The Young and the Restless: Michael Graziadei on Emmy Nomination — ‘This Is Fantastic!’ (Excl)
The morning of July 14, Young and Restless star Michael Graziadei (Daniel) got quite the wakeup call when the soap’s publicist, Matt Kane, called to let him know that he’d been nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in the 2026 Daytime Emmy Awards. Graziadei chatted with Soap Opera Digest about the honor and how he and his fellow nominees in the category celebrated.
Hearing the Breaking News
“I was just waking up at nine a.m.,” Graziadei chuckles of learning that he had received his fourth Daytime Emmy nomination. “I didn’t know why [Matt] was calling me so early. So I guess I was a little shocked, and then of course, happy. It’s good news.”
Graziadei previously received nominations for Outstanding Younger Actor in 2005 and 2006 during his first run as Daniel Romalotti from 2004-13. Following his return to Y&R in 2022, the actor graduated to the Supporting Actor category, earning a nod in 2025.
The first people that he shared the happy news with were fiancée Lauren Carey and their twins, Bear and Arlo. “Those were the only people I told,” Graziadei says. “Everybody else found out through the media outlets and whatnot. So I was getting a lot of phone calls and texts and whatnot from people in the industry and people I work with, friends, relatives… [it was] nice.”
What Did Michael Graziadei Submit to Earn a Daytime Emmy Nomination?
When compiling his Emmy reel, Graziadei opted for a variety of scenes to show his range. “I submitted a scene where Daniel is contemplating life, I guess you could say,” he shares, “sitting in the park, talking to his dead wife, [Heather, Vail Bloom], by himself, and kind of having a breakdown over her not being there.”
Then he shifted gears by showcasing the scene from the episode where Daniel’s father, Danny (Michael Damian), remarried Christine (Lauralee Bell) and he gave the best man speech, explaining, “It wasn’t just like a monologue, it was a lot of interacting with everyone. And there were a bunch of different levels to the speech, which was nice. There was some comedy in there. There was some heartfelt moments.”
Next up was a scene opposite Michelle Stafford (Phyllis), where Daniel urged her to let him live his own life and worry about herself. Quips the actor, “Obviously, I gotta include something with her because she always makes me look good.”
“And then I included a quick scene with Cait Fairbanks [Tessa] where Daniel comes over to her hotel room where he’s very hungover from the night before, and they sit and have a little chat,” he adds. “It was just kind of humorous, and something that I don’t normally see on reels that I’ve judged in the past. So it’s like, hey, what can it hurt? Show ‘em I can do other stuff.”
A Reason to Celebrate
Among the 18 Emmy nominations that Y&R earned this year, Graziadei is pleased to see his TV mom, Stafford, up for Lead Actress again. The two were previously nominated in the same categories in 2025. “I mean, I’m a bit biased because I’ve had the pleasure of working with her for so many years,” he says, “and I just know how incredibly talented she is.”
He’s also excited to be in such good company with a Supporting Actor category that also includes his Y&R castmates Sean Dominic (Nate) and Roger Howarth (Matt). “I was like, ‘Oh my God, three of us are in this? This is fantastic!’ Graziadei enthuses. “So you know, Roger and Sean and I were all congratulating each other. And I wound up running out with Conner Floyd (ex-Chance, now Chad, Days of Our Lives), and me, Conner and Sean went and watched the soccer game and had a little celebration.”
While Graziadei acknowledges with a laugh that it’s “more stress now,” attending the Emmy ceremony as a nominee, he’s still looking forward to celebrating the daytime industry on October 30. “The best part is always seeing everybody there from the show, all dressed up and cheering for each other,” he declares. “And when people do win from the show, it’s always nice to be there and be supportive of them. And then to see people from all the other shows you just never get a chance to normally see.”
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