Exclusive Interview: The Young and the Restless star J. Eddie Peck speaks out on Cole coming back from the dead 

There's been a lot of death on The Young and the Restless as of late! Chance was killed in France while struggling with Carter. Back in Genoa City, Cole, played by J. Eddie Peck, succumbed to Legionnaires' disease. Soap Central spoke to Peck about Cole's fate and the possibility of someday coming back to the show.

The Young and the Restless, Cole's current condition

Death's a funny thing on The Young and the Restless. Veteran viewers recall a time when Cole (J. Eddie Peck) mourned the death of his newborn daughter, Eve, who passed away shortly after her birth. Also, Chance (Conner Floyd) believed his dad, Phillip III (Thom Bierdz), had died in the same hospital in which Eve had.

Now, Phillip and Eve (AKA Claire, played by Hayley Erin) are both alive and well. Phillip had faked his death so he could move to Australia; Eve had been whisked away by her Aunt Jordan (Colleen Zenk) and raised as Claire.

These days, it's Cole and Chance who are dead. Or are they? Soaps have a way of bringing folks back from that great soap opera in the sky. Floyd has a new gig over on Days of our Lives as Chad DiMera. Watch for him to make his debut in 2026 due to the Peacock drama's advance-taping schedule, so it's not likely we'll see him back in Genoa City anytime soon.

Peck, however, is another story. When Soap Central spoke to the fan favorite about his Y&R exit, he speculated that perhaps we haven't seen the last of him.

"I will never forget [the late] Bill Bell [creator, The Young and the Restless] having a long talk with me, and he always told me, 'Eddie, I promise you, this character will come back,'" shared Peck, referring to Cole going off to Oxford in 1999.

Bell passed away in 2005, but Peck never let go of the idea of someday reprising Cole. He attended the show's 50th anniversary gala in March 2023, and a conversation was held around that time with executive producer/head writer Josh Griffith about Cole's return, which happened at the end of that year.

"I had never lost hope because Cole was still out here," Peck shares. "Even now, I feel that Cole could come back in some form. Josh and the writers are very creative."

Death comes in 3's

Doing the Lazarus bit isn't anything new to Peck when it comes to his serial characters. "I was brought back when I was on Kyle XY," Peck says of his time on the ABC Family series that starred Matt Dallas as Kyle. "I think it was around episode 2. They had cremated my character, [Adam Baylin], and then, they threw his ashes over into a gulch somewhere outside of Vancouver. It looked like he was gone, but the network liked me and brought me back for [10 more] episodes."

The Young and the Restless actor also met his TV demise as Roger Grimes, Alexis Carrington's (Joan Collins) ill-fated lover on Dynasty as shown in the program's final year. "They brought me back throughout the season in dreams," Peck remembers.

Roger had been shot by Fallon when she was a little girl after she spied Roger attacking her mother, Alexis. Fallon was played by an adult by Emma Samms. "Emma was just wonderful," Peck recalls. "We struck up a nice friendship. It continued for a while after I left the show. Joan was wonderful, too."

No matter what happens in the future, Peck is grateful to Griffith and Y&R for his return, as Claire's true fate was revealed. "I enjoyed it and I'm so grateful for the call, and so grateful for Josh for keeping me on the canvas [for as long as he did]," says Peck, who adds that he was thankful to reconnect with so many old friends from Y&R while he was back in Genoa City.

"There's a handful of people there in the building who were there back in the day," the actor says, "and I've rekindled a friendship with them."

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So, if Claire (a.k.a. Eve) and Phillip III can return from the dead on Y&R, perhaps Cole and Chance, too, can someday come back!

Catch all-new episodes of The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS and Paramount Plus.

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