As Young & Restless Teases the Return of J.T., Thad Luckinbill’s TV Comeback is Set
Welcome back to the small screen.
As Young & Restless viewers will have noticed, there have been loads of JT Hellstrom mentions in recent weeks, which has led many to wonder if the character, and his portrayer Thad Luckinbill, will be returning to Genoa City.
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The conniving Audra, who has her sights set on Nate Hastings, brought up JT’s name to his girlfriend Elena and suggested she book him as a guest on her medical podcast to kill two birds with one stone by getting to work more closely with her boyfriend and perhaps rekindling the flame between exes JT and Victoria, who has been eyeing Nate for herself.
Audra is anything but stupid and we’re certain she realizes that this idea is a train wreck waiting to happen — for Elena — who just happens to be her competition.
JT’s relationship with Victoria took a violent and extremely traumatic turn when he became emotionally and physically abusive and her mother Nikki hit him with a fireplace poker during a girls’ night get-together that included Sharon and Phyllis (still weird after all this time). The women believed JT to be dead and disposed of his body, only for him to turn up alive and torment them down the road.
Of course, as is wont to happen on soap operas, it turned out that the extreme change in JT’s behavior was all down to a brain tumor he’d sprouted. He was given surgery and sent off to serve time for the attempted murder of Victoria’s father, Victor, to wind down his storyline. We last saw him when Victoria and Christine paid him visits in the hospital in 2019.
Audra deliberately downplayed the trauma Victoria experienced so as to make the idea sound appealing to Elena, brushing it off as inconsequential because it was all due to the brain tumor, which has since been dealt with, meaning JT is no longer a threat.
That may be true, but we’re gonna guess the mere sight of her ex would give Victoria serious flashbacks, and witnessing her distress, Nate will blame Elena and go into protective mode with Victoria.
So, are Young & Restless writers actually going to bring JT Hellstrom back to Genoa City?
Given that it’s the daytime drama’s 50th anniversary year and returns have been the name of the game, we think there’s an excellent chance they’ll do just that. Unless they’re just going to have Elena book him and use the announcement that he’s set to return to town to upset Victoria. At this point, however, they’ve teased the possible return to an extent that it would be a letdown not to have JT appear.
What we do know is that Luckinbill’s return to the small screen is set. Per Deadline, the actor has signed on to heavily recur in a new series on Paramount+ from Yellowstone creator and executive producer Taylor Sheridan, entitled Lioness. The CIA drama stars Zoe Saldana, Laysla De Oliveira, and Nicole Kidman. He’ll play the role of Kyle, a close friend of Saldana’s character, Joe.
But the new gig certainly doesn’t mean he can’t film a stopover in Genoa City, so stay tuned Young & Restless fans!
Don’t miss these hot shots of your faves in Neil’s jazz lounge in the gallery below.
