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The Young and the Restless’s Patty Returns: Stacy Haiduk Teases Her ‘Unfinished Business’ (Excl)

By Mara Levinsky March 6, 2026

On March 6, The Young and the Restless reintroduced one of the biggest havoc-wreakers in its history: Patty Williams, once again played by Stacy Haiduk (who is also currently airing as another infamous troublemaker, Kristen DiMera, on Days of Our Lives). The character, who has been nursing an obsession with Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) for decades, was revealed to be his captor, purring, “Nice to see you too, Jack,” as he gaped at her in horror. Soap Opera Digest chatted with Haiduk about her surprise comeback to Genoa City nearly 10 years after her last appearance, her status at DAYS and more.

Shock to the System

If you didn’t have Patty’s return on your 2026 bingo card, you’re not alone. “I didn’t, either,” chuckles Haiduk, who says that the call to slip back into the character’s skin came at “just the right time.”

When Y&R reached out to her, “It was January, and DAYS had basically put my characters [Kristen and Susan] to rest,” Haiduk recalls. (Because DAYS shoots so far in advance, she will continue to be seen in Salem until late 2026.) “They do that a lot on DAYS, which is always sad for me. I was getting a little depressed because I was like, ‘Oh, I miss it, I want to be working,’ and blah, blah, blah. But the beauty of it was that two weeks after [she wrapped her latest DAYS stint], Josh [Griffith, Y&R’s executive producer/head writer] texted me unexpectedly and was like, ‘Are you available to come back as Patty?’ It was just perfect timing.”

While coming back to Y&R was not on her radar, it was very much on her wish list. “Honestly, I had hoped through the years that it would come around again,” Haiduk admits. “That doesn’t mean that I don’t love DAYS — I love that, too — but because I missed Patty and missed playing her, I had hoped that they would come calling. I just had no idea that it was going to work out so perfectly.” When she got the offer, “I was so grateful, you have no idea,” she muses. “I mean, honestly, I was kind of in a slump. I remember that it was a Friday, and I was kind of like, ‘Oh God, what am I gonna do now?’ I remember sitting outside in my courtyard looking up at the sky when all of a sudden I got the text and I started reading it and I was like, ‘Holy crap.’ I ran to my husband and read the text to him and I was like, ‘Can you believe this?!’ He goes, ‘Oh, my God. Only you. Perfect!'”

History Repeats Itself…..

https://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/the-young-and-the-restlesss-patty-returns-stacy-haiduk-teases-her-unfinished-business-excl/?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Step&utm_content=&utm_term=1facf14eb4b18bd1bb785d8bf055be3eb1800ba8952e2af86b64b9bdfefd0940

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