Lauralee Bell Celebrates 40 Years on The Young and the Restless: ‘It’s Gone By in a Blink’ (Exclusive)

For Lauralee Bell, 40 years later Young and restless absolutely flew.

The soap opera will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a special episode airing Thursday on CBS.

Bell, 54, tells PEOPLE that her character Christine “Cricket” Blair has a tough decision to make: break up with her ex, Police Chief Paul Williams (Doug Davidson), or potentially rekindle the fire with another ex-husband, Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian).

“My character is at the crossroads of leaving her ex-husband and possibly revisiting my first love, who happens to be back in town,” she teases, adding, “I’m going from place to place and talking to different people. In the end, there is some sort of answer to this question of where I am in life. It kind of gives you an inkling of what she might do next.”

Icons from 50 years of the series ‘The Young and the Restless’ celebrate the golden anniversary of the series – see the photo of the actors

Lauralee Bell for ‘The Young and the Restless’ circa 1983.

CBS via Getty

A reunion of Cricket and Danny is a long-time dream of many loyal viewers, says Bell.

“We have fans who have been saying in the last few weeks, I’ve been waiting 30 years for Cricket and Danny to get back together. Waited 30 years!” she says.

Four decades on the soap opera “passed in a flash” for the actress.

Her parents, William Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, who created Young and restless and Brave and beautiful, realized that she was not going to act at all. But after her first appearance at the age of 9 as an extra with no lines, sitting on the plane behind David Hasselhoff, Bell thought to herself, “Oh, my God. It was so easy.”

Lauralee Bell in ‘The Young and the Restless’. Cliff Lipson/CBS

Bell returned to the series four years later, this time with a few lines, and the reaction from viewers was immediate. Several positive fan messages about her appearance eventually led to her becoming a series regular as Cricket.

“Several people wrote, ‘I have this on in my living room all the time.’ … It was kind of cool, because my grandson, my niece or whoever, turned around when Cricket came in, came over, sat next to me and started looking, because she was someone their age,” he recalls.

As her character has grown over the years, from model to “sophisticated district attorney,” Bell has also evolved. She married Scott Martin, a Chicago graphic artist and old high school friend, in Santa Barbara in 1997. The two share two children – Christian, 22, and Samantha, 21 – as well as a production company.

Lauralee Bell, Eric Braeden & More ‘Y&R’ Stars ‘Walking on Sunshine’ with Summer ‘Here at Last!’

Lauralee Bell with her husband Scott Martin in March 2023.

Francis Specker/CBS via Getty

Beyond Young and restless, Bell has starred in Lifetime movies, including the 2018 Mistress Hunter and in 2019 A tenant from a nightmare and won a 2014 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Short Form Special Class for a Web Series in 2013. I promisewhich she wrote, directed and starred in. Bell is also currently developing two series.

“My parents taught us, whether I’m out in the yard with my dogs or whatever, I’m always trying to think of something to Aquarium for sharks, or coming up with a new concept for the series,” she says. “My husband makes the noise of the engine of the machine, because [my brain] it just doesn’t stop. But I find it fun.”

However, Bell’s mind is currently still mostly focused on Young and restless and her fellow actors. After four decades, she and the cast have become “insanely close”.

Tricia Cast, who played Cricket’s longtime best friend Nina Webster, stayed with Bell and her family at their home in Los Angeles to film scenes for Bell’s 40th anniversary episode. He also regularly texts fellow cast members like Eric Braeden, who plays Victor Newman.

Victor Newman is on his way! Eric Braeden, Lauralee Bell and more ‘Y&R’ stars reunite for 50th anniversary

Lauralee Bell at the 2014 Creative Daytime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California.

Kathy Hutchins / Photo by Hutchins

“When I started, I was a child to them, and now, to be able to talk to everyone in a grown-up relationship, knowing their children and watching our children grow up, it’s so special,” she says. “I’ve spent 40 years with some of these people and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

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Young and restless airs weekdays at 12:30 PM ET on CBS.

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