The Young and the Restless Temporary Recasts Through the Years: 9 Soap Stars Who Stepped In

When Tracey E. Bregman (r.) went on maternity leave with her first son, Austin, in 1991, Caryn Richman briefly stepped in as Lauren Fenmore. Richman entered the gig with years of daytime experience, having played Elena Dekker on Texas.

In 1993, the same year Russell Todd (l.) exited the role of Jamie Frame on Another World, he was called to Genoa City to fill in for Don Diamont as Brad Carlton for a handful of episodes.

Judith Chapman (r.) subbed for Jess Walton as Jill Abbott for a brief stretch in 1994. Eleven year later, she joined the cast in the role of Gloria Bardwell, who became a frequent sparring partner of Jill's.

In 2011, Kin Shriner (l., seen here with Elizabeth Hendrickson as Chloe and Greg Rikaart as Kevin) briefly substituted for Ted Shackelford as Jeffrey Bardwell, returning to the Y&R canvas in a new role just seven years after he’d played a different character, Harrison Bartlett.

Y&R roles don't get more iconic than Katherine Chancellor, played by the legendary Jeanne Cooper from 1973 until her death in 2013. So the show turned to another icon, Emmy-winning star of The Waltons, Michael Learned (r., seen here with Amelia Heinle as Victoria), when Cooper needed to take a short-term sick leave in 2011.

With regular portrayer Hunter King (r.) temporarily unavailable due to a scheduling conflict with her prime-time series Life in Pieces, Bayley Corman played Summer Newman for a few episodes in 2018.

When Donny Boaz was ill with Covid in November 2020, Y&R tapped Justin Gaston (ex-Ben, Days of Our Lives) to fill in as Chance Chancellor. As luck would have it, the episodes Gaston appeared in were the ones featuring Chance and Abby’s wedding, played by Gaston's wife, Melissa Ordway, so the duo got to wed both in real life and on TV!

In 2021, when Mishael Morgan had to undergo emergency eye surgery, the show brought in soap vet Karla Mosley (Dani, Beyond the Gates) to pinch-hit as Amanda Sinclair (seen here with Bryton James as Devon). Mosley had previously worked in the same building where Y&R tapes playing Maya on The Bold and the Beautiful.

When a scheduling conflict with another project arose in 2022, Leigh-Ann Rose was temporarily replaced in the role of Imani Benedict by Denise Boutte (seen here with Sean Dominic as Nate).