Tyler Henry, Michael Corbett at arrivals for Project Angel Food’s 28th Annual Angel Awards, Project Angel Food, Los Angeles, CA August 18, 2018. Photo By: Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection
Credit: Priscilla Grant/Courtesy of Everett Collection.

“I’m a skeptic, too.”

Daytime fans remember Michael Corbett from his scheming and murderous ways as David Kimble on The Young and the Restless, but he’s also a big part of one of Netflix’s hottest shows right now: Life After Death with Tyler Henry. Corbett’s relationship with the clairvoyant medium extends back to Henry’s late teen years when he first met him at a Christmas party.

“Someone came up to me and said, ‘Hey, there’s a kid here from Northern California and he was bullied in high school and beaten up… and oh, he talks to the dead.’ OK, yeah, right,” says Corbett to Soaps.com. Despite being initially skeptical of Henry’s talents, Corbett invited him to do a reading the next day. “He told me things no one could know. Friends who had passed, how they passed, details, specifics. I tested him and gave him a name,” he explains incredulously. “He would be so specific in details, it was that moment I went, ‘Wow! I want to create a TV show for this kid.'” And that’s exactly what Corbett set out to do, landing Henry a show at E! called Hollywood Medium that ran for four seasons as a celebrity vehicle for readings.

More: David Kimble’s shocking end on ‘The Young and the Restless’

For viewers wondering how this new series is different, Corbett explains that Life After Death is a much more personal venture because they combed through Henry’s 300,000 person waiting list in hopes of proving that “our loved ones never really leave us” after they pass away. “I created Hollywood Medium at E!, and because it was E!, they wanted Tyler to be reading celebrities… which is fine,” he says. “What I had always envisioned was doing something that was much more meaningful, something more in line with who he really is. He really wants to go out there and heal the world and help people.”

Corbett knows there are plenty of skeptics who don’t believe in the medium’s work, but as an executive producer, he promises that Henry is “completely and utterly shielded from any information” and “never knows who he is going to read until he’s at the doorstep and the cameras start rolling.” He also encourages people to go watch one of Henry’s live shows in front of 2,000 people because that is where you can see his gifts up close. “I don’t know how he does it. We can’t figure it out, I try and poke holes in it all of the time because I’m a skeptic, too,” he shares.

More: Daytime’s best & worst of 2022 so far

The new series is currently trending on the streaming platform’s Top 10, which confirms Corbett’s theory that the timing was right for Henry’s return to the public eye. “Times are very challenging right now. COVID was horrible, so many people lost loved ones. We are still grappling with that loss and now, we are at war,” he sums up. “So, there’s a lot of discontent and unease in the world. It’s nice to have someone bringing a little bit of hope and a bit of understanding of things greater than us.”

For more of our chat with Corbett — including a look back at his time on The Young and The Restless — check out the entire interview above. Then visit the photo gallery below in which we rank the all-time best villains ever. Find out if David Kimble made the list!