On June 23, the news first broke that Conner Floyd was exiting Young and Restless, where he began playing Chance Chancellor back in November 2021, to become the new Chad DiMera on Days of Our Lives. (That role had become available when Billy Flynn wrapped up his run of over a decade to move over to Y&R as Cane Ashby.) Floyd’s days in Genoa City came to a dramatic end on July 28, when Chance was killed by Cane’s unhinged right-hand man, Carter. In the action-packed episode, Damian’s murderer was revealed to be Carter, who shot Chance dead before turning the gun on himself.
End of an Era
With Chance’s demise, Y&R is saying good-bye to a legacy character with deep roots in the show’s history. Born Phillip Chancellor IV, he was the biological son of Nina Webster and Phillip Chancellor III and the grandson of Jill Foster Abbott. Known as “Little Phillip” in his early years, Chance was born via emergency C-section in 1988. Over the years, a slew of different actors played the role. In 1988, Andrew Clark Rogers was the first Little Phillip, with twins Chuckie and Kenny Gravino assuming the role from 1988-89. Another set of twins, Scott and Shaun Markley, followed from 1991-93. After a brief stint by Thomas Dekker, Courtland Mead held the role from 1993-95. Alex D. Linz finished out the year, and in 1996, Nicholas Pappone came aboard. He last aired in 1999, and 14-year-0ld Penn Badgley (who would go on to stardom in projects like Gossip Girl and Netflix’s You) played the part from 2000-01.
Chance returned to the canvas (now going by that name) in 2009 in the form of John Driscoll, the first adult actor to play the character. He wrapped up in 2011, and Chance was off-camera until 2019, when Donny Boaz joined the show. Before Boaz left in 2021, Justin Gaston (who is married to Melissa Ordway, Abby, who was then Chance’s love interest) played Chance for a handful of episodes in 2020 — significant ones, during which Chance and Abby tied the knot. Shortly after Boaz’s final air date, Floyd showed up on screen.
Chance of a Lifetime
In a 2023 interview with Soap Opera Digest, Floyd recalled how he first found out that he had landed his first daytime role. “I was about to work out when my agent called and said, ‘You got it!’” he shared. “The workout turned into me dancing around my garage and calling everybody to tell them the news. After that, I did my homework to find out how to become a war hero.”
The actor said that what stood out to him upon reporting for work was “just how welcoming everybody was. Obviously, I was pretty nervous; it was my first studio gig and what I knew about Y&R was that everybody had been working there for a really long time, so I assumed it was like a really tight-knit family and I was right. I remember walking into the studio and people saying, ‘Hey, we’re so glad that you’re here!’ That shook the nerves out of me and I felt very accepted on the first day.”
Floyd described his Y&R gig in glowing terms, beaming, “It’s everything you can ask for as an actor. It’s a steady paying gig and I get to flex these acting muscles, which I love because it’s a perfect opportunity to get better every day. And I get to work with all of these savvy vets and I’m just trying to soak up as much as I can. I’m very honored and blessed to be working on this team.”
