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Burgess Jenkins On Being The New Billy Abbott: "So Excited To Be Joining The Y&R Family!"

Courtesy/IMDB

Courtesy/IMDB

After the news broke this morning that David Tom has been replaced by former Army Wives star Burgess Jenkins in the role of Billy Abbott, Burgess took it upon himself to officially confirm that he is indeed now a cast member of The Young and the Restless!

Burgess tweeted on his official Twitter account, “So excited to be joining the Y&R family! Thanks so much for the outpouring of warm welcome from all the fans”

Still no word on when exactly Jenkins will first be seen on-air in the role or the last airdate of David Tom, but On-Air On-Soaps will keep you posted.

So, what do you think of Burgess coming forward with a public acknowledgment of his casting in the role of Billy Abbott? Are you excited to see what he brings to the role?  Let us know!

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I’m going to give Burgess Jenkins a fair chance before judging him.Plus i have no issue with him announcing that he has joined Y&R for his fans who may not watch the show.

What is with this Chelsea women telling Billy about this baby! Im on Victoria’s side . Really now , Victoria omg needs them all to leave her alone. She was violated by Stitch and going thru a divorce. Her mom does not even know about this baby whom she may lose and the last thing a high risk pregnancy needs is some loony Chelsea threatening her who didn’t even want her own son and lied about the other son to two men

I do think Chelsea should let Victoria decide when to tell Billy but he does have a right to know it could be his.Plus it could be better if he hears it from Victoria first and not from someone else.Back to Chelsea she found out Victoria was pregnant by accident.She didn’t go snooping unlike Stitch.Plus Chelsea might be wishing that she didn’t know Victoria was pregnant.

I can’t stand Chelsea either zzzzz boring and she had no chemistry with Adam like Sharon did. Sharon and Adam were the rock stars of the show 😀

Chelsea has no right telling on Victoria

Well I hate this Billy ( Burgess Jenkins ) he sucks. Even the last Billy was better then him. Sorry Jenkins you’re not a good Billy actor.

Just a thought here I think he came into read for Adam Newman I do think they reached out to Billy Miller to come back and he said no thanks so they plugged him in as Billy.

i agree. BM decided to go for a reason. he just probaby wants to do aother stuff besides Y&R

That sounds plausible– I also wonder perhaps David Tom was always seen as a stop gap measure to give the casting people time to find the right guy to cast as Billy and when they did they showed Mr. Tom the door.

Adam was so hot with Sharon. never liked Chelsea

I’m not really surprised that someone was hired to replace David Tom as Billy Abbott. While Tom was amazing as a teenaged Billy Abbott, he just didn’t have the “oomph” and sweet, biting wit that a more mature Billy Miller brought to the character. It was like watching Billy Abbott go backward to his teen years on the show. I kept wondering when JT, Raul, Brittany and Mac were going to pop up!

Jenkins, while I know nothing of his work, at least LOOKS more mature than Tom, so that’s one strike in his favor, so far, for me. I wish him the best, though. Fans’ memories are very long … it will take an amazing actor to knock the memory of Billy Miller out of their heads!

As for Miller allegedly being approached, I’m sure the show refused him “outs” again, which was the ONLY stopping point during his contract negotiations last October. If you don’t give your best actors what they want, then you’ll constantly end up with upset fans and multiple recasts. Y&R, why not LEARN from your massive mistakes here and do right by Miller, Muhney, Stafford, etc. AND the fans? Then everyone should be happy (or at least happier)…
wolfy

I agree with every word of this, if they really wanted Billy Miller back, which is what fans are clamoring for, they should have offered him what he wants.

The reason all this turmoil in the last few months has happened is because JFP does not know how to manage a soap opera properly, her tenure of GH speaks volumes, and she didn’t get her reputation for no reason! It’s really shown on Y&R; she began destroying the show since day one.

This time around, DT didn’t have what it took to shine in the role. I also think fans (including myself) didn’t give him the chance he deserved because the wound left by BM’s exit was still so fresh. I’m definitely willing to give Burgess Jenkins a chance, hopefully he’ll have that charm and wit the role has been lacking since DT took over.

I can’t stand Phyllis or Chelsea and I loved Billy Miller and as for MM Adam I think they ruined his character with no chemistry with Chelsea

Why bother approaching Miller again if you’re not giving him what he wants. From all accounts he is doing other projects and having a good time so I can see why he doesn’t want to go back. They couldn’t woo MS back, BM neither. JFP’s powers of persuasion are waning. It’s a bit jarring to go from teen looking Billy to now this 40 yr old face. It’ll take some getting use to.

we never saw him on the show b4…got to give the kid a chance. DT had his chance and the audience didnt respond well. so be it. I still wish DT good luck in other projects

Anyone would be better then David Tom. Why couldn’t he just be himself acting instead of trying to be Billy Miller? There will never be another Billy Miller and he is missed. Good luck Burgess. Just play the role of Billy and you should be fine

Kim, I didn’t see David Tom trying to act like Billy Miller at all. What I saw was an actor trying to come back to his old role after massive tragedies inflicted themselves upon the character of Billy Abbott, thusforth changing his character makeup forever. If you can clearly think back, even Billy Miller wasn’t acting like Billy Miller the last four weeks before his departure.
I feel like David Tom pulled off an amazing feat and his isn’t getting the credit he is due.

Thrilled that David Tom is gone. He was terrible as Billy Abbott. The final straw for me was the scene in the gym with Stitch and Victor. He came off as a wimpy little boy amongst men. Not right for the role at all – glad the producers realized it and are moving on.

Well, Tornonto Tom, that is where we most dramatically part ways because that was the very scene in which David Tom as Billy Abbott clicked for me. He was on his way.

David Tom was put in a really terrible position. Billy Miller has that natural bubbly personality which just fills the room when he enters it. I know people like that in real life, and always envied them for it. Try as I might, I cannot replicate that unique effervescence –I would just end up making a damn fool of myself. On top of following Billy Miller, David Tom had to come in on the heels of Delia’s death and upon Victoria discovering his one night stand with Kelly. Billy Abbot was in a state of abject grief–he was downtrodden with his spirit broken–that is the role David Tom had to step into and taking that baton from Miller could not have been easy. I thought Tom utilized Herculean efforts in tackling this very daunting role. I feel bad he was not only not rewarded for these efforts but that he was treated so badly by the fans and his employers.
I wish the new actor all the best and hope he is afforded a better chance than David Tom received.

heartfelt reasoning and rationale : your post

it simply is

I feel badly for David Tom : as you eloquently state… matter of factly… a Herculean effort on HIS part. can’t fault him in the least

my first notion… how affected I am by the fault line… Y&R has become…
abysmal – no affect – not even near the quality it once was….

I am not even apologetic about repeating… how badly the production lost focus… and the audience reels….

to have squandered an epic

fan interjection on line… is fare game… fare warning… OURS

this forum at least : doesn’t lessen my journey with… it’s mine

of the 4 soaps airing… currently

Y&R has gone through TOO much change
GH has been doing the same… yet.. it’s path… is potholed… story arched… bait and hook/switch… which is what I now think… Y&R should have taken… at least it’s more tolerable at GH

DAYS with the loss of : Alison Sweeney, James Scott, Chandler Massey, and Blake Berris… is along the sames lines an epic pothole.. in the same vein as Jeanne Cooper, Michael Muhney, Billy Miller, and Michelle Stafford… add in Elizabeth Hendrickson… and it’s all mind boggling…

does the exit of David Tom… make us.. the audience… really… really… think… that a network… and executive producer… head writing team… really acknowledge the audience outcry?

I don’t know… the hierarchy… certainly seems… would be the best place to start… why have we never seen or read an interview with JFP

this is tantamount to not caring….

my share

fan salute and press

wish another plane flew over… to give fan more resonate

Great post, Patrick. One more thing–when viewers see that TPTB have no faith in their casting decisions, it makes viewers lose faith in the them.

P.S.

last we read… Y&R was renewed for another 3 years …. hip hip hooray

once you’ve been hooked.. on a show… for 20+ years

I salute our attention span

Yes CBS renewed Y&R for 3 more years but i’m also sure they won’t stand back and do nothing if the ratings keep going down.They may demand Sony steps in to fix Y&R before it’s too late.

Like andrew hass says. the ratings have been going down for weeks. may sweeps or lack thereof drove the viewers away. summer is coming and its usually a time for low viewership as well. I cringe to think about how much lower the ratings will sink before they make their move.

Way I see it;
it does not matter how good an actor is, it is all about if can they be seen as being the character,,

IF– Victor or Nikki had to be replaced, it could not be done ..
They, the actors personalities, gestures, facial expression, sound of voice are the characters..

Billy Miller was very unique, had a very distinct charisma, defining persona of Billy Abbott, he made the Billy character his own, he owned it, a trade mark so to say….
So, another actor may be very handsome and a great actor that does mean he will be a great Billy Abbott..
David Tom is a great actor but not a Billy Abbott..

It will be interesting to see how Burgess Jenkins does as being Billy ..
I wish him the best ..

No I am not excited. I still wantBilly Miller back. This the reason for the recast!!! they should have worked with his schedule like they are with Steve Burton!!1 This new recast will BOMB too! I was just getting used to Tom, but didnt think he was a good cast for Billy!! Steve Burton would have been a better Billy. They should havemade Phyllis die. At leasre Michelle Stafford isn’t coming back. They are killing the show. Also don’t like neil either. Time to dump him. Everything with him revolves around sex. Disgusting. No good stories for him. Over him too. Show is boring except for Victori and Stitch. let;s see?

And the backstage drama continues at Y&R

Nothing against David Tom or Burgess Jenkins, but it was a mistake to immediately recast the role of Billy Abbott when Billy Miller left. When David Tom left the show in 2002, it took two unsuccessful Billy recasts over six years before the role was triumphantly recast in 2008 with Miller, who then took the character in a completely different direction. Since viewers are evidently still mourning the loss of Miller and with David Tom’s return not working out, why do Y&R execs believe the audience will accept ANY actor as Billy Abbott at this point in time, especially since Y&R fans seem to want Victoria with Stitch now (according to a recent SOD poll)? Until more time has passed, Billy should be written off the show and recast later.

I agree.The show could have both Billy and Adam go missing after the car crash.They could have had Billy suffer from amnesia and have him wander off after getting out of the car.In the meantime with Billy offscreen Victoria still could have found out he cheated on her with Kelly.Then after a few months the show could recast Billy and have return in May Sweeps or in the Summer.However by then Victoria may have gotten together with Stitch because she may have thought Billy ran off again for some reason after the crash.Then the show could have done a story about where Billy was for those missing months when he had amnesia.

I wish they would get rid of JFP before she completely destroys Y&R. In the past six months we have lost Jeanne Cooper (no ones fault) 2 Kyles, Finn has been sent to school somewhere, Michelle Stafford, Billy Miller, Elizabeth Hendrickson, Michael Muhney, now David Tom, and that detective who worked with Paul. Ignacio something. Replacing Faith with the original Faith who I thought was best anyway. How many more hits can this soap take?

Whoever the casting director is needs to be fired.

There was nothing wrong with David Tom. His character was always suppose to be cocky. I don’t know why viewers expect him to be more mature simply because Billy Miller took over the role. Miller was (at times) a little cocky as well.

I think all this backlash against David is really because of the number of actors leaving (or fired from) the show. This really doesn’t have anything to do with David.

As for Burgess, he looks way too much like Chris Engen. Y&R keeps miscasting people and I’m ready to take a break from the show…again!

this is too funny….instead of writing for david tom they pushed same old billy miller story line down his throat and then fire his sorry ass for not being popular with the few remaining audience,
tom is a good actor with a folllowing ,he has now been added to the butcher shop as micheal muhney billy miller and so many others,,,honestly you need a life if you are still watching this crap.

Good luck to him.

I have been a fan of Y&R since the beginning. I enjoyed David Tom as the first Billy Abbot. Billy Miller made the role as the adult Billy. Firing Michael as Adam was a huge mistake. The boss at Y&R needs to know what the fans like. She needs to be more flexible with actors who want free time to explore other options.
Thank Goodness they didn’t try to replace Jeanne Cooper.Wonder if the sexual arrasement suit was for real or a publicity stunt?

I think they are pretty flexible actually.
Michelle Stafford used to take time off for
TV movies, etc, as did Billy Miller. The woman
who plays Gloria is often busy ( with Broadway
shows i think I heard) and isnt on the soap
as often as I would like! They worked with
Jess Walton when she wanted about 9 months
off to move to Oregon and help take care of
her new grandchild, and little girls who have played
Faith are given lots of time off for movies. Right now
I think the current Faith has been working on a movie,
hence her seemingly endless sleepover somewhere lately, lol.
And Fenn…he is on Under the Dome, too. The soap also
used to give lots of time off to the guy who played Daniel.
Anyway, I think this soap is very flexible.

Well to be fair many of your examples you mentioned like Phyllis, Billy and Daniel were done when there was a different producer at the helm– And the other examples such as Jess, Gloria, Fenn and Faith are recurring characters and are not under contract so they are free to take other projects and since none of them are presently involved in any big story there is no conflict. I suspect if any of those characters were in a front burner story JFP would not be so flexible.

But you’re right before this producer came on board Y&R was one of the most stable and actor friendly sets in the business. While other soaps suffered endlessly cast changes Y&R kept their talent for years. So when we now see so many people leaving on their own or by firing, one thing is clear, behind the scenes isn’t what it was.

I’m sure Y&R gives actors time off to do other stuff but there’s only so much time off they can give an actor too.Plus maybe they thought since they gave Billy Miller so much time off in the past that he would give them something in return.So maybe they thought they were giving him everything he wanted in negotiations but not getting anything back in return.So maybe the show wanted him to sign a long term deal and not just a one year deal or whatever again.As Michael Muhney the show letting him go had nothing to do with him wanting time off.

Hope he does well. It’s not his fault Y&R decided David wasn’t working.

When I first saw a pic of him, he reminded me of the actor who plays Stitch. Coincidence?

What a mess… Casting ppl at y&r, plz get it together- FAST.

Right now, I’m mad as hell that DT was fired so I have no comment about Burgess other than to say I enjoyed his work on Army Wives…A show I miss like crazy. Y&R execs need to get it together, because I for one, and sick of their revolving door.

Just when I was starting to acceptt the fact of David Tom… Is this because he’ll look better paired with victoria or chelsea?? Who knows. What are they doing to the storyline for billy anyway…

David Tom never reconnected with the fans. Maybe the role shouldnt have been recast so quick. It seems like JFPs tried to get Miller back but he wasnt having anything to do with it as she was EP…If they just got rid of Phelps..and refueled some good storylines..this show would return to what it was. JMO..

I love the new Billy Abbott … you could not have found a better character and a great person.

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Photo: JPI

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Photo: ABC

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Photo: SPeaceIG

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Courtesy/ABC

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