MICHAEL MEALOR ON Y&R RETURN

After leaving the No. 1 soap in August 2021 and making a handful of appearances since, Michael Mealor’s Kyle moves back to Genoa City this week for a more permanent stay.

“I was lucky enough to work a lot when I was here for my first couple of years, so I was truly enjoying the time off,” begins the actor. “I wasn’t really thinking about work or YOUNG AND RESTLESS yet, and it never occurred to me that returning would be inevitable. I kind of knew that I have a family and home here if it ever worked out with the powers-that-be, but I never anticipated coming back. When I left, I talked to our executive producer and said, ‘Look, I will always come back and recur if you ever want me to.’ ”

Mealor reports that he had an interesting reaction when Y&R initially contacted him. “It was exciting but also funny,” the actor shares. “When I got a text from the producers saying, ‘Hey, can we talk?’ the little boy in me was like, ‘I’m in trouble! What did I do?’ even though I haven’t been on the show for months. The next day, I hopped on a Zoom meeting with everybody and the first thing they did was swear me to secrecy.”