” she points out. “If I need help about school stuff with my daughters, I’m like, ‘Eileen, I need help with this,’ and she has a million answers for me. For something else, I go straight to Beth, so I feel like I’m completely covered in the advice department, that’s for sure. I’m a very lucky girl in that respect.”
The actress also considers Peter Bergman, the man who brings Abby’s Uncle Jack to life, a fount of valuable information. “Honestly, what does that man not know?” she marvels. “He really is the most knowledgeable person about everything and he’s so much fun. I got to sit next to him at [this year’s Daytime] Emmys and I said to him, ‘How did I get so lucky that I get to sit next to you?’ Not only did we have an awesome time, we also had great conversation throughout the whole evening. I definitely had the best seat in the house.”
