The Young and the Restless
Y&R’s Billy Flynn Shares That Years Ago, He “Talked to The Show About Playing Chance, But It Just Didn’t Work Out”
In the flip-flop casting world of soap operas, being a recast has become commonplace, when for one reason or another, an actor exits the show they have been on for a long time, or a short time.
In the case of Y&R’s Billy Flynn and Conner Floyd, their paths are criss-crossing like never before. Recently, Billy debuted on The Young and the Restless as Aristotle Dumas who turned out to really be a recast Cane Ashby. While Flynn can be seen on all-new episodes of the top-rated soap opera, he can also be seen on Peacock streaming on all-new episodes of Days of our Lives as Chad DiMera, because what is airing now was taped over nine months ago, due to DAYS lengthy tape to stream calendar.
Meanwhile, the current Chance Chancellor on Y&R, Conner Floyd, was tapped to be Billy’s replacement on Days of our Lives and has already begun taping episodes in Salem. Conner will not be seen as the recast Chad till sometime in 2026.

Photo: JPI
Now in an interview with Woman’s World, Billy Flynn revealed at one point he spoke to The Young and the Restless about taking on the role of Chance, since Flynn admitted coming over to join the cast of Y&R has been something on his wish list for quite some time.
Billy shared “I’d wanted to work at Y&R for a long time. I mean, at every Emmys, I talked to Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott) about going over and years ago, I talked to the show about playing Chance, but it just didn’t work out. The fact that this role came when it did, it felt serendipitous. It felt like the right time, the right part. I was excited.”

Photo: JPI
As for Conner Floyd being the nuChad, the complimentary Flynn added, “Some people are sad that I’ve left, but I think Connor taking over excites everybody.”
In addition, Billy will continue to make this reboot of the character of Cane Ashby (previously played by GH’s Daniel Goddard) his own, he explained, “I think it’s important for a leading man character to not take himself so seriously. I know that’s not how Cane’s started out and it’s going to be a very slow reveal, but a role only gets better the more time you have with it. It took a year before I felt like I was getting a handle on Chad, and I’ve felt like I’m starting to get a little handle on Cane sooner than that. I’ll probably feel a little unsettled for quite some time, but it’s been a blessing.”
What would you have thought of Billy Flynn as Chance Chancellor prior to Conner Floyd on Y&R? Are you liking Billy’s portrayal of nuCane thus far? Excited to see Conner as DAYS Chad? Comment below. But first, in case you missed it, check out our livestream chat with Billy from last month via the Michael Fairman Channel.
It’s unlikely that Billy Flynn left for a short term role on Y&R but the return on Cane is feeling short term much like the return of Ian or Jordan’s storyline.
There’s too much going on to be sustained for too long. The anticlimactic reveal of Cane as Dumas. The murder of Damian. Sharon and Nick being held, etc. It just feels like it’s going to burn itself out.
Billy Flynn as Cane just isn’t connecting with me. If they didn’t try to get Daniel Goddard back, Flynn should have been brought on as a new character.
The death of Damian feels like something that would happen when new writers come on board. Yet it’s the same writer so Damian s death feels schizophrenic. Amy will now have to ride off into the sunset. I suppose when everyone escapes the maze, it could be revealed Amy’s condition got much worse and she died.
There’s so much potential on Y&R but it’s just not being fulfilled because of terrible writing.
nuCane is so different from oldCane. Billy’s performance is a little wooden. I haven’t warmed up to him or Cane.
It’s probably for the best that he didn’t get the role of Chance. The show has never seemed to know what to do with Chance long-term. But I also think Billy was miscast as Cane. Knowing that Daniel Goddard was available since he’s on GH right now, it makes no sense why they wouldn’t bring him back as opposed to recasting the role, with a non-Aussie actor, no less. It’s like Jack Brennan 2.0, which has also been a bust. I think Billy would have been much better as a character like Lucky on GH.
Well Billy be glad you didn’t play Chance They are still trying to figure out how to write for him! Speaking of Billy feeling wooden as Cane , blame it on the writers ! This convoluted story is a mess and feels like it’s being written day to day . On what universe would Nick have for killing Damian ! Does he even know him and Victor the bully not reacting to being held on an island with no contact with the rest of his family! We do get Adam running behind a curtain once a week to clue every one in on Genoa City What a joke
Not going to lie, I do think he would fit the role of Chance better than he does Cane. But, I’m happy he got his wish of joining the cast!
I just sat thru a video on you tube of coming attractions on Guiding Light from the 1980’s. There was so much action and suspense in that 15 minute video!!! Turn to Y&R now, and it’s dull and listless. And yes, it seems like it’s written off the cuff on a daily basis. Flynn shows no energy…the only one holding their own thru all of this nonsense is Michelle Stafford…she’s able to turn the schlock she’s handed into something interesting. The rest of the show requires a laugh track. Such a pity.
General Hospital
GH Alum Tajh Bellow and Y&R Alum Loren Lott Star in New Tiktok and Microdrama ‘Love Island’ Spoof

Two soap opera alums very familiar to fans of General Hospital and The Young and the Restless are paired together in a new short-form digital series from none other than Issa Rae’s production entity HOORAE Digital.
Look for Tajh Bellow (ex-TJ Ashford, GH)) and Loren Lott (ex-Ana Hamilton, Y&R) as part of the cast of The Compatibility Experiment, premiering on October 14, 2026, exclusively on TikTok and its companion microdrama platform, PineDrama.
In the video teaser, it appears that Bellow and Lott play a couple, Kelvin and Camila, set in a Love Island reality show-esque environment trying to win the one million dollar cash prize, only what could go wrong?

Photo: HOORAE
The Compatibility Experiment loglines share that it brings a fast-paced, relationship-focused reality check—much like Love Island with a twist. The show takes a participant’s current relationship, introduces them to a potentially more compatible partner, and forces them to navigate the differences with life-changing money on the line.
The new series is part of a groundbreaking content deal between HOORAE Digital and TikTok to develop premium short-form storytelling. The ensemble cast also features; Ayona, Reggie Luck, JaNa Craig, Tosin Morohunfola, Jessica Jacoby, Georgia Warner, and Nick Cassidy.
General Hospital fans know Tajh Bellow for his performances as TJ Ashford, and who earned two Daytime Emmy nominations along the way during his run. Bellow took over the role in 2018 and last appeared on the ABC daytime drama series in December of 2024.
Loren Lott first appeared as Devon’s (Bryton James) sister Ana Hamilton on The Young and the Restless from 2018 to 2019; making a brief return in 2024. She has continued to perform on the stage and screen with recent credits including: Bel-Air, Cherish the Day, and All American: Homecoming.
Check out the trailer for The Compatibility Experiment below and let us know what you think of its concept and if you are glad to see Tajh and Loren again? Hoping they might return to daytime in their GH and Y&R roles at some point in the future? Weigh-in via the comment section.
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News
Y&R Alum Thad Luckinbill Cast in New Thriller ‘Copperhead’

Fans of The Young and the Restless have always loved Thad Luckinbill in his role as J.T. Hellstrom. Thad begun playing the part in 1999 and has returned to the CBS daytime drama series for multiple runs over the last few decades and a one-off appearance in 2023.
Since being away from the soap, Luckinbill has been extremely busy as a producer for his production company Black Label Media, and acting in other projects, as well.
Now comes word that Thad will be part of the featured cast of the new motion picture thriller Copperhead which is also under his Black Label Media Banner.
Log lines for the film share via Deadline, “Copperhead is catapulted forward when an undercover drug deal explodes into violence; a veteran detective is forced to team with a young federal agent to unravel the conspiracy within their elite task force.”

Photo: Paramount+
COPPERHEAD CAST
Taking to his Instagram, on his casting, Thad shared, “Very excited for this one! Incredible cast and crew!” Production on the film started back on September 14 in Oklahoma City. It’s been kept under wraps thus far, as to just who Luckinbill plays in the thriller.
The cast includes: Miles Teller, Leila George, Jason Momoa, Tenoch Huerta, Adria Arjona and Kiefer Sutherland. The latest additions to the ensemble cast along with Luckinbill are,Shea Whigham, Jamie Chung , Bobby Soto, Alejandro Speitzer, and Michael Raymond-James.
THAD ALSO APPEARS IN LIONESS
Luckinbill can currently be seen in the third season role of the Paramount+ thriller, Lioness, where he portrays CIA paramilitary/operations officer Kyle McManus, working closely with Joe McNamara (Zoe Saldaña) and the rest of the team. It’s a part he has played since 2023. The series from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, revolves around the leader of a CIA team who enlists female operatives known as Lionesses to go undercover to fight the war on terror.

Photo: JPI
SHARES TWO CHILDREN WITH AMELIA HEINLE
In real-life Thad shares two children with Y&R’s Amelia Heinle (Victoria Newman): Thaddeus Rowe Luckinbill Jr. (born November 2, 2007): 18 years old and
Georgia March Luckinbill (born December 17, 2009): 16 years old.
So, excited to see Thad in his upcoming role in Copperhead? Do you hope he makes a return or limited run someday as J.T. Hellstrom on The Young and the Restless? Let us know via the comment section below.
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Beyond the Gates
RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ for the #3 Spot in Total Viewers

The ratings are out for the week of September 7-11, 2026 and while all of the long-running daytime dramas were down in total viewers week-over-week, it was the newest soap opera on the block, Beyond the Gates, that showed gains and much promise. Let’s take a look.
According to Soap Opera Network, not only did Beyond the Gates add +12,000 tuning-in for the week, it is narrowing the gap between itself and current #3 soap, General Hospital in total viewers, and tied with the venerable ABC series for actual household ratings share.
Beyond the Gates averaged 1,689,000 for its audience for the week while General Hospital had 1,769,000, that’s just an 80,000 difference that separates the two shows. While Beyond the Gates had a year-over-year increase for the ratings week, GH showed the biggest loss of all the soaps year-over-year with -231,000 and the biggest loss in viewers week-over-week with -142,000.

Photo: CBS
BEYOND THE GATES
In addition, Beyond the Gates once again bested GH in the key 18-49 women’s rating share and also for the week, the women’s 25-54 ratings share, now putting them firmly in the third place. It should be noted that both Beyond the Gates and General Hospital aired an encore presentation on Labor Day, September 7.
Here’s what had viewers tuning-in on Beyond the Gates: Hayley (Marquita Goings) faced mounting pressure as Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett) grew suspicious of her lies and a major secret came to light. Andre Richardson (Sean Freeman) went through a paranoid spiral noticed by Dani (Karla Mosley), while Heather Armstrong’s (Ashley Jones) behavior became increasingly unhinged, Deanna (Angela Fairley) reached a breaking point under mounting pressure and decided to return to school and Smitty (Mike Manning) was digging deeper into the death of Lia Whitmore.

Courtesy/ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL
On General Hospital, the week in story was highlighted by: Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) admitting she was the other driver in Jordan Ashford’s (Tanisha Harper) accident, leaving Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) furious and demanding answers and ultimately Chase (Josh Swickard) walking out on Brook Lynn!
In addition, viewers witnessed, Anna (Finola Hughes) nearly killing Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud), but instead firing a shot at a hallucination of Peter August (Wes Ramsey) as Jason (Steve Burton) tried to talk Anna down. Meanwhile, Drew (Cameron Mathison) and Ava (Maura West) dealt with the fallout and complications surrounding the disappearance of Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna).

Courtesy/CBS
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
Over at B&B, the soap remained in second place behind sister soap, The Young and the Restless for the top spot in total viewers; although it should be noted they continued to close the gap for the race to #1. For the ratings period, The Bold and the Beautiful average 2,695,000 tuning-in, but was down week-over-week -83,000, but with the biggest soap gains year-over-year at this time with +228,000.
In other good news for the show, it came in at #1 for the key women’s 18-49 rating share defeating Y&R, and came in #2 for the women’s 25-54 rating share behind Y&R.
In story for the ratings week: Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) goes into panic-mode after a positive pregnancy and breaks the news to Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor). Katie (Heather Tom) tries to meddle in Will’s (Crew Morrow) love life with Dylan (Sydney Bullock), thus having Katie visit Electra (Laneya Grace) and telling the young woman to try to win Will back. Finn (Tanner Novlan) tries to give surrogacy advice to Carter and Daphne (Murielle Hilaire) unaware of his wife Steffy’s drunken night with Carter, and the true cause-effect of that moment.

Photo: JPI
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
Once again, Y&R remained as the number one most-viewed broadcast television daytime drama of then all, clocking in with 3,059,000 tuning-in, but down -130,000 week-over-week, but still up + 159,000 year-over-year. Y&R also remained in the top spot for household ratings share and atop the key women’s 25-54 rating share.
In story for the week: Patty Williams (Stacy Haiduk) escaped custody and tracked down Matt Clark (Roger Howarth). Meanwhile, Kyle (Michael Mealor) and Victoria (Amelia Heinle) continue their affair and are almost caught by Phyllis (Michelle Stafford). Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) and Marie (Jade Harlow) shared a heartfelt goodbye before she leaves town to continue her recovery. Jack (Peter Bergman) sets a trap for Patty as he collapses at Society.
Of note: Nielsen ratings are based on the Live+Same Day Big Data+Panel model.
So, what do you think about the latest ratings picture and how Beyond the Gates is gaining on General Hospital in total viewers while already besting them in both key demos? Which soap opera is piquing your interest the most? Which is not doing it for you? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
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