CASTING UPDATE: Eden Riegel's (Heather) Exit Confirmed, Actress Learns of Firing Online!

 

Eden Riegel (Heather Stevens) has been let go from The Young and the Restless, but the Emmy-winning actress didn't hear the news from the show. Riegel learned of her dismissal after the news was reported on the Internet.
 
Soaps In Depth reported that Riegel had been let go -- along with a handful of other stars. The move to trim the show's cast comes as the CBS soap has hit record lows in the Nielsen ratings. Fans jumped on the report, and asked Riegel if the report was true.
"It's not for me to say they're wrong but I have not been told of my departure," Riegel said of the Soaps in Depth report that she'd been fired, noting that it would be "embarrassing" if the magazine had found out that she'd been let go before she did.

Apparently there were some phone calls made or emails exchanged, because Riegel took to Twitter again a short time later with a decidedly different message.
"Oops. I take it back. Apparently my run on Y&R is soon coming to an end," Riegel clarified. "It was a fun ride!"

That run lasted just about 18 months. Riegel taped her first Y&R scenes in March 2010. Prior to that, Riegel appeared as a contract player on All My Children from July 2000 through February 2005. In 2005, Riegel won a Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Younger Actress. The actress also returned for short-term appearances on AMC from 2005 through a one-day appearance in January 2010.

"I have to say I was a wee bit bummed. But looking at [my son] Jack makes it hard to be down about anything," Riegel added.

News of Riegel's ouster comes on the same day as two other Y&R stars. Tristan Rogers (Colin Atkinson) revealed his character would be exiting the canvas, and insiders say that Darius McCrary (Malcolm Winters) is also leaving.

Y&R has not confirmed any of the exits because they have a policy of not commenting on actors' contracts but, based on her tweets, Riegel's departure is the first actual confirmed exit of the four stars  that are rumored to be cut from the highest-rated sudser's roster (Sean Patrick Flanery's veternarian-turned-Sharon's-lover is the fourth rumored exit).
Riegel is not the only one of the four stars who took to Twitter about the rumors of their exit, though. Tristan Rogers also tweeted what could be considered confirmation of his impending exit -- "seems Colin is leaving GC" -- but he has made no additional posts to elaborate on his statement.


Stay tuned here for more details on the show's cast-trimming in the coming days and weeks.