Is Matt Really Dead on The Young and the Restless? Here’s Why We’re Not Convinced
On the April 29 episode of The Young and the Restless, a shaken Sienna (Tamara Braun) announced that Matt Clark (Roger Howarth) was dead — and that she was the one who had killed him. But is the notorious villain really six feet under this time? Don’t bet on it!
Evil Never Dies
Soap villains have a habit of cheating death — two words: Sheila Carter — and Matt is no exception. Back in 1995, he was shot by Amy Wilson (Julianne Morris Polaha), but survived. Then, following a 2001 car crash, a gravely injured Matt took the opportunity to frame Nick for his own “murder” by pulling out his own breathing tube in the hospital and putting it in his rival’s hands before he seemingly expired. Matt then resurfaced on Y&R in 2025 with a new name (Mitch Bacall) but the same old mission — to torment the Newmans.
To accomplish his sinister scheme, Matt has gone to extremes — most recently, blowing up an abandoned gas station after trapping Nick (Joshua Morrow), Sharon (Sharon Case), Noah (Lucas Adams) and Adam (Mark Grossman) inside. (All four of them managed to escape before Matt denotated the bomb.) As soap viewers, we’re trained to expect high-octane on-screen action when a major bad guy (or gal) finally meets their end. Think David Kimble (Michael Corbett) getting crushed to death by a trash compactor. Sharon fatally stabbing Cameron Kirsten (Linden Ashby). Jordan (Colleen Zenk) drinking poisoned tea. Matt’s demise taking place off camera would seem to be a huge tell that there is something fishy going on with Sienna’s version of events. After all, seeing is believing!
And not that Sienna doesn’t have plenty of legitimate reasons to want Matt dead — or to kill him in self-defense — we find it hard to believe that Matt would be offed by a relatively new character like her. We would bet good money that if Matt was truly dead, it would have been at the hands of either Nick or Sharon, veteran protagonists whose lives have been destroyed by Matt time and time again.
But perhaps the biggest clue is one that, like Matt’s supposed death, took place off camera: In an interview published just this week, his portrayer, Roger Howarth teased that his alter ego was “just getting started” with “his plans to scorch the earth.” Not only that, but the actor told Soap Opera Digest last month that “there’s a shift coming up in the story that’s been a lot of fun” that has “given me some new people to bounce off of,” which also suggests that there is more to come in his story.
All in all, it’s more than likely that the psycho is not nearly as dead as Sienna might believe. That blood on her clearly had to come from somewhere, and while some kind of struggle probably did occur between the exes and Sienna may genuinely think that she killed Matt, we definitely have our doubts.
Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. Soap Opera Digest does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.