Young and Restless Star Bryton James Files for Divorce From Wife Jahaira
Young and Restless star Bryton James (Devon) has filed for divorce from his wife, Jahaira, after separating in June 2025. TMZ is reporting that court documents filed by the actor indicate that the couple were married in March 2025, putting the date of separation at just three months later. He is citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split and is asking to terminate the court’s ability to award either of them spousal support. James also requests that Jahaira return to using her maiden name, Meyers, when the divorce is finalized. The couple never publicly announced their marriage, but went Instagram official in February, when, in a now-deleted Instagram post, James wrote, “My Everything” alongside two cozy selfies with his love interest.
Moving On
Jahaira Meyers is a professional dancer who performed with music superstar Beyoncé during her Cowboy Carter tour. A native of North Carolina, Meyers previously spent three years performing with the Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group in Las Vegas.
Back on May 2, during the time that the couple was married, James expressed his love for his wife in a since-deleted Instagram post featuring photos of Jahaira performing on stage during the Beyoncé concerts. He wrote, “What you’re looking at is the culmination of a lifetime of work, discipline, dedication, strength, bravery, and belief that my love, Jahaira, continues to exude. Her journey is what inspiration wants to be when it grows up. And I am beyond proud to be a witness to her art as we share this life together.”
In the comment section of the post, Jahaira responded, “Sharing this life and this stage with you is the greatest gift. Thank you for seeing me the way you do.”
James was previously married to Ashley Leisinger. His Y&R co-star Christian J. LeBlanc (Michael) performed the ceremony in March 2011, and the pair split up just three years later in 2014. “I don’t regret getting married at all,” he told Soap Opera Digest that year. “My ex-wife and I are still very good friends and I’m glad I got the opportunity to be married. It was a great experience and I learned a lot from it.”
The actor was also in a long-term relationship with his Y&R castmate Bryni Sarpy, who played Elena Dawson on the soap from 2019-2023, returning for a brief appearance in 2024. The couple moved in together in 2020, and James opened up about the relationship to Digest that same year, saying of their first meeting, “I was asked to come in to help with screen-testing, with reading with the girls that they had to play the character of Elena. I was in the parking lot and I remember she drove up looking for the spot that they gave her to park in and that’s the first time we met. I don’t think she knew that she was reading with me that day. She pulled up and rolled down the window and asked where the spot was and I saw her and fell in love right away.” He admitted that he’d had reservations about dating a co-star, chuckling, “I did until I didn’t. That all went out the window. I remember Kristoff [St. John, his late on-screen father, who played Neil] giving me that advice a long time ago probably not to do that. But it’s been great. We both have the same work ethic. We both love to be overprepared. To have someone that shares that kind of passion for what we’re doing is a great thing. We get to run lines constantly. It’s not really acting sometimes. But it’s been great. It really has. I feel extremely blessed to have my life changed in the way it has over the last year.”
In 2021, when James appeared as a guest on State of Mind, the podcast series about mental health hosted by General Hospital star Maurice Benard (Sonny), the topic of divorce and remarriage came up. James told Benard, “I don’t think I would get married again because I have different ideas about the institution of marriage and where it comes from and what it’s about.” He and Sarpy split in 2023.
James’s career started as a child actor when he played Richie Crawford on the sitcom Family Matters from 1990-97. He joined the cast of Y&R in 2004 and has received multiple Daytime Emmy Award nominations over the years, taking home the Younger Actor trophy in 2007 and Supporting Actor in 2020.
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.