News
J. Eddie Peck Exits The Young and the Restless and Shares Fan Enthusiasm, “Made This Return Deeply Meaningful For Me”
One of the good guys had left the building. On today’s July 3rd episode of The Young and the Restless, Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck) succumbed to Legionnaires’ disease, and had one last goodbye with his daughter, Claire (who ran out of the hospital room) and the love of his life, Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle), with whom he shared one last kiss before he passed.
This ends the latest run of J. Eddie Peck as Cole Howard, who first appeared on Y&R back in 1993-1999 and then happily returned in 2023 as part of the Aunt Jordan (Colleen Zenk) storyline. It was there that it was revealed that Cole and Victoria’s daughter known as Eve (now Claire, played by Hayley Erin) with whom they thought has died, was actually stolen from them in the hospital after Victoria gave birth. Jordan kidnapped her and raised Claire all of her life, until the truth came to light.
On Thursday, J. Eddie also took to his Instagram to share his heartfelt sentiments as his time at the top-rated soap opera came to its conclusion on-air. Throughout his years away, Peck was always hoping one day he would get to return to the show that he loved working at.

Courtesy/CBS
Peck wrote: “Just a quick shout out as Cole takes his last breath on the show today — and with that, this chapter of my journey on The Young and the Restless comes to a close. I want to thank all of you — my fans, friends, and Y&R family — for welcoming me back with such incredible warmth and support. Your messages, posts and enthusiasm made this return deeply meaningful for me. I’ll do a lil follow up with a video later today or this eve. Much love, ❤️”

Photo: JPI
Throughout his daytime career, J. Eddie has also played the roles of Jake Martin on All My Children, Howard “Hawk” Hawkins on Days of our Lives, Tommy McKay on Dallas, and Roger Grimes on Dynasty, among numerous other TV and film roles.
So, are you sad to see J. Eddie Peck written-off The Young and the Restless as Cole Howard? Did you reach for the hankies when he passed away? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
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His death didn’t seem necessary and it was shoddily written but Amelia Heinle can break your heart with no words.
I cried my eyes out I wanted to see the love story continue with Victoria and their daughter not fair
I wanted to see the fruition of the love that Cole and Victoria shared. I cried my eyes out seeing him gasp for breath as he spoke to his daughter, Claire, and asked Victoria to kiss him before he died. Cole was a good and kind guy. I wish that in some way he could reemerge on the Young & The Restless.
I was not sad at all that Cole left. I still believe that he lied about Claire. Do not believe she is Victoria’s daughter. Do not care for her at all. Wish she would leave, also
You know this is not true life right!!!!?? I cried like always when he died and it was so nice seeing him again on the show! We will miss you! BEEN WATCHING SINCE I Was 16 when it first. Been with yall from day 1. What a ride! Love you all!
Hayley Erin but especially Amelia Heinle did a great job today despite the show not giving the actors much to work with in the story. I felt their pain.
Liked Victoria and Cole together again – not sure why they were not given much storyline. Amelia has hardly been on the screen, much like Sharon in the past few years, and then Sharon got a frontline storyline, so hoping that Victoria will now have one too, but what that will be is hard to figure out. She did have a nice interaction with Nate recently, so maybe they are moving in that direction. Amelia is fantastic, and deserves a true love. Just please don’t pair her with new Cane for I still think that Billy Flynn and Courtney Hope would be fantastic, and maybe that would open up Victoria and Billy returning to one another.
I want Claire and Chance get together
I hope Claire doesn’t end up with Holden
ugh!
This is 50 percent of the reason I got hooked in recently after the Jordan storyline resolved. They blow up Claire and Kyle and that will end my short lived viewership.
Kudos to the three actors. They did a great job. I wish this story had been given the respect it deserved and played out over several days since the Dumas story is so ridiculous. Poor Billy Flynn.
I’m pissed. Enough said.
They should kept him around
I wish Cole could have stayed on show with z
Victoria finally found love. Good relationship He’s gone to soon.
I agree 100%!!! I loved Cole & Victoria!!!
It was such a joy to have Cole back. I’m gutted that they killed him off. I wish there was a way to bring him back or to send him to B&B. He and Vic had such perfect chemistry. I’ll be crying about this episode for a long while. it was gut wrenching. Congratulations to the actors. Bad decision, management.
They could bring him back. He was out of town for awhile. Maybe he saw something and needed to be put in Witness Protection. Fake death to make sure his family was safe.
Good idea!!!
Lol, good comeback! You should write for the show!
Your right they should have never killed Cole off that being said it is a soap opera so if they ever want to bring him back they can just say he was in a coma until they could find a cure
BRING COLE BSCK
AGREE 10000%
Writer’s are brainless!!!
Absolutely no reason to kill him off. I loved him & Victoria together. Funny to remember when he slept with Nikki back in the day. Such history.
Ewwwww.. icky
I hate that we have a good character and you had to take him away. It’s really good sometimes to see people play good people on a show. I love the story and that the family had gotten back together. I think you made a big mistake by letting him go. Not sure I’m going to watch it anymore
The writing of the various story lines of Y & R have gotten completely redundant and ridiculous over the last couple of years. I have watched this soap since my early 30’s and I am now 73. I am just about at the point that I am going to stop. 40+ years is enough; besides most of the good actors on this soap (Braeden, Scott, Case etc.) are getting older like myself and are probably reaching the point that they want to or should hang it up. This soap needs to come to a graceful end.
YES I AGREE THEH NEED NEW WRITERS BRING COLE BACK SO.E HOW
He didn’t need to be let go, he was one of the good guys. I thought Nate was going to save him, as it was told in a previous show.
First of all, “What great acting!”. I am so very sorry to see J Eddie leave, after being gone for so long! I really liked your character, Cole.
This scene drew tears from my eyes. It reminded me of when I lost my 26 yo son in 2020. I thought i grieved his death, but this scene drew something out of me that needed to be released. Y and R lost a beautiful, Loving family.
J Eddie I pray nothing but the best for you in all your future endeavors!!!
Bring Cole back, Victoria needs a win. I watched the show when Nicki was pregnant with her. You can kill him off later. Give us 75ers a reason to watch.we still matter.
I was very glad to see Cole come back. I really enjoyed his acting seem very sincere. I hated to see him go, but I understand stories lines must end but he was very professional very sincere. I believe everybody will miss him very much. I know I will. And yes, I use a lot of Kleenex watch them.
Enjoyed Cole’s return but I don’t get why he had to die. Seems like no point.
That was the saddest. I was in tears for sure it was not what I would of wanted me I thought that was a great lil family.
I think it is time Victoria have a little happiness. I would like to have seen that for her with Cole but no you killed him off. If mean old Victor can have a loving rellationship why not Victoria. Disappounted in Cole being written off.
I AGREE
Im so sad he left . I was hoping Bictoria would finally have someone and be happy. Felt bad for Claire loosing her Dad
I always liked J, peck sorry he had to die though now hes gone for good .ill miss him much luck for future
I don’t like the fact that they killed Cole off!!! Claire was just beginning to get to know her father!!!
Why did they kill off Cole
Bcuz he’s a terrible actor and his character was totally unnecessary !!
agree. No chemistry with Victoria either.
Loved Cole and really sad that the writers brought him back and have now let him die!
Poor Victoria never catches a break … EVER!!
And Claire does did deserve to lose her dad after just being reunited with him. Terrible decision by writers of Y and R!!!
Why can’t Victoria ever be happy she so deserved her happiness. Sick of this show writing of the good giys
Bring Cole back. Their are a couple of others you could get rid of. We need a little happiness in this world right now.
Cole passed away? OMG! I feel so bad for Victoria and Claire.
Cole died? Oh, WOW! I feel so bad for Victoria and Claire. I was hoping that Vicky would finally have her happily ever after with Cole; and now he’s gone. And poor Claire! She’d finally gotten to know both her parents in a space of two years; now she’s lost her father.
I’ve always enjoyed seeing J Eddie Peck in the role of Cole on Y & R. I had been doing Cole and Victoria would become a couple again and finally have their happily ever after. Yesterday’s show was a real tear jersey. & the cause for his death touches close to home as my husband has severe lung issues and has had bouts of pneumonia. I wasn’t sure why Cole couldn’t be cured until they stated he had Legionaires Disease and I looked it up. I am thankful for the storyline as it brings to light something we weren’t aware of. The Legionaire bacteria is found in water but isn’t caught by drinking it, only through mists or sprays by breathing it in, which explains why distilled water is recommended for breathing devices such as c-pap or an oxygen bubbler or other breathing devices.
I will miss Cole on Y & R. I am glad they were able to get their daughter back and that she didn’t die at birth after all and that they were able to be a family unit, if only for this brief moment.
J Eddie Peck has always been a great actor and I hope to see him in more movies and other shows in the near future.
I was really hoping for a storyline where Cole and Victoria got married and lived a happy life
Bring Cole back soon We need him marry Victoria
THIS NOT RIGHT AT ALL
Victoria and Cole was good together! Every relationship she has gets blown up! I hate they wrote Cole off by dying! I really liked Cole! Since Cole died, I wish Victoria could end up with a sound relationship. It would be good if she and Billy could end up back together. They had a passionate relationship & they have beautiful kids together too so it would be good if they could end up back together; however, I’m sure if Victor has anything to do with it, they won’t!
I love Victor Newman though! If he ever leaves Young & the Restless for anything other than death, God forbid, I’d probably stop watching Y&R!
I really liked Cole. He was a calm and solid, wise presence to the show. Someone who had depth. He should have stayed on the show.
I’ll never understand why they kill good characters off. Write him out if you want to, although I wanted him to stay, but why make it impossible to bring him back?
They could have kept the Cole character still last on the show, Victoria and Cole could have gotten remarried and live happily ever after together with Claire as their daughter that they got back from Jordan.
They Could have kept the Cole character on the show and let Cole and Victoria remarry and live happily ever after as a family with their daughter Claire that they have got back from Jordan. This would have made more sense to do it this way.
Just so frustrated to see Kyle be so stupid!! If Claire did anything like that he would he furious!! Can’t wait until their off that Train!! Boring …..Rich should know to take a SAT phone!!
Josh Griffith should be ashamed. He put no effort into this storyline because he was too obsessed with France. Awful! That being said, Hayley Erin and especially Amelia crushed it with what little material they had. Amelia Heinle is a superstar.
I quit watching Y&R about a year ago due to time constraints on my end, as well as the recycled, redundant and repeated storylines on on the writers’ end. But I did tune in last week to watch the unveiling of the identity of the Aristotle Dumas story with Billy Flynn playing Cane Ashby. He was good but I see the cycle of regurgitation continued. My God, Phyllis seems even dizzier than before and I don’t know if it’s that is due to the maze or Stafford facing another storyline that promises to get her home only if she follows the circular maze that leaves her exactly where she began. I swear, that maze serves as a metaphor for the circular and lost pattern the Y&R writers have established these last few years. And sorry, yes, I’m going to continue with the negativity, the actor playing Cole on his death bed might as well have been in a skit from The Carol Brunette Show. At least then I would not feel guilty for laughing at his wooden and utterly ridiculously soapy delivery. PS. AH’s poignant and meaningful delivery made up for Roger Korman meets Will Ferrall’s ( Cole) satirical performance. She was brilliant.
News
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom on Working with TV Son Crew Morrow: ‘I’ve Always Wanted to Play an Overprotective, Overbearing Mother’ (Exclusive)

In an ironic twist of fate, and only in the soaps, The Bold and the Beautiful’s Heather Tom’s (Katie Logan) on-screen son is played by Crew Morrow (Will Spencer), the now 21-year-old son of her former TV brother on The Young and the Restless, Joshua Morrow (Nick Newman).
For those who have followed the six-time Daytime Emmy-winning actress’ career, Tom began on Y&R back in 1990 as Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) and Victor’s (Eric Braeden) daughter Victoria Newman. She played the role until 2003. Four years later, she joined the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful and has been there ever since.
Next month, at the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards, Heather might add two gold statuettes to her collection with nominations for Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama Series (which would be her record-breaking 7th for an actress), and one for being a part of B&B’s writing team.

Photo: JPI
WHICH MORROW IS IN THE ROOM?
In a new livestream conversation on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel, Heather recalled her reaction to seeing Crew Morrow on set when he started on B&B over two years ago, and pointed out the uncanny similarities between her TV son and her former TV brother.
“I just can’t even tell you how genetics is weird,” explained Tom. “Because it’s like they are the same person; the cadence and his voice and the way he laughs. When Crew was on the shows for the first couple of months, it would take me out of the scene. I would be like, ‘Oh, my God! It’s Joshua.’ It’s crazy. It’s so wonderful to have him. I love having him there. We’re so lucky to have Crew. I think he’s a wonderful addition to the Spencer family. I love that Bill (Don Diamont) and Katie’s son is on the canvas in a real way.”
In recent weeks, fans of The Bold and the Beautiful have seen a different side of Katie in regards to her son, Will. She simply does not approve, and does not trust Melissa Dylan (Sydney Bullock) as far as she can throw her. That puts a wrinkle in the mother/son relationship.

Photo: JPI
HEATHER TOM IS THRILLED THE CHARACTER OF WILL SPENCER IS ALL GROWN-UP
“Honestly, I’ve been waiting for this story since Will was born,” exclaimed Heather “To be like the overprotective, overbearing mother, momma bear, I love it!”
As for Katie’s attitude. which many feel may need an “attitude adjustment,” Tom has it all figured out on just how she is tackling her scenes! “I have all kinds of justifications for it,” reveals the multi-talented star.

Photo: JPI
KATIE SEES ALL SORTS OF RED FLAGS WITH DYLAN
“So. it’s not just Katie being the b-word,” proclaims Tom. “It’s that Will, her son, whom she loves and supports so much, has been constantly saying about Electra (Laneya Grace), ‘This is the love of my life. She’s broken my heart. I love her. All I want to do is get her back.'”
“So I think Katie could be like, ‘Okay, well, Electra’s a little flighty, but my son loves her, so I’m going to try to support that relationship,” explains Heather. “In addition, Will has never told his mother, ‘I love Dylan,’ at all. I think Katie is thinking of telling Will, ‘You should run, not walk, from this girl who seems somewhat obsessed!’ I don’t know where they’re going with the Electra/Will/Dylan triangle, but I think Katie’s very focused on Dylan for a multitude of reasons.”
So, do you like seeing Heather Tom as Katie going into overprotective momma bear-mode, now that the series has a major young triangle between Electra/Will/Dylan? What do you think about the fact that Heather has been a long-running scene partner with father/son across two different soaps in Joshua Morrow and Crew Morrow? Let us know in the comment section, and in case you missed it, check out our full conversation with Heather below.
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Finola Hughes Delivers the ‘Power Performance of the Week’

There was never any doubt that in watching the riveting and emotional scenes on General Hospital which featured Finola Hughes as a PTSD-driven and mentally tortured Anna Devane, that when the climatic moments in Anna’s story aired, that we would not be singing the praises of Hughes. Once again, Finola showcased why she is one of the soap opera genres greatest assets and actresses.
In the key scenes, Anna has had a complete breakdown as she has lured and cornered Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) on Mount Emerson, and even thought through how she would kill her and cover it up, all thanks to hearing the voice and seeing a dead man, Peter August (Wes Ramsey). It’s visions of Peter that keeps egging Anna on to pull the trigger on Britt while in her delusional state.
Before Britt realizes that Anna trapped her in meeting her in Mount Emerson, she is very confused as to why she was all the way out in the boondocks to talk about what happened to her brother, Cassius Faison. However, Britt soon learned that what Anna was about to do is personal, and not professional, as she pulls the gun on her.

Courtesy/ABC
ANNA FIRES HER GUN IN GAME-CHANGING MOMENT
When Jason (Steve Burton) shows up to save the say, he tries to talk Anna off the ledge, begging her to not shoot Britt and make one of the greatest mistakes of his life. When Jason figured out Anna felt she needed to kill anyone related to Cesar Faison, he made her think twice, because that would mean, she also would need to end the lives of two of Maxie’s children, James and Bailey Lu.
Anna can’t stop seeing hallucinations of Peter pushing her to shoot Britt. Suddenly and completely overcome, Anna fires bullets straight in the direction of where she sees Peter as she declares this all must end tonight.
After the shots are fired, Anna realized what she had done and just sobbed and shook. It was a devastating and heartbreaking moment for longtime General Hospital fans to see the beloved Anna Devane, super spy, so lost. Anna explained to Jason, after he was able to disarm her, how she was being pushed to kill Britt by her visions of Peter.
EMMY-WORTHY SCENES FOR 2027
In another hankie-inducing moment, Anna just grabs Jason and breaks down in his arms. If these weren’t Emmy-worthy scenes, we don’t know what is, and it must be remembered by Hughes, General Hospital, and hopefully the voting body of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) when Emmy submissions and voting get underway in 2027 for the 54th annual Daytime Emmys.
From everything we noted above, to the sheer brilliance of her work, Michael Fairman TV names Finola Hughes, this week’s Power Performance of the Week.
Now let us know, do you agree with our pick of Finola? Were you moved to tears during the gut-wrenching scenes? Should Finola include these scenes in an Emmy submission in 2027, should she decide to compete for Lead Actress gold? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
General Hospital
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo

The ratings are out for the week of August 24-28 for your favorite broadcast television soaps, and it was ABC’s General Hospital which added the most total viewers and planted itself firmly in third place in its battle with Beyond the Gates in the key demos of women 18-49 and 25-54.
According to Soap Opera Network, all daytime dramas were up year-over-year, and General Hospital was joined by The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful with gains in their total audience viewership, while Beyond the Gates was only slightly off pace for the ratings week.
Let’s take a look at what had viewers tuning-in, starting with General Hospital, who added +79,000 viewers. While still under the 2 million viewers mark (which they can hopefully return in the coming weeks) their overall tally was an average of 1, 935,000 tuning-in, while still up year-to-year +136,000.
GENERAL HOSPITAL
In addition, GH while actually down from the previous week in the 18-49 ratings share, they still out performed Beyond the Gates for third place. However, GH was firmly in third place for the 25-54 ratings share.
The stories that were featured for the week included: Anna’s (Finola Hughes) PTSD and struggle with painful memories tied to Cesar Faison, and her concocting a plan to get rid of Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) recording Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna) threatening her, and later running into a severe threat from Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) regarding Kai (Jens Austin Astrup) and Drew’s (Cameron Mathison) shooting, and Drew enlisting Ava (Maura West) to gain leverage over Jack, which resulted in Ava drugging him, while Drew went snooping for the evidence Brennan had against him.

Photo: JPI
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
Y&R remained in the top spot amongst all the soaps once again with 3,062,000 tuning in, and up +35,000 for the week, while year-to-year still showing strong gains at +231,000 viewers. However, while Y&R remained #1 for the 25-54 ratings share, it fell to #2 in the 18-49 ratings share behind The Bold and the Beautiful.
In story for the week, Nick’s (Joshua Morrow) sobriety in rehab was a focus, as was Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) hitting the Jabot office couch and having sex for the first time, and Lily (Christel Khalil) and Billy (Jason Thompson) battling over control and ownership of Chancellor Industries.

Photo: JPI
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
B&B is continuing to be inch closer to Y&R for the top spot, separated by a little more than 300,000 viewers. For the ratings week, the series posted a total audience of 2,719,000 adding +31,000 eyeballs overall, and like Y&R, is up year-to-year in its performance.
The CBS soap now , now in its 40th season is +217,000 from the same time last year. In the key demos, The Bold and the Beautiful was in the top spot for the women 18-49 ratings share and number two for women 25-54.
In story, the major threat to Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Finn (Tanner Novlan) and Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) and Daphne’s (Murielle Hilaire) marriages continued as Steffy and Carter swore they would not tell their spouses that the two had a drunken hook-up. But as viewers know now, Steffy is pregnant!

Photo: CBS
BEYOND THE GATES
Beyond the Gates tallied an average of 1,611,000 total viewers for the week, up +72.000 year-over-year and down slightly in tune-in for the week losing just -36,000 viewers. The CBS soap came in fourth place in the key demos for the week behind General Hospital, with whom they are often trading places for the third spot.
In story, after Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) was released from the hospital, Hayley (Marquita Goings) stuck to her plan, doubling down on poisoning him and even getting caught in a major lie or meeting with Randy (Maurice P. Kerry), as Vernon (Clifton Davis) may be on to her machinations.
The ratings report is generated from Nielsen (Live+Same Day Big Data + Panel) for the week of August 24-28, 2026
So, what did you think of the performance of General Hospital for the ratings period? Which daytime drama has you most likely to tune-in each day? Which has you tuning-out? Let us know what’s working, or not working for you in story, via the comment section below.
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