Young and the Restless kicks off 2026, but we’re going to take a look at the characters and actors who left Y&R in 2025. We’ve got deaths, we’ve got recasts, and so much more to discuss. We’re going to talk about all the casting changes and ins and outs on the character canvas in 2025.
All right, so early 2025, Young and the Restless was focusing on wrapping up a major storyline involving Jordan Howard (Colleen Zenk), Ian Ward (Ray Wise), and Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) and her hallucinations of Cameron Kirsten (Linden Ashby).
Jordan Howard’s Deadly Tea Party: Colleen Zenk Exits Young and the Restless
We saw the last of Jordan Howard towards the end of January in 2025. Her great-niece Claire Grace Newman (Hayley Erin) poisoned a cup of tea as they were having a showdown. It was Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle), Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott), Claire, and Jordan all at the tack house on the Newman property.
Claire knew she had to stop her crazy great-aunt Jordan for good. So after Claire poisoned her tea, Jordan drank it. Even though she knew it would kill her, she knew that Claire had poisoned it and knew that her great-niece wanted her dead. But in the end, Jordan was cornered and decided death was better than prison. And that was the end of Jordan’s character.
Ian Ward’s Lazarus Act: Ray Wise Returns to Haunt Mariah on Y&R
Shortly after that, Ian Ward exited as longtime recurring villain. We saw Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) shoot Ian in January 2025, right after he’d shot Victor. Ian’s character looked pretty darn dead. The EMTs called time of death, but then when Ian was in the ambulance, he woke up—not so dead after all.
A little bit of that Lazarus syndrome was happening. Then in October 2025, we had Ian back with Ian haunting Mariah Copeland (Camryn Grimes) at the mental health clinic in Boston where she’s trying to recover from the trauma that Ian had inflicted on her.
He just popped up again in December to haunt Mariah once again. So, Ian’s not gone for good, not just yet. He’s got more chaos to cause for Mariah. I suspect Ian will return as Ian at some point in the flesh, not just as a hallucination to torment the Newmans and not just mess with their minds.
Cameron Kirsten Says Goodbye: Linden Ashby’s Final Hallucinations on Young and the Restless
Next, let’s talk about Cameron Kirsten’s exit. This was his second exit. He had come back to torment Sharon, but she stabbed him to death in 2023 down in the sewers, if you’ll remember. But then Cameron returned when Sharon started hallucinating him because Ian and Jordan were drugging her.
The hallucination of Cameron, though, was also gone in January 2025 when Sharon realized she didn’t need him anymore. Remember, he had kind of been her Jiminy Cricket, her counselor that was talking things through in her head. Cameron and Sharon said their goodbyes, and when she opened her eyes, Cameron was gone for good, hopefully.
The Abrupt Disappearance of Amanda Sinclair and Mishael Morgan on Y&R
All right, next, let’s talk about a particularly abrupt departure. That was Amanda Sinclair (Mishael Morgan). She had been gone for more than a year because the actress had relocated to Canada to live with family up there. Her husband’s Canadian.
Then Amanda Sinclair came back in May. Her return was to set up Cane Ashby’s (Billy Flynn) debut as a recast. He made his debut in June 2025 and Amanda was Cane’s attorney and his close friend and confidant.
She was a huge part of his storyline and then she just vanished. The last time we saw Amanda was September of 2025 and she just disappeared. Amanda’s character left with no explanation out of the blue. There was no mention of Amanda going out of town to do other business. She was just poof, gone.
A Disrespectful Death? Connor Floyd Leaves Young and the Restless as Chance Chancellor
All right, let’s talk about a character death and exit. Conner Floyd took a job over on Days of Our Lives, ironically taking on the role of Chad DiMera, who Billy Flynn had played before he quit Days to come over to Young and the Restless to play Cane. So, head writer Josh Griffith decided to kill off legacy offspring Chance Chancellor.
He was killed at Cane’s chateau in France in July. Killing Chance set up Conner and Billy’s little soap swap. But a lot of people were not only mad that they killed off Chance, but we didn’t even get an on-screen funeral. It was kind of disrespectful. A lot of fans aren’t happy about that exit.
Damian Kane’s Short-Lived Romance: Jermaine Rivers Exits Y&R
That takes us to another character death, Damian Kane (Jermaine Rivers). They cast Damian as the character, who was Lily Winters’ (Christel Khalil) new love interest. And then they even brought his mom on, Amy Lewis (Valarie Pettiford), and they got this great actress to play her.
Then out of nowhere, Damian was stabbed and killed by Cane Ashby’s psycho assistant, Carter, in July of 2025 at the chateau. Carter stabbed Damian and then he shot Chance and then Carter shot himself. For many fans, Damian’s exit was disappointing.
Not only because he and Lily were heating up and she was crushed when he was murdered, but also because we had Amy and we had the reveal that he was Nate Hastings’ (Sean Dominic) brother. In the end, it all kind of felt pointless to bring him in and then take him out like that.
Cole Howard’s Controversial Death: J. Eddie Peck’s Exit Storyline on Young and the Restless
Another character death in 2025 happened when Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck) exited in July. He improbably died from very highly curable Legionnaire’s disease—sloppy writing. His daughter Claire and her mom Victoria obviously were absolutely devastated and it was kind of a dumb thing to have him die from. They didn’t even bother to Google it and see that it’s very survivable.
Summer Newman Heads to Italy: Allison Lanier Steps Away from Y&R
Now to another exit that thankfully was not a character death. Summer Newman (Allison Lanier) left Young and the Restless in May 2025 when her three-year contract was up. Reportedly, Allison Lanier decided to step away from the role, step away from Y&R.
So, to set up the actress’s exit, they had Summer head off to Italy after Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope) and Chelsea Lawson Newman (Melissa Claire Egan) left Marchetti to go work with their boyfriends, Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) and Adam Newman (Mark Grossman).
Summer decided to stay in Italy. She’s dating somebody, but she’s mentioned fairly often. They do these off-screen visits where her adoptive son Harrison Locke (Redding Munsell) goes to see her.
With so many mentions of Summer and with Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) thinking he and Claire are done, maybe we’ll get Summer back, even if they have to recast and replace the actress if she still doesn’t want to return. But for now, Summer remains off-screen.
The Abbott Sisters: Beth Maitland and Eileen Davidson’s Young and the Restless Status
All right. 2025 also had Traci Abbott (Beth Maitland) and Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) in and out. Their exits were triggered by Traci’s psycho fiancée Alan Laurent (Christopher Cousins), who turned out to be his psychotic twin brother Martin Laurent (also Christopher Cousins) who had been impersonating Alan.
Martin left Young and the Restless in April 2025, arrested by Chance after he kidnapped and traumatized Sharon and Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford). After Martin’s exit, we saw Traci and Ashley leave for New York to work on their own trauma recovery.
Traci and Ashley were both back for Thanksgiving in November 2025. Then Traci was back for Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian) and Christine Williams’ (Lauralee Bell) wedding. This Christmas, she’s also had scenes. I do expect to see more of Traci Abbott in 2026.
As for Ashley Abbott, maybe less than that. Ashley stepped away from Young and the Restless and she only plans to return if needed as Ashley now and then for brief arcs, but she said she doesn’t plan to come back to stay. Drop your comments on who you’re going to miss from Y&R that exited in 2025.
