Lily falls in love on The Young and the Restless — and we know who could steal her heart

On The Young and the Restless, it’s been a rough year for Lily Winters (Christel Khalil). In the spring, she returned to Genoa City after helping her daughter out of town, only to discover that her boyfriend, Daniel Romalotti (Michael Graziadei), had reunited with Heather Stevens (Vail Bloom) while she was gone. Lily was heartbroken but forged ahead.

Unfortunately, throwing herself into her work as a distraction was short-lived. When Jill (Jess Walton) had heart issues, she stepped back from Chancellor-Winters, and well, long story short, Devon left the company, the name was changed to Abbott-Chancellor, and Lily was sharing the CEO seat with Billy but wanted it for herself.

Lily plotted to get rid of Billy, but he caught on and beat her to the punch. Lily was unemployed, but eventually agreed to come back and work with Billy — only to have Jill sell the company to Victor, and she was unemployed again before she could get a new employee I.D. badge.

Lily finds love on The Young and the Restless

Where is Lily headed next? She doesn’t want to go back to the family company, Hamilton-Winters. Although her brother Devon (Bryton James) and cousin Nate (Sean Dominic) would like her to return, she wants to succeed independently.

Lily and Devon are both head-strong leaders. Working together could once again have them butting heads, and that’s something Lily wants to avoid. But Devon can be convincing, and bonding with family might be a good thing instead of feeling alone.

But for how long will Lily be on her own? The Young and the Restless Executive producer and head writer Josh Griffiths knows the answer. He shared with Soap Opera Digest that Lily's finding true love was on the horizon.

In addition to Lily, the relationships of other Y&R characters will be at the forefront. Griffiths summarized, “It’s going to be an exciting winter. I think that from now until the end of 2024, fans can look forward to a roller coaster of suspense, romance, family, explosions, and twists and turns like they haven’t seen.”

Who could be filling Lily’s love tank?

Lily might have more than her choice of leading men as there are several prospects in Genoa City that are young, restless, and single.

While Billy and Lily clashed professionally, they were former romantic partners. Of course, that didn’t work out either, but they’re both technically single. However, Griffiths also hinted that Billy and Sally would be triangulated with Phyllis, and there’s no way Lily would want any part of that.

Another possibility for a reunion would be Lily and Daniel. Things progressed nicely for the former teenage bridge and groom until Heather returned and wanted her life with Daniel back. Things ended badly for Daniel and Lily earlier this year, but she might have some sympathy for him after Heather died.

Chance and Summer put the brakes on their relationship as she was upset and the way he handled Heather’s investigation and arrested Daniel. But Chance might not be as available as he seems. If Summer spotted him on a date with Lily, she’d probably interfere.

Thanks to the return of Amy Lewis (Valarie Pettiford), Nate’s half-brother Damian is coming to town, and while we don’t know much about him, Griffiths assures fans that he’s a handsome addition to the cast. Nate is Lily’s first cousin, and their mothers are sisters, but Damian has no relation to Lily. He could come to town and sweep her off her feet.

During the filming of the 13,000th episode, Joshua Morrow, who plays Nick Newman, made an interesting comment. He was joking with co-stars all day and posting the videos, asking them who they would (as their characters) like to “Marry, Kill, or ‘Make a Sandwich With.’” When he asked Christel Khalil (Lily), she flirtatiously suggested Nick. Later, he brought it up again and noted that Lily was the only one in Genoa City he hadn’t been paired with…yet. Were they dropping us a major hint of what is to come?

And then there is Cane Ashby (Daniel Goddard), Lily’s husband, who has been MIA for years. Last seen, Cane was going to Australia to track down his father, Colin Atkinson, who had made off with Katherine Chancellor’s money. She had willed her fortune to her grandson, Devon Hamilton, but Colin took it and went on the run. Did Cane find it, and is he coming back to make things right with his family? Or has he been living the high life with Colin, spending the Chancellor money?

Recently, Goddard had fans fired up when he hinted on Instagram that he had major news but couldn’t share it yet. Of course, viewers immediately took his comments to mean that he was making a return to The Young and the Restless, but as of yet, there has been no official confirmation.

Stay tuned to find out what happens next! You can watch full episodes of The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS or stream on Paramount Plus.