The TV Watercooler had the opportunity to chat with The Young and the Restless stars Camryn Grimes (Mariah) and Cait Fairbanks (Tessa) about their couple’s (who fans affectionally call ‘Teriah’) groundbreaking same-sex wedding, how they envision the “Happily Ever After” for their characters, and how the pairing has been able to heal relationships in the lives of their fans.
The “Teriah” Wedding is set to begin on Friday, the 13th in Canada! That’s not ominous at all, is it?
Camryn: I love Friday the 13th, personally! Usually, in L.A. you can get $13 tattoos! Little, tiny, ones!
Cait: Oh, really? Oh my God, that’s amazing! My grandmother was born on Friday, the 13th! She was lovely!
What tattoos would your characters get with $13 on Friday, the 13th?
Camryn: Oooh, that’s a good question! I don’t know. I’m trying to think. Whenever I’ve gone into the tattoo shop on Friday, the 13th, you have to pick a tiny tattoo that could literally be done in like five to six minutes.
I think Mariah would get an eye.
Cait: I love that!
Camryn: Like an outlined eye on her forearm.
Cait: I was thinking that Tessa would get a spider! [Laughs]
Camryn: A spider?!
Cait: I always wear black all the time, so I feel like it would be something a little goth!
Camryn: Ah, I like it!
How does it feel that The Young and the Restless is finally moving forward with this LGTBQ+ couple and giving them a wedding? It’s 2022 and they’ve got to compete with what else is out there, especially what’s streaming.
Camryn: I think it’s more about just showing the reality of what our world and what our society looks like. The reality is that people are gay!
Cait: And they get married!
Camryn: And if want to accurately represent what life looks like, you have to be inclusive and you have to show all aspects of it. I’m excited that Mariah and Tessa’s journey has existed for everyone to watch and has led them there. I mean, it’s been an amazing story to tell, from start to finish…and it’s not over yet!
Cait: The fact that this is really the third same-sex wedding in the history of daytime, shows how important it is and where we are.
This is something that people watch every day, all over the United States, Canada, and so many other places. Just the fact that it’s the part of everyday life, for now, it’s kind of meta. We’re showing what everyday life looks like and it’s a part of people’s everyday life. So, they’ve really seen us grow.
I think the disappointment from the fan and critics side is that soaps back in the day used to be at the forefront and were allowed to be a little more innovative and push those boundaries. But now, it feels that they have a little more conservative and are afraid to push those boundaries because there are only four of them left. Do you think that maybe that’s why it might have taken so long to get here? Why there have only been three same-sex weddings?
Cait: I think that what soaps are really great at doing is bringing people into maybe what’s already happening. I think for this particular situation, soaps really talked about addictions, eating disorders, sexual assaults, and so many things that were happening and have been happening, but maybe people haven’t immediately heard of or have experienced them, so they’re getting to see it [now] and I think both of us agree that we, of course, would have loved to have done the wedding maybe a year or two ago, but I think there is something pretty magical about the fact that they’ve waited because you really got to see the couple grow together like I would say any regular couple. Going through up and downs and I think it got people to adapt to seeing us together, and seeing what two people, any two people, can be like together.
Camryn: I mean, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten messages from fans of Teriah and people who watch the show that this has healed relationships in their life. It’s helped them have conversations. And people who have never watched soaps before have said something like, “Oh my gosh, I just binged all of Teriah on YouTube!”
Cait: Or they were brought into the show because of Teriah.
Camryn: Yeah, it’s been just as heartwarming for us as some of the fans!
Cait: As much as I would love that every household as diverse as so many of my favourite shows are full of diverse characters. I think that for a lot of people, that’s not their reality. They don’t see [people like that] in their everyday life. They do see it more like this, where it takes longer for people to accept certain things. Which is unfortunate, but it’s also I think it’s a great chance to maybe change people’s minds?
The theme is ‘70s glam!
Camryn: Yes, it’s ‘70s glam. I think Mariah and Tessa were not sure what they wanted and so they just kind of threw everything together! [Laughs] But let me tell you, it does not disappoint!
Cait: I mean, it looks pretty cool, right? I mean you were invited to our wedding! [Points to the background.]
Camryn: It’s so vibrant, celebratory, joyous, and fun! I’m really excited for everybody to see it!
Is that the Top of the Tower?
Cait: Yes!
Camryn: Yes, it’s at Top of the Tower.
Nice! I was worried it was going to be in the Grand Phoenix lobby! Thank you, Soap Gods!
Cait: It’s not at the coffee house!
Camryn: Yes, it’s not at the coffee house or Grand Phoenix…as long as it wasn’t at the coffee house, I was going to be happy.
It’s exciting to see a big soap event again. I know with the COVID protocols it’s been hard to film these big events that we love. Are we getting something reminiscent of a classic soap wedding?
Camryn: I certainly hope so! Yeah, we had a ton of the cast here, which as you said, we haven’t really gotten to experience [in a while] because of COVID. So, it’s just as fun for us as it’ll be for the fans because we got to hang out with our friends!
Cait: Everyone looks really hot, so that didn’t hurt!
Camryn, you were part of Victor and Nikki’s 2002 wedding (as Cassie), which was 20 years ago this September. Any memories from that?
Camryn: Yes, I was part of a few [classic weddings]! I can’t remember what I was wearing at the one! I’ve been to a lot of them, but I’ve never been married at them. This is my character’s first soap wedding. When I was little, I used to love soap weddings because they had food! They had food there and you could eat the food, so I was happy. They had snacks and cakes, this, and that.
Cait: [Laughs]
Camryn: I never liked getting dressed up, though. I was never a big fan of dresses but they made me look pretty every time.
Do you both have a favourite TV wedding?
Cait: Can we talk about the Game of Thrones wedding?
Camryn: Oh, my God…
Cait: [Laughs]
Camryn: Wait – which one, though?
Cait: The famous one! I won’t ruin it for anyone [who hasn’t watched yet].
Cait: Yes! I love watching the royal weddings! That’s always fun for me. I love watching real people get married.
Camryn: Oh, Outlander!
Cait: Oh, that was… Are you talking about their wedding or after the wedding?
Camryn: I mean… It was involved in the episode, so… both! Jamie and Claire’s wedding on Outlander.
Tessa and Noah (now played by Rory Gibson) have some history. Could he finally speak up about his feelings for Tessa?
Cait: What can I say? I think that of course with any relationship, you’ve been together, and you have a history. There’s still like a shared love there. So, I think that they both have that for each other, but in a different way now. Sometimes you confuse that, especially when you see an ex again. It can be very confusing and overwhelming. I think that Tessa and Noah are both reaching a point with each other that they really just want to share admiration for each other.
Let’s say Mariah and Tessa do get their happily ever after wedding, what’s next for them? Will they pick up the idea of adopting a child?
Camryn: Yeah, I think getting married was obviously a natural step, considering that they were talking about having kids, so I’m glad that sort of come first and come together in the way that it did. Kids were definitely on the docket for them, so I’m excited to see what kind of challenges that are going to bring for these two characters who are now committed to each other.
Let’s talk guest list! Obviously, Noah has to be there because he’s Mariah’s brother, but there are many characters in the Y&R vault that are missing in action! There’s Doris (Mariah’s grandmother) who we have not seen in forever!
Camryn: Yeah, I have not seen Doris’ story. There was an aspect of Y&R that I missed when Cassie died.
I think I was really happy with the guest list. Everyone was a ton of fun! They made the day easier for us.
Cait: It was a Young and the Restless wedding! It really was. I think everyone looked so spectacular. It was so much fun! It was long, but it was fun!
Two other missing characters: Tessa’s Crystal, and Stitch, who recently kidnapped Mariah!
Camryn: I don’t think he got the invite!
Cait: I don’t think Stitch is coming! Well, I do think it would be very special for Tessa if her sister was there to have some family. At the beginning of planning the wedding, Tessa brought this up, the fact that she’s really surrounded by Mariah’s loved ones, who have become her loved ones, but I think it can be very intimidating to enter a wedding kind of alone.
So, I think it would be special for her if her sister came.
Cait, would you like to see Tessa’s past explored more?
Cait: Yes, we both look at it in a way that you know whatever informs the character informs the relationship. So, I think the more you get to know each woman individually, the more you actually can see where these characters are going and how much they truly care for each other.
Because, of course, I [as Tessa] would have shared things about my [character’s] past that maybe we haven’t seen on camera.
I would also love that because I think it’s important to show each character as the strong, independent, hardworking woman that each of them are and where they’ve come from because that has a big part to do with who each person is and what they bring to their relationship.
Camryn: Totally!
Where would you like to see your characters a year from now?
Camryn: On vacation! No, no! I would like to see Tessa becoming more and more successful in music. And maybe with a kid. But mostly, I’d like to see them happy.
I’ve said this before, but I feel like a wedding is kind of like a blank slate.
We did the biggest thing, so what’s next? That’s kind of where I’m at with these two characters. I’m just along for the ride!
After Mariah had everything with the kidnapping and baby…
That was a lot!
Camryn: Yeah! I’m interested to see where it’s going to go!
Maybe Mariah could help plan Nick and Sharon’s next wedding?
Camryn: Maybe! I mean, with those two, you never know!
Cait: [Gasps.] Naughty…naughty!
I’ve got to ask for the Shick fans!
Cait: [Laughs] They are really gorgeous!
Camryn: I mean, they are two beautiful people. Who wouldn’t want to put them together?
Cait: I think there’s a picture in our house and every time that I see it, I’m just like, “Dang, your family is hot!”
The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on Global and CBS. Canadians can catch up with episodes on demand, the Global TV app, STACKTV, and at GlobalTV.com.
For the latest soap news, previews and spoilers, visit TheTVWatercooler.com/Soaps.
