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The Young and the Restless Comings and Goings: Actress Off Contract, Villains Back

An actress is taken off contract and villains return on The Young and the Restless.

By Janet Di Lauro
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There are some surprise casting moves at The Young and the Restless. Find out if any newcomers or popular stars from yesteryear are set to appear this week or in the near future in contract, recurring, or day-player roles, and if any of your favorite actors or actresses are leaving the CBS soap. 

The Week of November 18, 2024

Just as her big onscreen wedding began airing, Melissa Ordway revealed some major news on Instagram. After 11 years on the soap, she’s been taken off contract as Abby Newman Winters. The actress quickly clarified that she’s still with the show “just in a different capacity,” adding that she hopes “Abby and Devon have an amazing love story with Dominic and more babies.” 

Meanwhile, two major villains have resurfaced on the Genoa City scene. Colleen Zenk has returned as the evil Jordan Howard, while Ray Wise has resurrected the dastardly Ian Ward. The two actors resurfaced on Thursday, November 14. Wise made his last appearance on the show in 2016. Zenk last aired as Jordan in June of 2024. The duo wreak more havoc on Tuesday, November 19.

In other casting news, Brytni Sarpy is back as Dr. Elena Dawson. She’ll be on hand in hospital scenes involving Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) this week.

Lily Brooks O’Briant also resurfaces as Lucy Romalotti. She shares scenes with Michael Graziadei’s Daniel, Allison Lanier’s Summer, Phyllis, and Elena on Thursday, November 21. 
Janet Di Lauro
3,601 articles

Janet Di Lauro is a contributing editor at Soap Opera Digest and a writer at Cynopsis.com and Soap Hub.com.
She has been writing about daytime and primetime television for over 30 years.
Prior to her current gigs, Janet ran ThoughtCo.com’s Days of our Lives website. She has built a career in daytime television coverage that has spanned over 30 years and includes a stint as the West Coast editor of Soap Opera Weekly magazine from the publication’s debut in 1989 through 2010. In addition, she was the features editor of Daytime TV magazine and editor of Soap Opera Stars magazine during her publishing years working in New York.
Based in California, Janet has interviewed daytime’s biggest stars, past and present, from Peter Reckell and Kristian Alfonso (Bo and Hope, Days of Our Lives”) to Susan Lucci (Erica Kane, All My Children) to Maurice Benard (Sonny, General Hospital) to Peter Bergman (Jack, The Young and the Restless). In addition to her daytime work, she served as a contributing editor on the tween publication Pixie and was a feature editor on Reality Check magazine.

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