‘Y&R’ Billy Flynn Reveals Truth Behind Leaving ‘Days Of Our Lives’
Daytime viewers will soon see actor Billy Flynn on another channel. News broke this week that he’s leaving Days Of Our Lives after a decade of playing Chad DiMera for another role on the CBS soap The Young & The Restless. He spoke out about his exit in a new interview after the shocking casting change. Keep reading to find out why he’s really leaving the Peacock soap opera.
Billy Flynn Exits Days Of Our Lives
Billy Flynn took over the role of Chad DiMera on Days Of Our Lives in 2014. Actor Casey Deidrick previously played the part from 2009 until 2013. Billy Flynn told Variety that the soap opera role changed his life completely. Before booking the gig, he lived in a sailboat and didn’t have any money.
The relationship between Chad and Abby Deveraux (played by Kate Mansi and Marci Miller) was a huge storyline on the daytime drama that lasted for years. The show killed off Abby in 2022 but the storyline wasn’t over.
The soap brought on primetime actress AnnaLynne McCord to play a character pretending to be Abby. But she was really Cat Greene, a woman with a vendetta against the DiMera family. Chad has been fighting his feelings for Cat, but now that Billy Flynn is leaving, it’s unclear if the show will continue the storyline with a new actor.
Shares Reason Behind ‘Bittersweet’ Decision
The news that Billy Flynn was jumping shows came as a complete shock to fans. But it seems something that the actor had been thinking about for a while. He told Variety that he was looking forward to the slower shooting schedule at Y&R compared to Days. The Peacock soap is notorious for shooting at a rapid pace, with the actors only rehearsing during blocking, as recently confirmed by Deidre Hall.
But the hectic shooting schedule didn’t play a part in his decision to leave. He spoke to the outlet about his original dream of acting. Billy Flynn confessed, “I love acting, and I love stories, and I never imagined I would just tell one story for the rest of my life.”
His desire to play a new character was behind his decision to move to The Young & The Restless. “I think with [Chad,] I’ve done everything I can with it. I’m looking forward to doing something new. I’m about to start a new journey and tell another story. It really is just that simple,” he explained.
Who exactly he’ll be playing on the CBS soap hasn’t been revealed yet. However, he did tell Variety that due to the filming schedule, he will appear on Days Of Our Lives and The Young & The Restless at the same time in 2026.
He’ll Miss Chad DiMera
Ten years is a long time to stay at one job and especially for actors, to stay in the same role. While Billy Flynn is looking forward to moving on, he still feels connected to Chad DiMera. “He’s been as much of me as I think I probably will ever put into another part.”
The actor continued, “There were some times when I was going through some really hard things in my life, and it just so happened that Chad was going through similar things: losing his wife, and I had lost somebody close to me… There were moments in it that became like a love letter to my own kind of life. It’s special in that way.”
Will you miss Billy Flynn on Days Of Our Lives? Share your reaction in the comments.
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