Young and Restless Comings & Goings: Shemar Moore and Vivica A. Fox Return for ‘Shocking’ Story Arc!
Fans of The Young and the Restless are in for a huge surprise: two of the show’s most famous alumni have signed on to make short-term returns to Genoa City! The first is Shemar Moore, the Daytime Emmy-winner who became a daytime superstar during his original run as Malcolm Winters, which lasted from 1994 until 2002, and the second is Vivica A. Fox, who portrayed medical student Stephanie Simmons from 1994-95.
Coming Around Again
Both actors resumed taping on Tuesday, February 17 and will air in April for a multi-show arc. The show isn’t revealing much about the storyline that will Moore and Fox reprise their roles, but teased in a press release, “In the episodes, Malcolm Winters (Moore) and Dr. Stephanie Simmons’ (Fox) surprising return has shocking and lasting implications for the residents of Genoa City.”
Malcolm and Stephanie had a short-lived romantic relationship on Y&R that kicked off in 1994. They were fixed up by Malcolm’s sister-in-law, Olivia (Tonya Lee Williams), who was a colleague of Stephanie’s. The fling fizzled out early in 1995, and Stephanie disappeared from the canvas. Malcolm’s involvement with Stephanie occurred in the wake of the notorious plot in which Malcolm bedded Drucilla (Victoria Rowell), who was married to his brother, Neil (Kristoff St. John), while she was under the influence of cold medication and mistook him for her husband. That encounter resulted in Drucilla’s pregnancy with Lily (Christel Khalil), though the truth of her paternity did not come out for a decade.
Start Your Engines
Malcolm was Moore’s breakout role, earning him the 2000 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, seven NAACP Image Awards and two nominations for Hottest Male Star at the Soap Opera Digest Awards. After exiting the show in 2002, he returned for another stint from 2004-05 and made guest appearances in 2014, 2019 and 2023. (From 2009-11, Darius McCrary played Malcolm.) Moore went on to great prime-time success with long-running roles on Criminal Minds and S.W.A.T. He recently completed production on S.W.A.T. Exiles in Los Angeles.
Fox came to Y&R with two daytime credits under her belt. In 1998, she briefly played Carmen Siva on Days of Our Lives, and from 1990-91, she appeared in the role of Maya Reubens on Generations (1990-91), where she was a love interest for Kristoff St. John as Adam Marshall. It was while working on Y&R that she auditioned for her first major movie role, Will Smith’s love interest Jasmine Dubrow in the blockbuster Independence Day. She shared in a 2025 podcast interview that she almost didn’t get to try out for the part because of the stigma against daytime performers. When she tried to score an audition, “They were like, ‘Honey, you’re on a soap opera. This is gonna be a $60 million movie. So sorry.'” Fortunately, producer Bill Fay’s wife was a Y&R fan and endorsed Fox, and she ultimately landed the gig.
After their brief overlap on Y&R, Moore and Fox co-starred in the 2004 thriller Motives, starring as husband-and-wife duo Emery and Constance Simms, as well as in its 2007 sequel, Motives 2: Retribution.
Are you excited to see the characters of Malcolm and Stephanie return? What do you think the show has in store for them? Share your reactions and theories in the comments below!
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