As first reported by Soap Central last month, The Young and the Restless has made the decision to have Jack's prodigal son Kyle Abbott return to Genoa City.
Though a handful of actors have played the role in the last eight years, the top-rated CBS soap has opted to recast the role, and Soap Opera Digest reports that daytime newcomer Michael Mealor has been tapped to play the role.
While this is Mealor's first role in daytime, the actor has been seen in primetime on Chasing Life and Supergirl.
Since 2010, four actors have played the role of Jack Abbott and Diane Jenkins' son. For whatever reason, none of those Kyles was ever able to gain traction with fans -- or the writers.
When last spotted in Genoa City in the spring of 2016, Kyle was portrayed by Australia native Lachlan Buchanan. Buchanan held the role for a little more than a year. Prior to that, Hartley Sawyer had a nine-month stint as Kyle from 2013 to early 2014. Blake Hood played Kyle from April 2012 to April 2013. Garrett Ryan had the longest run in the part, lasting on the CBS soap from February 2010 to January 2012.
When Kyle was written off in 2016, the character headed for New York City. He's been mentioned a few times since then, most recently during the vote to determine whether Jack or Ashley should run Jabot. It should be noted that Kyle's no confidence vote was the vote that tipped the scales in Ashley's favor -- at least before all that talk of "blood Abbotts" reared its ugly head.
The news of Kyle's possible return comes as Robert Adamson exited his role as Noah Newman. There has been quite a bit of SORASing (Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome) over the years, but in theory, Noah and Kyle are only a few years apart in age.
Kyle will return to Genoa City during Y&R's 45th anniversary celebration, which will take place the week of March 26.
What do you think about Kyle returning to Genoa City? Have you enjoyed the previous portrayals? Do you think a new actor in the role could make the character more viable? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
