The Young & the Restless’ Sean Dominic On Nate and Stephanie’s Hookup: ‘They’re Two Grown Folks!’ (Excl)

Nate and Stephanie had sex for the first time on The Young and the Restless on the September 16th episode, but it won’t be smooth sailing for the surprise duo. Soap Opera Digest caught up with Sean Dominic (Nate) about Genoa City love interest Vivica A. Fox (Stephanie), what draws Nate to Stephanie and how those around them will react to learning about their involvement. “They’re gonna have to set some people straight!” warns the actor.

Sean Dominic Talks Nate and Stephanie’s Y&R Romance

Sean Dominic says that he saw Nate and Stephanie’s hookup coming from a mile away. “I had a hunch pretty early on,” he says. “I was like, ‘We’re doing a lot of talking!’ I was telling Bryton [James, Devon] and Christel [Khalil, Lily], ‘I think they’re about to hook Nate and Stephanie up!’ They were like, ‘For real? You think so?’ I was like, ‘Man, look at the writing. It’s not saying anything — but it’s saying something! There’s just no other way!”

When he first floated his theory to his castmates, Dominic grins, “I was about 90 percent sure. The other 10 percent was just because it wasn’t in the actual words [of dialogue] yet. But then Stephanie starts coming over to Nate’s house a lot and I was like, ‘Hmmmm.’ I should have made a bet [laughs]!”

When it sank in for Dominic, a longtime fan of Fox’s, that Y&R was actually going there with his storyline, “All I was thinking about was Independence Day, Booty Call, Set It Off — all of these movies Vivica has been in. I was like, ‘I’m in scenes with her and she’s about to be my love interest?!’ It was surreal!'”

The actor says that whatever nerves or starstruck feeling he brought to set with him were eased by Fox. “She’s so down-to-earth, she just cut that starstruck stuff down, you know what I mean? She’s so chill, so welcoming, speaks to everybody on set. She just made it easy, you know? There is no ego with Vivica.”

As Dominic sees it, the turning point in Nate’s feelings toward Stephanie came when “she kept championing Nate to just take this leap of faith and have the surgery” that would make it possible for him to return to medicine. As Y&R viewers know, Nate’s career as a doctor ended in 2020 after an altercation with Devon left him with a massive injury to the hand with which he performed surgery. “I think that was something that Nate feared and he would never have done himself, but she believed in him,” Dominic notes.

At that point, says the actor, “It was just a matter of time” before things got romantic with the woman that Dominic describes as “beautiful and intelligent” in addition to being supportive.

Which is not to say that Nate put in zero effort to fight his attraction to Stephanie. Says Dominic, “He was trying to maintain a level of professionalism because she’s the chief of staff at Memorial,” where Nate would presumably be working again if his hand surgery is a success. And not only that, but “She’s a good friend to his mother,” Olivia. “So there’s that potential conflict! Can you imagine her coming back and seeing her close friend with her son? Imagine the cat fight!”

Then there’s the other off-camera character whose separate ties to Nate and Stephanie make this situation a sticky one: Malcolm (Shemar Moore), Nate’s former stepfather, was Stephanie’s lover and is the father of her son, Holden (Nathan Owens). “It would be interesting to see what Malcolm would have to say about this whole situation,” muses Dominic.

What led Nate to throw caution to the wind and act on his feelings for Stephanie, Dominic says, is the new lease on life the surgery has given him. “Knowing that anything is possible and that life is short,” the actor sums up. “There’s this attraction, and hey, why not?”

Is this a fling or is the connection between Nate and Stephanie poised to blossom into a real relationship? “That’s a good question,” Dominic winks. “I think, in the beginning, they don’t know exactly what it is. Nate’s kind of going with the flow. But Nate kind of falls in love rather quickly. So, if it lingers a little too long, he’s gonna be in love!

“The question,” Dominic continues, “is, what is Stephanie’s motive? Is it something real for her? That’s the question because we don’t really know her background.”

Asked what he hopes will happen for Nate and Stephanie moving forward, Dominic says, “My hope is for Vivica to stay on the show! That’s a busy woman! If she could stay on the show, that would be amazing. The sky’s the limit!”

Fox is currently away from Y&R filming a comedy movie for Netflix, Women Like Us. But Y&R still has plenty of story to tell for Nate and Stephanie — beginning with Lily and Devon reacting to the new development in their cousin’s love life. “He’s not asking for their permission,” Dominic clarifies. “But he is hoping they can support him and see that he’s happy; see it’s two grown folks!”

Outside of the family, Dominic says that Nate is prepared for other eyebrows to raise in Genoa City if he and Stephanie go public. “Nate’s not dumb,” he shrugs. “He understands that there are going to be questions and whispers.” Not to mention some complex HR issues if Nate does go back to work at Memorial, making Stephanie his boss!

Still, “That’s not gonna stop him,” Dominic predicts. “Stephanie has put a fire under Nate’s belly. She’s beautiful and smart, all these things. What’s not to love about Stephanie outside of her son [laughs]? Nate don’t like him!”