The Young and the Restless: Who’s Leaving Y&R in 2025? A Bad Walk and a Painful Death!!
The Young and the Restless it starts in 2026, but we will look at the actors and actresses who have left. Y&R in 2025. We have death, we have replication, and much more to discuss. We’ll talk about all the casting changes and the ins and outs of the character canvas in 2025.
Well, in early 2025, The Young and the Restless it focused on wrapping up a big story involving Jordan Howard (Colleen Zenk), Ian Ward (Ray Wise), and Sharon Newman (Sharon’s Case) and Cameron Kirsten’s (Linden Ashby) ideas.
Jordan Howard’s Deadly Tea Party: Colleen Zenk Goes Out on the Young and the Restless
We saw the last of Jordan Howard in late January 2025. His great niece Claire Grace Newman (Hayley Erin) poisoned a cup of tea as they were having a competition. It was Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle), Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott), Claire, and Jordan all in the sidewalk shed in the Newman building.
Claire knew she had to stop her crazy aunt Jordan once and for all. So after Claire poisoned her tea, Jordan drank it. Although she knew it would kill her, she knew Claire had poisoned herself and she knew her niece wanted her dead. But in the end, Jordan was cornered and decided that 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
Soon after, Ian Ward came out as a long-time villain. We saw Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) shoot Ian in January 2025, right after he shot Victor. Ian’s character looked dead. The EMTs called time of death, but when Ian was in the ambulance, he woke up—not so much.
A little bit of that Lazarus disease was happening. Then in October 2025, we returned to Ian and Ian’s tormentor Mariah Copeland (Camryn Grimes) at a mental institution in Boston where she was trying to recover from the trauma Ian had inflicted on her.
He reappeared in December to torment Mariah again. So, Ian didn’t go well, not yet. He still has a lot of trouble to cause Mariah. I suspect that Ian will return as Ian at some point in the flesh, not just as an idea to torture the people of Newman and not just to mess with their minds.
Cameron Kirsten Says Goodbye: Linden Ashby’s Last Hallucinations on The Young and the Restless
Next, let’s talk about Cameron Kirsten’s exit. This was his second outing. He was back to torture Sharon, but he stabbed her to death in 2023 down on the couch, if you’ll remember. But then Cameron came back when Sharon started making him an idiot because Ian and Jordan were drugging him.
Cameron’s views, however, were also gone by January 2025 when Sharon realized she no longer needed him. Remember, he was once his Jiminy Cricket, his mentor who talked things through his head. Cameron and Sharon said their goodbyes, and when he opened his eyes, Cameron was gone, hopefully.
The Sudden Disappearance of Amanda Sinclair and Mishael Morgan on Y&R
Okay, next, let’s talk about sudden departures. That was Amanda Sinclair (Mishael Morgan). He had been gone for over a year because the actor had moved to Canada to live with his family up there. Her husband is Canadian.
Amanda Sinclair then returned in May. His return was to set up Cane Ashby’s (Billy Flynn) debut as a rerun. She first appeared in June 2025 and Amanda was Cane’s lawyer and his close friend and confidante.
He was a big part of her story and he just disappeared. The last time we saw Amanda was September of 2025 and she just disappeared. Amanda’s character left without explanation. It was not mentioned that Amanda was going out of town to do other business. He was already dreaming, gone.
A Dishonored Death? Connor Floyd Leaves Young and Restless as Chancellor
Okay, let’s talk about character deaths and get out. Conner Floyd took the job Days of Our Livesironically replacing Chad DiMera, Billy Flynn had played before he quit. Days come this way The Young and the Restless playing Cane. Therefore, head writer Josh Griffith decided to kill the offspring of the Chancellor’s legacy.
He was killed at Cane’s chateau in France in July. Killing Chance set up Conner and Billy’s mini-soap exchange. But not only did a lot of people go crazy that they killed Chance, but we didn’t even get a funeral shown on screen. It was disrespectful. Many fans are happy with that output.
Damian Kane’s Short-Term Romance: Jermaine Rivers Exits EY&R
That brings us to another death character, Damian Kane (Jermaine Rivers). They cast Damian as the actor, who was the new love interest of Lily Winters (Christel Khalil). And then they brought in her mother, Amy Lewis (Valarie Pettiford), and they got this great actress to play her.
Then suddenly, Damian was stabbed to death by Cane Ashby’s psychic assistant, Carter, in July 2025 at the chateau. Carter stabbed Damian and then shot Chance and then Carter shot himself. For many fans, Damian’s exit was disappointing.
Not only because he and Lily were warm and crushed when he was killed, but also because we had Amy and revealed that he was the brother of Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic). In the end, it seemed pointless to bring him in and out like that.
The Controversial Death of Cole Howard: The Emerging Story of J. Eddie Peck in The Young and the Restless
Another character death in 2025 occurred when Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck) exited in July. He probably died of the curable Legionnaire’s disease—sloppy writing. Her daughter Claire and her mother Victoria were obviously devastated and it was a dumb thing for her to be killed. They didn’t even bother to Google and realized it was too heavy.
Newman Summers Off to Italy: Allison Lanier Departs EY&R
Now in another outing that thankfully wasn’t a character death. Summer Newman (Allison Lanier) on the left The Young and the Restless in May 2025 when his three-year contract is up. It is reported that Allison Lanier has decided to leave the role Y&R.
So, to plan the actor’s exit, they head to Italy for the summer after Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope) and Chelsea Lawson Newman (Melissa Claire Egan) leave. Marchetti to work with their boyfriends, Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) and Adam Newman (Mark Grossman).
Summer decided to stay in Italy. She is dating someone, but she is often talked about. They make this visit off-screen when her stepson Harrison Locke (Redding Munsell) goes to see her.
With so much talk about Summer and Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) thinking he and Claire are done, maybe we’ll get Summer, even if they have to recast and replace the actress if she doesn’t want to come back. But for now, summer remains off the screen.
The Abbott Sisters: Beth Maitland and Eileen Davidson’s Young and the Restless
That’s right. In 2025 there was also Traci Abbott (Beth Maitland) and Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) in and out. Their falling out was caused by Traci’s psychotic fiancé Alan Laurent (Christopher Cousins), who turned out to be her mentally ill twin brother Martin Laurent (also Christopher Cousins) who played Alan.
Martin left The Young and the Restless in April 2025, he was arrested by Chance after kidnapping and torturing Sharon and Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford). After Martin’s exit, we saw Traci and Ashley go to New York to work on their own trauma recovery.
Traci and Ashley both returned for Thanksgiving in November 2025. Traci then returned for the wedding of Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian) and Christine Williams (Lauralee Bell). This Christmas he has also had scenes. I expect to see more of Traci Abbott in 2026.
As for Ashley Abbott, maybe less. Ashley came out The Young and the Restless and he only plans to come back if needed like Ashley from time to time, but he said he doesn’t plan to come back to stay. Leave your comments on who you will miss Y&R which came out in 2025.
