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The Young and The Restless Comings & Goings: Legacy Character Recast

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A member of Genoa City’s next generation has been recast, with Ethan Ray Clark taking over as the new Dominic Winters on Young and Restless. The young actor will make his debut as Devon (Bryton James) and Abby’s (Melissa Ordway) son in the Friday, January 12, episode.

They Grow Up So Fast

The role of Dominic was originally played by twins River and Rainn Ware, beginning when the character was born back in August 2021. And it was quite the dramatic conception and birth! Chance (played at the time by Donny Boaz) learned he was unable to father a child, and his wife, Abby, couldn’t carry a baby to term, so Devon offered to be the sperm donor, and Mariah (Camryn Grimes) acted as the surrogate to give the couple the opportunity to start a family.

YR Abby Baby Dominic Mariah
Letting Go: Mariah (Camryn Grimes, r.) struggled to be around Baby Dominic as Abby (Melissa Ordway) raised him.Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

Chance wasn’t around for the conception and pregnancy as he was off on assignment, and Mariah was abducted by Abby’s ex-husband, Stich (Sean Carrigan), who wanted the child for himself and his ex. Thankfully, Abby and Devon located Mariah in time to help her give birth to the baby boy, who was later named Dominic.

During her kidnapping, Mariah bonded with the unborn baby and nicknamed him “Bowie.” Following his birth, she found it difficult to be separated from Dominic, but ultimately managed to step back for the good of everyone involved. However, in the January 2, 2026 episode of the soap, Mariah mentioned Dom and how she used to sing lullabies to him while he was in utero, and was then visited by another vision of Ian (Ray Wise), who urged her to give up on her marriage to Tessa (Cait Fairbanks) and their daughter, Aria (Maddie and Millie Ingle) and “do what needs to be done.”

While that new mission was kept deliberately vague, in the Y&R 2026 preview, Executive Producer/Head Writer Josh Griffith teased that “a big mystery” is coming for Devon and Abby, which will also involve Mariah. And in the conversation Mariah hallucinated with Ian, many viewers drew the conclusion that he was indirectly referencing Dominic with his disparaging comments about Aria, who Mariah and Tessa adopted. “Aria is not even your flesh and blood child,” said the villain, who then added, “You need to reclaim what is truly yours.” Might Ian have been implying that Dom is somehow “truly” Mariah’s?!

The odds that this new storyline could revolve around Dominic seem to increase now that the show is bringing in an older actor to play the character.

Clark’s acting career has only just begun, so the only credit on his IMDb page is an appearance as one of Janine’s students in the January 14 episode of Abbott Elementary. He has also appeared in some commercials, including one for the Home Chef meal service.

Back in November 2025, Cracker Jack Management congratulated their client on booking a recurring role on a network series, and that same month, Clark’s official Instagram posted a video of him in the studio halls after completing his first day of shooting. “Met some cool ppl and they were all so welcoming,” read the caption. “This will be a fun time!” While the camera made a point of trying not to give away where they were, in a second video posted in December when he returned to set, there is a quick glimpse of a Y&R cast photo on the wall in the hallway.

Ethan Ray Clark
All Grown Up: Ethan Ray Clark takes over as Dominic in time for a new storyline.CBS
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