With the Southern California wildfires finally winding down, Woman’s World sits down with Woolsey survivor Tracey Bregman to talk about what comes next for those who’ve lost seemingly everything, and how we can support our loved ones. The Young and the Restless star whose Malibu home was swallowed by wildfires in 2018 gets candid about her own devastating journey and the healing she’s found in efforts like preparing meals with Project Angel Food alongside her costars.
The Daytime Emmy-winner and soap opera beauty—who got her start on Days of Our Lives before joining The Young and the Restless and its sister show The Bold and the Beautiful—also reflects on her run as original mean girl Lauren Fenmore and staying healthy and gorgeous at 61.
Plus, Bregman teases God’s Table, the spiritual podcast she’s making with Dyan Cannon, Christine Avanti-Fischer, and Kym Douglas.
‘Y&R’ star Tracey Bregman reflects on rebuilding her life after the Woolsey Fire
Tracey Bregman has rebuilt her life since losing her home and almost everything in it to the Woolsey Fire, but her reality looks a lot different than it did six years ago.
“I had just purchased a place in Nashville in September 2018, and then my house burned down on November 9,” she marvels. “Now, I love to be with all the horses in Nashville when I can, but my children and my grandchildren are all in LA and I work here, so I do spend a lot of time here.”
While she found her new normal and has much to celebrate, Bregman still finds herself literally reaching for the past, on occasion.
“Sometimes I reach for something and go, ‘Oh, right, I don’t have that anymore,’” Bregman explains. “It’s hard. It’s starting over, literally, from scratch. To some people, this all may sound shallow, but it’s not just about ‘things. It’s your home. It’s your history. It’s your family’s history. It’s the memories. There’s a lot of emotion attached to all of this.
“The one good thing about starting over is you get to create whatever it is you want,” she notes. “I still find that I go to try to replace things…and then I say, ‘Wait, maybe I want to do something different, now.’”
‘Y&R’ star Tracey Bregman offers tips on how to be there for LA wildfire survivors
While many in Los Angeles aren’t sure how to help their devastated friends and family, Bregman says that sometimes, it’s just about checking in and offering your support.
“It’s also nice to say, ‘Don’t feel the pressure to respond if you can’t, right now,’” she advises. “After the fire, I was able to speak for a couple of days, but then I literally couldn’t handle it for a good couple of weeks after. I kind of went dark, because this is so overwhelming. The paperwork is overwhelming, and all the questions and thoughts… and it’s almost impossible to remember everything that’s in your house, as well.”
As she tried to grieve and process all that she’d lost in those first weeks, close friends like costar Michelle Stafford, who plays Phyllis, showed up for her.
“I remember saying to Michelle, ‘I don’t know if I can handle being with anybody right now,’” she recounts. “We were staying with my son in his apartment, and Michelle said, ‘I’m standing outside your door with my children, and we have ice cream and flowers.’ She came to be with me, even if just for a short period of time, because that’s all I could really deal with.”
As she tried to grieve and process all that she’d lost in those first weeks, close friends like costar Michelle Stafford, who plays Phyllis, showed up for her.
“I remember saying to Michelle, ‘I don’t know if I can handle being with anybody right now,’” she recounts. “We were staying with my son in his apartment, and Michelle said, ‘I’m standing outside your door with my children, and we have ice cream and flowers.’ She came to be with me, even if just for a short period of time, because that’s all I could really deal with.”
‘Y&R’ star Tracey Bregman finds being a helper helpful
For Angelinos now forced to start over as Bregman once did, the grieving, mourning and rebuilding has barely begun.
“It’s truly about getting through one day at a time,” she advises. “It is never going to be the same, any given day—the emotions, the kinds of things that you remember. And it all comes in waves.”
Naturally, this year’s wildfires have sent Bergman fresh waves of painful memories.
“It’s always a shock when all of it comes back up, and the best way I know to be able to handle it is to give back,” says the actress, who joined her The Young and the Restless costars to help prepare almost 3000 meals for Project Angel Food earlier this week.
“I’m donating,” she lists. “I’m talking to people, helping them through this and giving them as much advice as I possibly can. I’m physically working in Project Angel Food kitchen. That’s actually more helpful to me, in many ways.”
Y&R’ star Tracey Bregman on ‘God’s Table’ podcast
Faith has also been central to Bregman’s journey and during a recent dinner at the famed Polo Lounge with best-selling author of Skinny Chicks Don’t Eat Salads Christine Avanti-Fischer; iconic actress, writer, director and best-selling author Dyan Cannon; and TV Correspondent and author Kym Douglas, she was inspired to create a new podcast called God’s Table.
“We were just talking about life and love and struggles, and all of a sudden, I said, ‘God’s table!’” she recounts. “Everybody looked at me weird, but then we all went, ‘Yes, we need to do this.’ We’ve shot three episodes, already, and it’s about infusing faith in our lives. It’s about real-life things that are happening and have happened to us, and how our faith has gotten us through.”
While Bregman notes her podcast co-hosts are more religious than she is, she counts herself as spiritual and is in a prayer circle with them.
“I’ve had a very strong connection with God, who I speak to, and I think I would be very, very fearful if I felt there wasn’t a higher power,” she shares. “I call him ‘God,’ but whatever you believe in, I believe that your faith and belief can get you through almost anything.”
‘Y&R’ star Tracey Bregman says original mean girl Lauren needs more edge
With another top secret project in the works, Bregman is also still getting into the drama on The Young and The Restless—and after over four decades, fans still love reminiscing about the rockin’ era that saw Lauren bully Beth Maitland’s Traci.
“Beth and I talk about this all the time: Today, there’s no way in hell we could say what I had to say to her on camera back then,” Bregman laughs, but she was honored to get to tell the groundbreaking stories The Young and the Restless creator William J. Bell crafted.
“Bill told stories no one was telling, and he did it remarkably well,” she says. “No one had really done the mean girl thing like he did with me, and no one had done a story about weight and all the things that were happening in the ‘80s like he did with Beth – and Beth was incredible!”
Since pairing up with Christian LeBlanc’s Michael and making amends with Traci, Lauren has fully embraced her roles as an upstanding Genoa City local – for better or worse.
“I feel like Lauren’s swung too far into the nice realm,” Bregman confesses. “I’m every gal’s best friend and hey, I’m always happy to be at work…but I wish we saw a little bit more of Lauren’s edge.”
‘Y&R’ beauty Tracey Bregman admits, ‘Every single day, I’m critical of myself’
Back when she was playing the original mean girl on The Young and the Restless, Bregman admits she felt the pressure to be camera-ready and fabulous —and like most of us, she’s still a work in progress when it comes to self-acceptance.
“Every single day, I’m critical of myself,” Bregman admits. “Us girls, there’s a lot of pressure on us. Maybe there is more on me, because I am being shot in HD. I don’t know who came up with that idea! And I really would like to have a conversation about the overhead lighting. It’s like, ‘Are you guys trying to kill me?’”
All joking aside, this “vegan-ish” actress is all about staying strong and healthy in her 60s and beyond.
“Our bodies change as we get older, and I’m doing the best I can,” Bregman tells Woman’s World. “I horseback ride three days a week. I do Pilates three days a week. I walk every day.
“Obviously, I’m not 20 anymore,” she adds. “I have to let go of the struggle of trying to be where I used to be and just be happy, healthy, and content with what it is today. For me, the pressure doesn’t come from the outside. It comes from me—I want to live, and I want to have a good time!”
Keep your eye on Bregman’s Instagram page for your official invite to her God’s Table podcast.
