© Jill Johnson/jpistudios.com
On the eve of Daniel Romalotti’s return to The Young and the Restless (Y&R), Michael Graziadei has revealed why he came back to the CBS soap.
“Bryton [James, Devon] came over to my house with Christel [Khalil, Lily] so they could meet [my] boys,” Graziadei explained in the new issue of Soap Opera Digest. “So we’re playing around and Bryton asked, ‘Would you ever come back to Y&R?’”
Graziadei admitted that he hadn’t really thought about it, but replied to James, “‘I just always thought that if they ever wanted me to come back, that they would call me.’”
But the fact that James had asked him gave Graziadei pause.
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“That made me think if I had a regular job in Los Angeles and was not running out of town, I would be able to watch my sons grow up,” Graziadei explained, referring to his twin boys. “So I told Bryton, ‘I’d be very tempted.’”
Fans who are excited to see Daniel back in Genoa City can thank James, because apparently the soap star became an intermediary between Graziadei and Y&R producers.
“James spoke with a bunch of people over there and then they all started calling me,” the actor reflected. “From there it just happened really fast.”
In fact, Y&R even fast-tracked the return of the star, who hadn’t been seen on the soap since 2016.
“At one point they said, ‘You know, we’re thinking we’ll do this but it won’t be until December,’” Graziadei explained. “And then all of a sudden, they called and they’re like, ‘Hey, here’s the offer and we wanna start in October.’ That was just a couple of weeks away!”
Once Graziadei got back on the set, he admitted it was as though he had never left – despite all of the new faces and new sets. The actor also mentioned that it was especially exciting to share the screen with Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) and returning icon Michael Damian (Danny) again.
“Michael was one of the first people that I spent a lot of time working with when I came to the show,” Graziadei explained. “Getting to hang out with him and see him in person and work with him and Michelle has been so much fun.”
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