Another Sign Steve Burton’s Heading to ‘Young and the Restless’?
Young and the Restless might get Steve Burton back after his run at General Hospital ended six weeks ago as a hot new tip from an insider at CBS daytime hints. Will a reported regime change open the door to Dylan McAvoy‘s return on Y&R?
Showrunner Change Brought Steve Burton to Young and the Restless the First Time
Steve Burton is best known to soap fans for his role on GH as mob enforcer Jason Morgan. He came to the ABC sudser as a fresh-faced heartthrob in the 90s and remained until 2012. Overlapping with much of his run was Jill Farren Phelps, who served as the executive producer there.
In January 2012, after four Daytime Emmys achieved, General Hospital replaced her with OLTL transplant Frank Valentini. Within six months, Jill landed in the EP slot at Young and the Restless. And within six more months, she’d reportedly lured her favorite actor over to Y&R where she created a role for him.
I have to go with Jill Farren Phelps. She hired @1SteveBurton and @ginatognoni. I've been watching YR since day 1 & Dylan was my favorite character. Sharon & Dylan were my fav couple! I also loved Phyllis when played by Gina. I miss them! Loved the interactions with Paul & Dylan.
— Lynn Weston Caldwell (@lynnCaldwell62) May 29, 2020
Back then, Jill was EP with Josh Griffith as head writer. They introduced a new character, Dylan McAvoy. And Steve got the part. Dylan was quite unlike mob hit man Jason Morgan. For four years, he played the police investigator. Then, after CBS axed JFP, it was only six months later that Steve left the soap.
Jill Farren Phelps Return to Y&R — Bring Ex-GH Actor with Her?
Is history repeating itself? Currently, Josh Griffith is still HW with Antony Molina as show boss. However, the Young and the Restless may cut ties with Molina, according to a source at CBS daytime. An actress filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him in August. To date, he remains working at the soap.
There are also reports that the powers that be aren’t pleased with the current lackluster writing. The same source says the network’s in talks with Phelps to return as either showrunner or head writer — or both. Remember, when CBS hired British soap vet Mal Young he shouldered both roles. Of course, many Y&R fans weren’t fans of his work.
.@YandR_CBS EP #jillfarrenphelps holds up the show's #daytimeemmys pic.twitter.com/Hc3o7qJ3zy
— CBS Daytime (@CBSDaytime) June 23, 2014
Now, the scoop is they may revert to JFP. You can see an interview with her above from six months ago. If she’s back, will her favorite soap actor follow? There’s nothing official from Phelps or CBS (which rarely comments on production or cast changes), it’s definitely something to think about. Steve Burton was close to Jill Phelps at both GH and Y&R…
Dylan Returns to Young and the Restless — Burton Back to Daytime?
Now, both Jill and Steve are available. If you didn’t know, the actor left GH rather than submit to their vaccine mandate. As of now, CBS does not have one in place. The ABC soap is the only daytime drama with a mandate in place. The same source said Y&R and B&B don’t plan to implement one.
Soap Dirt reported Steve Burton’s exit weeks before it was made official. You can see his statement below where Steve said he asked for both religious and medical waivers to the policy. It’s also of interest that he already had COVID and stated that he’d caught it on the GH set.
There were already questions of whether he might return to the role of Dylan on Young and the Restless. And that was before the rumors about Phelps returning. So, we’ll update you if anything else leaks about either of them coming back to the CBS soap. As of now, it’s just fascinating chatter…