When five actors have played the same character, fans are going to talk… and talk… and talk about whether that character will be recast. This has always been the story with Adam Newman on The Young and the Restless.
Tracker and This Is Us star Justin Hartley, as well as Dane West, Michael Muhney, and Chris Engen have all portrayed Adam. Mark Grossman was cast for the role in 2019. His version of the character has been a hit with fans (let’s be honest, he’s adorable), and now everyone is asking (yet again) if Grossman is leaving Y&R.
Has Mark Grossman left The Young and the Restless?
Grossman didn’t leave The Young and the Restless and viewers can continue to cheer his character on. For the past few years, a rumor has spread saying that his exit is approaching. According to a forum on Soaps, viewers began chatting about the possibility of him leaving in 2022. That same year, fans posted on Reddit that his contract on the soap opera was up.
Grossman has continued to star on Y&R, so it’s safe to say he worked out a new deal. There are also no current reports that he’ll stop playing Adam this year or in the future. In early August, he shared two sweet photos with his co-star Melissa Claire Egan, who plays Chelsea Lawson, which proves he’s definitely still employed by the show.
Playing a soap opera character may be the same as other TV and movie characters in some ways — from needing to remember dialogue to diving deep into emotions — but with so many episodes, actors on soaps can lean into their character arc even more fully. While a soap wouldn’t be a soap without some sensationalized plotlines, fans have to give the actors credit for how hard they work to portray their fictional counterparts realistically.
In an interview with Soap Opera Digest in February 2024, Grossman talked about how much Adam has grown on the show, and the actor has totally embraced it. He talked about his craft and said he would “make sure that there’s still all that underlying stuff, like wanting to trust people at their word but being skeptical.”
If fans could have all their Young and the Restless dreams come true, Adam and his half-sibling Abby Newman (Melissa Ordway) would never leave. Since Adam and Chelsea are still co-parenting Connor (Judah Mackey), Adam is a necessary character. While there’s always a possibility that he could be recast, Grossman’s popularity suggests he’s fine for the time being. What a relief!