Why Claire should have slept with Holden on The Young and the Restless

It feels like The Young and the Restless writers overlooked what could have been a great twist in Claire's (Hayley Erin) current love story with Kyle (Michael Mealor).

What happened this week on The Young and the Restless

Claire sees Audra kissing Kyle on The Young and the Restless | Image: CBS

This week on The Young and the Restless, Claire walked into Society and found Audra (Zuleyka Silver) kissing Kyle, which was originally part of Audra's plan with Victor (Eric Braeden) to lure Kyle away from Claire. We know how much Victor distrusts Kyle, hates that he's an Abbott, and believes that Kyle will break his granddaughter's heart eventually. Claire obviously doesn't trust Audra.

But what she doesn't realize is that when Kyle and Audra were in Nice, France, during the big revelation of Aristotle Dumas as Cane Ashby (Billy Flynn), Kyle did not immediately push Audra away when she kissed him in his room. He kissed her back, looked like he was enjoying it, and continued kissing her on his bed before he told her that he was on to her game. Kyle has been acting like the innocent party in front of Claire, when he knows darn well he's not entirely innocent. True, he didn't sleep with Audra, but some of us still regard kissing as cheating.

Claire should have been the one to cheat, with Holden

Holden and Claire have become friends on The Young and the Restless | Image: CBS

The past few months, we've seen a growing friendship between Claire and Holden (Nathan Owens) on The Young and the Restless. It started when they met at the Genoa City Athletics Club bar, and he acquainted her with the Vesper martini (the famous James Bond cocktail). Their friendship deepened when he comforted her through her grief after her father, Cole (J. Eddie Peck), died. Unfortunately, Cole died while Kyle was in Nice and couldn't console Claire, because Cane tricked his guests into thinking that no cell phone service was available on his estate.

Many of us expected Kyle to cheat, because let's face it, he's done it before. During his first marriage to Summer (then-Hunter King), he cheated on her with Lola (Sasha Calle). The minute he asked for a separation from Summer during their second marriage, he jumped into bed with Audra.

Could Holden be the better man for Claire?

Nathan Owens as Holden on The Young and the Restless | Image: CBS

Claire is considered an innocent goody-two-shoes and is in her first romantic relationship because her Aunt Jordan (Colleen Zenk) didn't allow her to have a social life when she was growing up. So it would have been an interesting twist if the writers had surprised us and shown us a different side to Claire, a Claire who would have given in to temptation and engaged in comfort sex with Holden, or even a comfort kiss. Who knows? Maybe she could have even caught some feelings for him in the process.

And then, after Kyle came home from Nice, we could have seen Claire wringing her hands with guilt and not knowing whether to confess to him or keep it a secret. It could have been an interesting twist from what we were expecting to happen. In the end, maybe she would have concluded that Holden is the better man for her after all. Perhaps she will turn to him after she learns that Kyle engaged in all those heated kisses with Audra in Nice.

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