The Young and the Restless fan favorite, Christel Khalil (Lily Winters) is the special guest on this week’s edition of Soapy Hosted by Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart which dropped today on Tuesday, June 23rd.

During the interview with Rebecca and Greg, Khalil who had played Lily Winters on-screen since August of 2002, nearly 24 years with the CBS soap, shared how early on her teenage acting career, she was ready to call it quits in show business, after a heartbreaking audition for the lead of a new Disney Channel sitcom, which later turned out to be the hit seres, That’s So Raven, starring Raven-Symoné which ran for four seasons from 2003-2007.

Christel recalled what happened. “I was 14 and I had always auditioned for all these Disney projects. So I auditioned for That’s So Raven, it was between me and Raven-Symoné and it was called at the time Absolutely Psychic,” explained Khalil. “The character was this girl who had psychic ability, but then when Raven got the role, they named the title of the show after her.”

Photo: CBS

HOW A BROTHERLY TALK CHANGED THE COURSE OF CHRISTEL’S CAREER

Reliving the disappointment to Greg and Rebecca, Christel explained, “I lost that part and I was just so devastated, because for the network call there were 20 people in the room watching me, and I just have always had such performance anxiety. I just completely bombed the audition and it was terrible. So, I was just devastated. I was actually going to quit acting and then I got the final call for The Young and The Restless and I wasn’t going to go.”

It was Khalil’s brother, who actually got her to reconsider, and if he hadn’t, we would not have our Lily Winters in Genoa City! Christel recounted, “I was like, ‘You know what? I’m done. I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m just going to hang out with my friends.’ I was just devastated. My brother, who is seven years older than me, and he had quit acting at the same age that I was at that time. He said to me, ‘I promise you, I actually really regret quitting. Just go on this audition and if you don’t get it, you can quit.'”

Christel’s screen-test for the role of Lily was actually with the late, great, Kristoff St. John who would play her father Neil (Later it was revealed to Lily, that Neil’s brother, Malcolm Winters was her bio-dad).

Photo: CBS

ACTING WAS EASY WITH THE LATE KRISTOFF ST. JOHN

“So, I went (to test for Lily) and I remember the screen-test was with Kristoff St. John. It was just so easy to act with him because he’s just so there. I remember just being on set, and that was my first time there for a screen-test where you were actually on set. I had never experienced that before. It was my first time being with an actor and  having makeup done, which just helps you really be able to do your best work.”

Recalling the screen-test with the St. John, Khalil, “It was where I had to be emotional ( in the scene) and I always had issues being emotional at auditions. But I was there with him, it just came, and it happened. It was natural and I felt so good and it was amazing. It stands out in my mind a lot.”

You can check out the full Soapy conversation with Christel Khalil where she also discusses juggling motherhood, marital life, and the demands of soap operas.

Fan can listen to weekly episodes of Soapy on Audacy or wherever podcasts are available, and can watch full video episodes weekly on the CBS =Brand YouTube Channel. Whether a lifelong fan or discovering the genre for the first time, SOAPY offers a fresh, fun behind-the-scenes look at the stories – and storytellers – that define daytime drama.

Now let us know, over the years what had been your favorite Lily Winters story on Y&R as played by Christel Khalil? What did you think of of Christell’s recollection where she was up for the lead of “That’s So Raven” as a teenager, before it was even titled that? Let us know via the comment section.

The Young and the Restless seems to be toying with a potential romance between amnesiac Matt Clark (Roger Howarth) and Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford).  Now, on all-new episodes of the top-rated soap opera, the official Y&R Preview for the week of June 22-26, shows a moment where Matt attempts to ask Phyllis out on a date!

The two are sitting at the GCAC having drinks. Suddenly, Matt says. “Once upon a time, there was a man who had no memory. And he met a woman. And then he asks her out on a date.” Phyllis looks at first confused, but then inquisitive? Would Phyllis even dare go out with Matt given what he has done to the former love of her life and father to her daughter, Summer, the one and only Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow)?

If Y&R head writer, Josh Griffith does plan to go there, does Phyllis somehow fall in love with this guy, because she did see him come to the rescue of Nick when he OD’d? But, would Phyllis date Sharon’s (Sharon Case) rapist?

Photo: ABC

GENERAL HOSPITAL’S FRANCO AND NINA

This isn’t the first time that Daytime Emmy winners, Roger Howarth and Michelle Stafford have appeared on a soap as a romantic pairing? Look no further than then January of 2016  when both appeared on ABC’s General Hospital, when after months of dancing around their sexual tension, Franco Baldwin and Nina Reeves had sex.  The two characters had quite the unstable past which drew them together.

After the sex scene aired on GH, and the series moved the relationship between the duo (known on social media as #nico) forward, Michelle Stafford spoke to Michael Fairman TV where she shared on working with Howarth.

At that time, Stafford expressed, “What woman doesn’t want to see Roger Howarth on-screen?  He’s super sexy, and that is just that! (Laughs) With Roger, I am going to get a really great actor to work with, who likes to play, and really can act. I appreciate that about him. I am just really interested to see what the writers are ultimately going to do with these two characters.”

When addressing, why it took so long for Franco and Nina to hit the sheets, Stafford acknowledged, “You have to address it, because the audience is going to go, ‘Why are these two hot characters not ‘doing’ it’ These are two adults. It doesn’t make sense.  They are so in love, and they are not consummating anything.  So, when they made Nina so insecure about it, and being able to communicate to Franco how she felt, I thought, ‘OK, this works.’  She was scared, and that’s true. We are all scared when we sleep with someone we love for the first time.  There is not one person who does not feel that way.  I loved that about her.  The woman in the audience really responded to that. They loved that there was a character who was afraid to hop in bed.  It was refreshing to them, and that was the consensus.”

Y&R’s MATT AND PHYLLIS STAND A GHOST OF A CHANCE AT ROMANCE?

Take a look at the Y&R video preview for next week below.

Then weigh-in; do you want Matt and Phyllis to date and begin some semblance of a romantic relationship? Did you enjoy Roger Howarth and Michelle Stafford when they were paired as Franco and Nina on General Hospital? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

The tornado that ripped through Fairmont Crest and put the lives of the characters of Beyond the Gates and several from The Young and the Restless in jeopardy had viewers tuning-in for the week of June 8-12.

The highly-publicized crossover event kicked off on the Tuesday, June 9 episode of Beyond the Gates where six residents of Genoa City came to to visit the D.C./Maryland country club for a fundraiser for Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon), only no one expected a twister to tear into the proceedings, leading to several storylines intersecting as people were trapped with one another with Eva Thomas (Ambyr Michelle) being the most severely injured and now requiring a liver transplant to survive.

According to the ratings report from CBS and Nielsen ratings and as supplied to Variety, Beyond the Gates brought in on average 1.8 million viewers throughout the wee. That is up 11% from its season-to-date numbers and it makes the crossover/tornado episodes its third most-watched week for the soap since Beyond the Gates premiered back on February 24, 2025.

Photo: CBS

A GENOA CITY TOUCHDOWN

With the strength of the story, its special effects and bringing over cast of the top-rated, The Young and the Restless which included: Eric Braeden (Victor Newman), Michael Mealor (Kyle Abbott), Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott), Susan Walters (Diane Jenkins), Melissa Ordway (Abby Newman) and Bryton James (Devon Hamilton), the Thursday, June 11 episode was the week’s most-watched.

According to the numbers, the Wednesday June 10 episode brought in the most total viewers for the week with 1.87 million (up 17% week-to-week), followed closely by the Friday, June 12 episodes which had 1.84 million watching.

Photo: JPI

Over on The Young and the Restless, the week of June 8-12, also saw an increase based on the early return that week of Shemar Moore as Malcolm Winters wrapping up his leg of the story where viewers learned he had a son Holden Novak (Nathan Owens) with Stephanie Simmons (Vivica A. Fox), and survived his bone marrow transplant surgery thanks to Cane Ashby (Billy Flynn).

Y&R scored 3.11 million viewers for the week up 2% from its season average with the June 8 and June 9 episodes featuring Moore averaging 3.2 million viewers and up 9% year-over-year.

So, did you enjoy the tornado episodes of Beyond the Gates and seeing the residents of Genoa City crossover to Fairmont Crest? Share your thoughts via the comment section on the latest ratings for the two CBS daytime soaps.