Last September we learned the shocking news that, due to a contract dispute between actor and studio, the iconic Victor Newman character (played by veteran actor Eric Braeden) was being written off the long-running daytime drama The Young and the Restless. About a month later, everyone came to their senses and a deal was worked out to bring Victor Newman back onto the show … just in time for the Soap to celebrate 30 Years of Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless. Here are a few photos from the celebratory anniversary party in celebration of The Mustache himself, Victor Newman:

Can you imagine if Eric Braeden hadn’t sorted out his contract dispute at the end of last year? There’d be no moustache, no secret planning with his sons, no whispered threats to Jack Abbott — and no reason to celebrate 30 years of Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless! That would mean no party, no pictures from said party, no slideshow on SOAPnet.com of said pictures, no article you’re reading right now … Seriously — we aren’t exaggerating when we say we think we could walk this “What if there was no Victor?” path of hypotheticals until we pretty much unraveled the space-time continuum. Don’t know what we’re talking about? Take a gander at our gallery of Eric Braeden’s 30th Y&R Anniversary Bash and understand why we’re just so grateful that this Genoa City crisis was averted.

Click HERE to see the SoapNet gallery mentioned in this article. I’m so glad all the contract dispute was settled last year because I cannot, for the life of me, imagine Y&R without Victor Newman … even more insane, I couldn’t imagine the show with a different actor playing the character. Eric Braeden has played Victor Newman flawlessly for the past 30 years, a feat worth celebrating I think. Daytime Dramas have been dropping like flies in recent years but I hope The Young and the Restless can stick around for another 30 years … at least!

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