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Greg Rikaart Confirms Departure From Y&R Via Heartfelt Post: "I Am Sad To Leave A Place I Hold So Dear But Also Really Excited About What The Future Holds"

By Michael Fairman

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Photo Credit: JPI Studios

After Thursday’s devastating news for longtime Y&R fans, Greg Rikaart took to his Instagram to confirm that the reports were indeed true, and he is leaving the place he has called his “home away from home” for the last 14 years.  Through his character Kevin Fisher’s transformation from the dark side to loving good guy with an edge, Rikaart made what ever material he was given soar.

In his heartfelt post, along with a collage of memorable Kevin Fisher moments, Rikaart wrote the following message: “Fourteen years ago, I booked a two-week long gig on The Young and the Restless. In my wildest dreams, I could never have imagined what it would turn into: a career-defining experience that has brought me so much happiness and fulfillment.

Playing Kevin and watching him evolve over the years has mirrored my real life in so many ways.  We both found love, both became dads and we both have more gray hair now than we did in 2003. I have such love and fondness for the cast and crew of Y&R that when I watch Kevin enjoying himself in scenes, it’s hard to know where he ends and Greg begins.

At the moment it is unclear what lies ahead for Kevin and I, as we will be saying goodbye to Genoa City for a while. I am sad to leave a place I hold so dear but also really excited about what the future holds.

I cannot overstate how much gratitude I have to all of you who have been such loud cheerleaders for me. You’ve all enriched my life. So stick around. The journey is just beginning. :)”

Share your thoughts on Greg’s message to his fans and colleagues in the comment section below, as we now have to prepare to say our farewells to Greg and Kevin in the months ahead

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I’m so sad to see Greg leave the role of Kevin. We basically watched Kevin grow up on the show. I wish him luck, and hopefully Kevin will be back in Genoa City in the future.

Y&R loses too many of their good veteran actors. They are making a mistake by letting him go. I wish him the very best, maybe a role on General Hospital? Best of all would be for Y&R to reconsider, and to keep him on.

Thank you, Dr. HELEN, I’d love to see Greg reunited on GH with Michelle Stafford and Billy Miller, both of whom were great scene partners for Greg. I loved when Billy used to squeeze Kevin’s cheek and call him “my little chipmunk”. Imagine the sour, humorless Jason Thompson doing that and you get a reality check on all the major talent this show has lost in the past 3 or 4 years. A sad announcement indeed!

You’re welcome. That is an excellent point about the humor that we’ve lost on Y&R.

Billy Miller, Michelle Stafford, Greg Rikaart, all added their upbeat personalities to the characters.

This is sad, he is very talented. Unfortunately his character has been poorly written over the last several years. I wish him Good Luck both personally and professionally.

What a shame, Greg is one of the better actors on Y&R. Writers making a huge mistake, will lose even more fans than they have lately with stupid story lines. Example Reed? Instead of Greg? Just trying to garner the younger viewers for the summer, then what when summer ends, BIG MISTAKE, HOPE TPTB READ THESE COMMENTS.

& Mariah. Perhaps he’ll take Mariah with him.
I understand your frustration with the Reed character. The onslaught of teenagers during the spring and summer months is unbearable. Today’s teenagers do not watch daytime television. Why do TPTB continue to write these boring, stupid, ridiculous teen driven storylines as “filler” that loyal viewers do not care about?

Yuppers, Teenagers do not watch TV, they are mobile.
And, the teenagers parents are of the internet not so much sitting in front of a TV during the daytime hours to get their at home children hooked on soaps. That era is long gone.

Reed is not like any teenager guy I ever knew. He is a mama’s boy and being portrayed as a Beaver Cleaver a PSA guy. YUCK .. LOL

Perhaps Kevin could take Mariah, Devon, Hilary, and Chelsea with him while he heads out of town? Please?

Kevin is a great character. A loss for Y&R, for sure.
I wonder where and when we will next see him .

I would not like to see Kevin recast, nope … that would be too weird and wouldn’t work out.

I think he is talented enough that he will land on his feet just fine and perhaps will benefit from being free to do other things– my only question is now that Dylan is gone and soon to be Kevin who is poor Paul going to talk to at the police station– Christine? — LOL

Okay seriously, Y&R missed the boat they could have made Kevin and Scott a couple raising Bella together– and I suspect that might have been the plan, but someone upstairs got nervous and when Greg was told the story was being nixed he decided to leave—

If it was a money issue– then they should have gotten rid of Cane– how this once heroic and interesting character turned into this whiny neurotic jerk is beyond me– but watching him on screen is like nails on a chalkboard— I know when they killed the character off years back there was a big push to get him back, but honestly, if fans knew what they would do to the character I think they would have let the character RIP

tptb decided not to renew greg’s contract – this was not his decision to leave y&r………..

I am not a fan of Cane either. I really liked Lily with Daniel.

Good luck. I’ll miss you. Y&R will definitely miss you.

Continued success to you and your family.

I totally agree dmr. Devon, Hillary, Mariah are boring as heck. Now that Chloe has admitted killing Adam I just don’t care for Chelsea with Nick. I was watching it for a couple of reasons 1-Billy/Phyllis/Jack/Victoria was my favorites 2- I was hoping Sharon would end up with Scott. I think it’s a shame for months every T.V. magazine would say “Is Adam alive” ” Adam to return” etc. all to keep the fans watching. They knew Justin Hartley had another show and would not be able to do both and they wouldn’t bring back Michael Muhney because of a few seniors that should be on call.

Friday show was a Friday AND its sweeps and the show was terrible! Mariah is great BUT with the wrong cast members. Devon is as exciting as a root canal! This guy Scott is horrible! Tess is a snore! I guess now Nikki is Shirley Partridge? DUMB! Reed sucks and Ravi looks out of place! Cane is a pain! Victoria is a sad sack. Never like Chelsea. What is there to like?

I am so saddened to hear greg/ kevin is leaving Y & R.. perhaps they will write him back in the near future…. I have enjoyed watching Kevin grow up.. Good Luck to you Greg With you Nothing but the best.. Canada

Love you as Kevin Fisher watched you grow as an actor and how your character changed I will miss you but wish you all the best . I am sure you will succeed in all you do .Hopefully I will see you again on screen. Best of Wishes Greg from one of your many fans Angela

Gone miss you please change your mind and stay..will not be the.same without you.no can replace you

Well, as usual am seven episodes at least behind. Wanted something special with Kevin and Mariah; even just the friendship maintaining. Sorry to see him leave but wish the best.

I was just beginning to move into the new flow of Y & R. Depending upon how one looks at things, it was better than wanting to throw my pillow at the set for the past year. No couples seem to click. One couple always needs to hold the show. I don’t seem to mind letting so many days go by without watching. Wish the news were something I wanted to run to the set and view.

Things feel disjointed.

Big mistake letting him go. For what? The repulsive Billy, the irritating Hilary story, the sparkless Nick & Chelsea non-romance, the charmless Ravi? I barely recognize a show I’ve watched since 1974 and it’s becoming heartbreaking. Greg is talented beyond the norm, incredibly sexy, smart, and never “phones in” a performance. For more of Reed and that asinine guitar I suppose. Shame on you!

Well said, Soaphound!

Well if they didn’t want to renew his contract I don’t believe they deserve him! If true another stupid move on their part. Oh.. well maybe they should just get rid of all Emmy worthy actors!!

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‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Kimberlin Brown Previews What’s Ahead for Sheila Carter

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Last week. the stars of The Bold and the Beautiful were in Monte-Carlo at their 65th annual TV Festival. With a full plate of: meeting the fans, attending the parties, talking with the press, and then shooting some remote scenes to air late this summer on the CBS soap, the cast had their dance cards full.

Kimberlin Brown (Sheila) sat down with the The Upcoming to give some insight into the life and times of Sheila Carter; acting on a soap for more than three decades, and a tease of what’s to come in the next few months for her character.

Brown previewed: “My producer last night shared some tidbits with me and there’s some really good stuff coming up for Sheila. It’s going to involve a little drama, a little bit of romance, and a lot of comedy.”

Photo: JPI

As B&B viewers know, Sheila wants Deacon (Sean Kanan) and Taylor (Rebecca Budig) to guarantee that she can be part of her son, Finn (Tanner Novlan) and her grandchild’s life in return for signing the divorce papers. Ultimately, will Sheila ever truly sign them? Stay tuned.

The popular star, who has made playing bad so good also added, “I mean where else can I do things that you should be in prison for? There are people at home going, ‘go, go get ’em.’ It is like they’re rooting for me, because I’m doing what maybe they want to do and would never get away with. So it’s an escape. Daytime is truly an escape.”

Speaking of the fun of playing all the plots she has involved with on daytime from her early years on The Young and the Restless to The Bold and the Beautiful, Brown noted “I think that the real joy to playing Sheila is I do things that nobody else does. And I was told when I got this part, don’t play it safe. There is no wrong. And as an actress to get a note like it just means that I can do things that nobody else can and smile about it and, you know, get away with it. Do I pay consequences? Yes, I do, but she always comes back. I’m the character that people love to hate and I’m the character that people sympathize with because all she wants is love.”

You can check out the full conversation with Kimberlin Brown below.

So, what do you hope Sheila does next? Do you think she will keep Deacon and Taylor apart? Will she get involved with someone else? Share your predictions via the comment section below.

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Christel Khalil Reveals She Almost Quit Acting After ‘That’s So Raven’ Audition, But Then Came ‘The Young and the Restless’

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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.

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‘WWE: Unreal’ Season 3 Premiere Date, Cast of Superstars, Announced by Netflix

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This summer beginning on July 21, Netflix streams the return of WWE: Unreal for its third season. The behind the scenes docudrama series gives fans a glimpse of life in WWE and inside the writers room, as injuries, last-minute pivots, and career-defining decisions reshape WWE’s biggest event of the year, WrestleMania 42.

WWE Unreal is taking fans deeper than ever inside World Wrestling Entertainment’s creative process, The hit docuseries will once again pull back the curtain on some of the biggest moments, boldest decisions, and unforgettable storytelling with some of the WWE’s greatest legends who’ve shaped the industry and new stars who are emerging as prominent parts of the future.

In the new season of ‘Unreal’ which consists of 5 episodes at 50 minutes each: John Cena says goodbye, a fan favorite returns, and the next generation of Superstars rise to the occasion.

Photo: WWE

The cast and WWE superstars featured include: the aforementioned Cena, plus Cody Rhodes, Liv Morgan, CM Punk, AJ Lee, Trick Williams, Lash Legend, Stephanie Vaquer, Oba Femi, Bron Breakker, Chelsea Green, Matt Cardona, Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch.

As previously reported AJ Lee revealed on General Hospital star Maurice Benard’s (Sonny Corinthos) mental health series, State of Mind, that she was part of the cast of WWE: Unreal.

WWE: Unreal production credits include: Directors/Showrunners: Chris Weaver and Erik Powers Executive Producers: Peyton Manning, Jamie Horowitz, Ross Ketover, Keith Cossrow, Ken Rodgers, Jessica Boddy, Lee Fitting, Ben Houser, Marc Pomarico Sr. Producers: Harley Glantz, Brian Decker, Michael Flynn Producers: John Galiani, Dan Gati, Jeremy Lundblad Production Companies: Omaha Productions, NFL Films, Skydance Sports, WWE.

So, what do you think of the loglines for the new season of WWE: Unreal? Who are you most excited to see featured in the behind the scenes drama from the list of WWE superstars and the twists and turns leading into this past April’s WrestleMania 42? Let us know via the comment section below.

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