Shortly after Eric Braeden broke the Internet Friday afternoon with news that Doug Davidson is “back” at The Young and the Restless, Davidson himself confirmed the good news.
Friday night Davidson tweeted two messages, reading:
“Okay! So, the cat is out of the bag. NONE of any of this would happen without all of your undying loyalty, support and kindness. All of you are the reason “Paul” is back on the canvas. THANK YOU SO MUCH. @EBraeden has been incredible the entire time. A huge thanks to him as well!”
“I will try and answer all of you, but I wasn’t expecting a press release from NEWMAN ENTERPRISES!! I promise I will respond. Again, I am forever grateful to you for all your support.XXOO”
You’ve got to love the Newman Enterprises shout out! But Davidson isn’t too far off the mark as powerful Braeden (Victor Newman) was one of the most vocal of voices lamenting his exit and calling for his return.
Hours before Davidson confirmed the news, Braeden tweeted a magnificent pic of these two legends in a joyous embrace, with the words, “He’s back!!”
There are no details yet about Davidson’s status on Y&R, following his announcement last summer that he was off contract at the show, with no scheduled taping dates to report. The backlash against the soap was immediate and furious, with petitions calling for his return to the role of Paul Williams.
Davidson was true to his word and soon got to replying to the loyal fans flocking to his Twitter page.
It should be noted that many tweets were from fellow soap stars across the spectrum. Daytime is a tight-knit community and this controversial and callous treatment of one of its veteran stars did not go down well or without notice.
Eric Martsolf (Brady, DOOL), wrote, “I love it when good things happen to good people.”
Jessica Collins (Avery, Y&R) tweeted, “Very happy for you. You’re a treasure!”
Jordi Vilasuso (Rey), who seemingly took over the reins while Paul was MIA tweeted, “Welcome back chief ????”
Davidson’s return begs the question of who else may return to the Y&R fold. His GCPD sidekick was Kevin Collins, played by Greg Rikaart, now on DOOL, who was one of the first to congratulate Davidson yesterday.
Once Davidson confirmed the good news, Rikaart responded, “So happy for you, Dougie, and glad that you’re back where you belong. ❤.”
Davidson’s response was priceless and will be sure to set tongues wagging about the possible return of another fan fave: “❤❤❤ I don’t suppose you’d consider…”
The Young and the Restless airs weekdays during the day on CBS.