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Most Shocking Incomings of The Young and the Restless in 2023
As we all saw, 2023 in Genoa City brought a mix of fresh faces and familiar ones. This year, Young & Restless decided to take a stroll down memory lane, making the year all about flashbacks and nostalgia by resurrecting some of the finest characters. And the fans were definitely lucky to have witnessed all the crazy storylines that came with it. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the series of arrivals and comebacks that kept us hooked on Y&R throughout 2023.
Colleen Zenk
Starting with the latest arrival in town, she was the perfect way to wrap up the year. The veteran actress Colleen Zenk, who you might have recognized as Barbara Ryan from As The World Turns, is an icon when it comes to soap operas after her work from 1978 to 2010 in the show. And now, after more than a decade long break she is back in daytime and that too in The Young and the Restless as Jordan, the sister of the long dead crazy Eve Howard.
In November 2023, Jordan was introduced as the revenge seeking villain who was out for the Newmans blood. In fact, she had been plotting the whole thing from way back when she switched Claire Grace at birth with a dead baby only to make her go after her own parents, Victoria and Cole. And let’s just say her arrival was the best among all since she brought crazy to the table as perfectly as possible.
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Hayley Erin
Another shocking add up to the 2023 cast is none other Hayley Erin as Claire Grace. Hayley Erin actually joined Young & Restless when she was just fourteen, back in 2008 as Abby Newman until 2010. Then in 2013, Melissa Ordway came into the picture and made Abby as her own character. So, obviously no one really expected or even thought that Erin would make a comeback until it was announced that she would be rejoining the show with a brand new character.
Erin joined the cast as Claire Grace, the mysterious girl, from October 2, and let me tell you, from the moment she appeared on screen, everyone knew something was up with her. After a lot of theories and curiosity, it was later revealed that she was in fact Victoria and Cole Howard’s dead baby, Eve.
The crazyass Aunt Jordan had actually stolen her at birth and replaced with a dead baby just to take her revenge. As Claire grew older, Jordan kept feeding her lies about how her parents abandoned her. If you ask us, this was probably the most shocking and unexpected storyline of the year. Now all we hope is that she is here for a long time.
J. Eddie Peck
Another major blast from the past has to be J Eddie Peck who brought Cole Howard to life or should we say back to GC. We had not seen Cole like forever. So when we saw J Eddie Peck making a comeback in November on the show, we all were very excited.
Joining the show in 1993 as a recast, Peck played the role until 1999. Cole is the son of Eve Howard and Rick Daros, the guy who once tried to kill Nikki when she was pregnant with Victoria. But before his real father was revealed, the whole storyline revolved around if he was Victor’s son. I mean, they even thought he was, which made the whole falling in love with Victoria and eloping with her, very weird. But thankfully, it was just Eve playing games.
Nevertheless, his marriage with Vikki didn’t survive after their baby’s supposed death, who turned up alive and all grown up as Claire Grace. If you remember, he left town for a teaching job in England, and now he is here after 24 years, dealing with how to be a father to a daughter who he thought was dead all this time.
Veronica Redd
Talking about familiar faces, Veronica Redd falls right in the alley. After 19 years of missing Redd’s character Mamie Johnson on Y&R, the show invited her back for a quick visit in March for the 50th year anniversary episodes but since the fans loved her so much, she kept on coming more and more to town. Her another remarkable return this year was on September 26th bringing all the drama with her.
Redd joined Young & Restless as the recast of Mamie Johnson in 1990. Mamie has always been a special lady in the Abbott family. Starting out as the housekeeper of the Abbotts, she was more of a mother to Jack, Ashley, and Traci than Dina ever was. Since leaving the show back in 2004, she is at last back this year to show Jill just how much everyone still loves her. She even bought a certain part of Jill’s company, and it’s with the same money Jill paid her back in the days to stay far away from John.
So, there’s a never ending rivalry going on with Redd’s character and Jill which made its way to December 11 as well.
Judith Chapman
Another character that resurrected this year was Gloria Fisher, portrayed by the amazing Judith Chapman. Chapman first joined the cast of Y&R as a recast in 2005 and well, the rest is history. If you remember, she is a troublemaker. Wherever she goes, she always messes things up. But one thing we love about her is that she is always there for her kids. Like when Chloe ran away from her wedding day, leaving Kevin hanging, Gloria was there for him.
Well, it’s not just in GC that she likes to mess up. She was actually in Singapore Prison and that’s why, Michael Baldwin being the good son he is, went to get her out from there. She returned just in time for Thanksgiving in November and revealed the reason behind her jail time. When she was having an affair with a diplomat there, his wife found out and kicked her out, which she didn’t do so easily and took a detour at her things and stole some designer shoes and a cocktail dress, which was hilarious. It’s always fun to see her back and her on Thanksgiving was literally a mood!
Trevor St. John
The ladies hopper also made his way back to town, and yes, we’re talking about none other than Tucker Mccall in Y&R. Tucker is currently played by Tevor St. John, and he made his return in September after a brief absence. Trevor has been playing the character since August 2022 taking over the role of former actor, Stephen Nichols who played from 2010 to 2013.
Michael Damian
Micheal Damian, who plays the role of Danny Romalotti, also made his return to Y&R and this time for a long time. We first saw him in March 2023, showing up at the Bicentennial Gala with Gina and stayed in town till Phyllis’s funeral. He later came back again in September.
Right now, he is exploring his feelings with Christine, who is single and ready to move on once again just like the old times. Will this be their endgame or not? We just gotta wait and see.
Linden Ashby
Another villain from the past who came to town to haunt Sharon after 20 years is one other than Cameron Kirsten, portrayed by Linden Ashby, the real-life husband of Y&R fave Susan Walters. Ashby first joined the cast of The Young and the Restless as Cameron in 2003. Although he was on the show for just a year, the character sure did leave quite a trauma for Sharon. Bringing that to the table once again, he came back in May 2023, and he did creep everyone out just like the old times.
After obsessing over Sharon, sending her cryptic messages, falsely accusing Nick of assault, killing Faith’s cat, kidnapping Faith and tying her up with a timing bomb, he was bound to go down in history. Eventually, he got what he deserved and that’s a stab to death and that too from Sharon herself. She finished what he started. Although we all were glad Cameron was dead, we still miss Ashby on the show.
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Shemar Moore
For the 50th year anniversary special episodes, Y&R had brought many familiar faces back on screen like you’ve all seen, and among that was Shemar Moore, who plays the role of Malcolm Winters. Moore first joined the cast as Malcolm back in 1994 and made his exit in 2005.
While it’s always great to see all the characters coming together, this year what made Malcolm’s return even more special was when he returned for a tribute episode to Neil Winters, Devon told Malcolm that he wanted to take Neil’s last name and legally go by Devon Winters. It was a very emotional episode for everyone.
Thad Luckinbill
Although it was for a very short while, it was great to see Thad Luckinbill in the role of JT Hellstrom. On the May 2 episode, we got a little sneak peak at JT when Audra sat for a video call with him. Although it was for just a couple of minutes, it was great to see his face inside of the screen’s screen.
Luckinbill joined the cast of Y&R as JT in August 1997 but then in 2010, he made his exit from a regular to recurring role. The last time we saw him in person was in 2019. And now with the video call, it’s making us want to see more of him. So let’s hope he makes his return in person next year for a good amount of time.
Chene Lawson
Chene Lawson arrived in GC as Devon’s biological mom, Harmony Hamilton, after more than a decade. Back in May 5, Harmony visited town for several episodes and even attended Neil’s special memorial. Chene Lawson actually originated the role of Harmony, who was known as Yolanda back in the day. In 2012, the role was picked by soap vet Debbi Morgan. This year, Chene took over the role once again.
Particia Grossman
If you think Mark Grossman is a great actor, well, his mom is right in the alley too. On October 24, Mark’s mom, Patricia, made her very first debut on Y&R. While we did get a sneak peek of BTS of mamma Grossman on set, we also saw her on the actual episode, where she played as a customer in Crimson lights sharing a screen with Michelle Stafford’s Phyllis and Michael Damian’s Danny.
Lily Brooks O’Briant
Talking about new faces, Lily Brooks O’Briant joined the cast of Young and the Restless as a grown up Lucy Romalotti in February 2023. And ever since she has been popping by town every once in a while. She was also here for Phyllis’ funeral in April and was here for her father, Daniel, in his moment of grief. She came back again in August with Heather and stayed for a while until her school break was over.
Vail Bloom
This year also brought us Vail Bloom to stay in Genoa City as Heather Stevens. While she had been popping up on the show quite often earlier this year, in October it was revealed that Heather was leaving Portugal to settle in GC for good this time, probably to patch things up with Daniel, if you ask us.
Tricia Cast
Tricia Cast, aka Nina Webster, returned in the 50th Anniversary special episode, as well as in November. Originally, Cast was to return for just one episode, but the show kept adding her. She also shared some special scenes with her onscreen son, Chance. And since Danny is sticking around in town, who knows what’s going to happen between him and Nina.
Brad Sanders
Joining 2023’s list of returnees is Brad Sanders. You know, the funny guy from the radio soap “It’s Your World” and the CBS hit “Bold & Beautiful,” where he’s bagged a couple of Daytime Emmy nominations for his writing and performing skills.
If you’re a die-hard fan, you might remember him as the minister who hitched Donna Logan and Justin Barber back in 2012 on “Bold & Beautiful.” That’s not all. You can also catch him in the upcoming musical flick, “The Color Purple.”
That’s all for the shocking returns of The Young and the Restless this year. Out of all these, which was your favorite comeback of the year 2023 and who would you want to see next year? Let us know in the comments below.