JPI
After the Thursday September 26 episode of Young and Restless, it appears that Heather Stevens has met a grisly end, courtesy of a spiraling Sharon, who is off her meds. In previewing the week’s events, head writer and executive producer Josh Griffith hinted to Digest, “A series of shocking events will further connect Sharon to Daniel’s family, including Phyllis. The years of hurt feelings and anger between these characters will reach a boiling point and take everyone on an unexpected ride.”
Reality Bites
While it looks like this could really be the end of Heather, and therefore probably the end of the latest Y&R run for portrayer Vail Bloom, Y&R isn’t commenting, which leaves Bloom’s official status up in the air.
If there is a twist and Heather isn’t actually dead, well, that wouldn’t be the first time Sharon’s storyline has included an apparent death that turned out to be greatly exaggerated. Longtime fans will recall when it appeared that she had killed Cameron and when she was involved in covering up JT’s “murder.”
Bloom was the first actress to portray Paul Williams’s daughter Heather as an adult and joined the show back in 2007, staying until 2010. All My Children veteran Eden Riegel (ex-Bianca Montgomery) took on the attorney next in 2010. She left in 2011. As the World Turns star Jen Landon (ex-Gwen Norbeck Munson) played her in 2012. That was the last fans had seen of the character until Bloom returned to the role last year to help usher in the return of Michael Graziadei as Daniel Romalotti.
In 2023 when Bloom was newly returned to the show, she appeared on Soap Opera Digest’s Dishing with Digest podcast and spoke about what it was like when she was first cast on Y&R. “Honestly, I remember Graz [Michael Graziadei, Daniel] the most, and I look back and I’m not sure how many scenes we had together, but we just had so much fun and a really good connection as friends,” she recalled. “I was a newcomer, and I remember how comfortable everyone was because they’d been there so long, and [how] confident and playful people were. And I do remember it was really lovely.”
The talented actress also addressed how she felt about getting that call to return to the show. “I was surprised … [and] it was so nice to get the call. Definitely didn’t expect it just because it had been so long,” she said. “[Heather’s] a strong woman [and] it’s very easy to respect her. I’m really proud to have her storyline. I think she is a good role model for women … So it was easy to dip into her. … I respect her a lot, so it’s very easy for me.
So is this truly the end of Heather? Or could this somehow be a nightmare that will finally wake up Sharon and make her realize how far she’s come off the rails since stopping her bipolar medication? Stay tuned to find out.
