Hayley Erin as Claire Grace in 'The Young and Restless' interviewing for Nikki Newman at Newman Media.
Image via CBS

Who is Claire Grace on ‘The Young and the Restless?’

There's definitely more than meets the eye to Newman Media's newest employee.

The Young and the Restless‘s 50-year history has sprung countless stories of personal, romantic, and familial drama spanning numerous generations and the most convoluted family trees. Among the Newmans, the Abbotts, the Chancellors, the Winters, the Baldwins, and the Williamses, there’s a cornucopia of complex family ties dating back decades. Consequently, when a new, untethered face shows up in Genoa City, it’s more than understandable that viewers will instantly suspect there’s more to them than meets the eye.

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Who is Claire Grace?

Hayley Erin as Claire Grace in 'The Young and Restless' interviewing for Nikki Newman at Newman Media.
Image via CBS

Claire Grace is a young woman from Oregon who shows up to Genoa City to interview for an assistant position at Newman Media, claiming to be a big fan of CEO Nikki Newman’s work. She eventually gets the job, setting her on a path of collision with some of the soap’s biggest players, including Adam Newman, who is now Nate Hasting’s assistant.

Claire was suspiciously familiar with the inner workings of Newman Enterprises and even mentioned being friends with Sophia Charmichael and having visited the town with her in the past. All of this was, of course, taken by the viewers as hints that the apparently unassuming newcomer could have a much deeper and darker history.

Who are Claire Grace’s parents?

Hayley Erin as Claire Grace in 'The Young and Restless' interviewing for Nikki Newman at Newman Media.
Image via CBS

There’s not much we know at this point about Claire, but Y&R fans have wasted no time putting on their detective hats and forming theories about the latest Newman Enterprises employee’s future in the soap. Claire has said her parents are dead and that she was raised by her great-aunt, but some fans are convinced this is either a complete lie or a half-truth, and that her mom and dad could be familiar faces to the GC crowd.

SoapDirt theorized Claire could be using her middle name as a last name in order to throw the Newmans off her scent, and that the name “Grace” could be a clue about who her mom really is. Does the name Grace Turner ring a bell? The character left the show almost a decade ago but had plenty of suitors during her time in Genoa City, who could potentially be Claire’s father, namely Nick Newman, Michael Baldwin, or the nasty villain Cameron Kirsten.

Other viewers are convinced Claire will be a new romantic interest for Adam Newman, or that she could be out for revenge against Audra and Tucker as one of the survivors of the underage sexual abuse scandal that the two helped cover up at McCall Unlimited. During her interview, Claire mentioned Tucker’s company, made a comment about Audra’s professional history with him, and mentioned being passionate about music.

Who plays Claire Grace in The Young and The Restless?

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 13: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been digitally retouched) Hayley Erin aka Hayley Erin Feil arrives for the Premiere of 'The Call of the Wild' at the El Capitan Theatre on February 13, 2020 in Hollywood, California.
Photo by Kurt Krieger/Corbis via Getty Images

The most avid The Young and the Restless viewers might recognize Hayley Erin Feil from the time she portrayed Abby Newman between 2008 and 2010, though now the 29-year-old is back with a new name and story. If not from Y&R, then you might know her as Kiki Jerome on ABC’s General Hospital or as Taylor Hotchkiss on Freefrom’s 2019 Pretty Little Liars spin-off The Perfectionists. Either way, it looks like Claire will be hanging around Genoa City for a while yet.


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Author
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Francisca Tinoco
Francisca is a pop culture enthusiast and film expert. Her Bachelor's Degree in Communication Sciences from Nova University in Portugal and Master's Degree in Film Studies from Oxford Brookes University in the UK have allowed her to combine her love for writing with her love for the movies. She has been a freelance writer and content creator for five years, working in both the English and Portuguese languages for various platforms, including WGTC.