Why Christel Khalil Suddenly Quit The Young And The Restless In 2018

Many soap stars end up leaving their cushiony daytime television jobs to pursue something bigger in the entertainment industry. While there have been plenty of success stories of soap stars making the jump to primetime — like "The Young and the Restless" alum Justin Hartley who went on to star on the hit show "This Is Us" — that isn't the case for everyone. 

Some actors take a break from the soap world to audition for bigger parts just to find themselves going back to their daytime roots. For example, "General Hospital" star Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri) admitted in 2020 that he thought his soap career would hurt his chances of getting a mainstream gig, according to Soaps in Depth. After struggling to find a decent role, he returned to Port Charles. The same can be said about "Days of Our Lives" star Victoria Konefal (Ciara Brady), who left Salem in 2020, per Deadline. The actress said she would miss working on the soap, only to return a year later and then leave again.

However, when it comes to "Y&R" star Christel Khalil (Lily Winters), she had a different reason for suddenly quitting the highly-rated CBS soap in 2018.

Many fans were shocked when Christel Khalil announced that she would be leaving Genoa City in 2018. At the time, her character, Lily Winters, was involved in several dramatic storylines. She was sentenced to a year in prison after being found guilty of causing Hilary Curtis' (Mishael Morgan) death, per Michael Fairman TV. If that weren't enough, she ended up divorcing her husband, Cane Ashby (Daniel Goddard), after he was caught cheating on her. It was obviously a surprise when Christel Khalil announced her exit from "Y&R" when there were still so many questions that needed to be answered about Lily's future.

However, unlike many other daytime television stars, she didn't leave the show to pursue other opportunities. Instead, her personal life had become complicated because she was dating someone from Toronto, Canada. Khalil also told the Soap Opera Digest podcast that she wanted to spend more time with her son, Caden. "A lot of things have been changing in my life over the years," the actress said. 

Unlike other stars who had a difficult time on "The Young and the Restless," like soap vet Cady McClain, Christel Khalil thoroughly enjoyed her time on the show. While she was going back and forth between Los Angeles and Toronto for quite some time, she ultimately decided to return to LA and return to her soap roots when she got a call from "Y&R" co-executive producer and head writer Josh Griffith. She told Soap Opera Digest in 2020, "I happened to run into Josh in the hallway at 'Y&R' shortly after New Year's Day, and he was like, 'I have this really exciting storyline. I think you'll love it.'" Khalil said that she and her boyfriend, sam Restagno, were considering moving back to California, so the timing was perfect. "It was kind of kismet when I ran into Josh, and we had that conversation. Sam was definitely supportive, knowing that he'd have to do a lot more and watch Caden when he's in school and stuff," she added.

The storyline that convinced Khalil to make the move back to her soap home was that her character Lily Winters was going into business with Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson). She said, "It's something I've always wanted for Lily, so it's nice to actually have that. Plus, I thought it was great for there to be a job to show more women in power as well, which is something Josh was really wanting to do."