The Young and the Restless star Jason Thompson reveals what his plan was after leaving GH, but before he joined Y&R

The Young and the Restless star Jason Thompson is a living testament to the adage that "time flies when you're having fun." The actor vacated his Daytime Emmy-nominated role as Dr. Patrick Drake on General Hospital.

The Young and the Restless, Port Charles to Genoa City

On Wednesday, January 14, Thompson celebrates a decade of playing Billy Abbott on Y&R. The actor had played the part of GH's Patrick for about a decade, starting in 2005. The character of Patrick was tied to GH lore as he was the son of Dr. Noah Drake (Rick Springfield), who walked the halls of General Hospital with a stethoscope in the early 1980s.

Thompson's character brought some of the show's focus back to the hospital. Patrick's romance with Kimberly McCullough's Robin Scorpio became legendary, one of the few soap opera supercouples that emerged from the genre during that time.

McCullough exited the series, leaving Patrick in storyline limbo in some ways. Viewers didn't want to accept the good doctor with anyone else. He exited PC to be with Robin, and Thompson was looking at either staying in the soap opera genre or not.

He explained in the new issue of TV Guide Magazine that he didn't have a plan when he left GH, but he revealed he was ready for a change.

When Billy met Sally

When Y&R approached him about taking on the role of the youngest Abbott sibling, the son of Jill Foster Abbott (Jess Walton) and the late John Abbott (the late Jerry Douglas), Thompson knew he had huge shoes to fill, given that the role had been played by the late Billy Miller (ex-Drew, GH).

Thompson was on GH at the same time as Miller, and he was aware of what the role meant to the late star. He says he received Miller's blessing when Miller told him that if anyone could do it, Thompson could. He says that meant a lot to him.

Thompson, denied a Daytime Emmy for playing Patrick, took home the gold in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2020 for playing Billy. He calls himself "lucky" in that a stable acting role is tough to come by!

Over the years, we've seen Billy continue to deal with the loss of his daughter, Delia (Sophie Pollono), romance both Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope) and Chelsea Lawson (Melissa Claire Egan), and spar with Victor Newman (Eric Braeden).

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Soap Central congratulates Thompson on his 10th anniversary as Billy Abbott.

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

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