With the news that CBS is currently in “accelerated development” on a new daytime soap opera geared towards the African American audience, daytime soap icon Victoria Rowell, who portrayed Drucilla Barber Winters on “The Young and the Restless” off and on from 1990-2007, is happy to see change happening both on-screen and behind the scenes when it comes to the future of daytime dramas.

In a message posted on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, Rowell said, “CHANGE is POSSIBLE! Believe it!” while linking to a news story on “The Gates,” a new soap being spearheaded by the first and only Black woman ever to hold the position of head writer/co-head writer of a daytime drama series, Michele Val Jean (“General Hospital,” “The Bold and the Beautiful”), and follows a wealthy Black family in a posh, gated community.

If picked up to series, “The Gates” would become the first new CBS daytime soap opera since 1987 and the first to feature a predominantly Black cast in leading roles since “Generations” in 1989. In addition to writing and executive producing, Val Jean is also set as showrunner of “The Gates,” marking another first as no other Black woman has ever held the position of executive producer or showrunner for a daytime drama series. That said, Sheila Ducksworth, another Black woman, is also set up as an executive producer for “The Gates.”

Lawsuit

Since exiting “The Young and the Restless” in 2007 as Drucilla, Rowell famously sued CBS and the show’s producer, Sony Pictures Television, alleging retaliation stemming from her choosing to speak out against discrimination and injustice she allegedly endured and witnessed happen to other African Americans during her run on the soap opera, which remains the most-watched and highest-rated in the demographic in 2024.

Among the claims in her since settled lawsuit, Rowell noted she had sought to return to “The Young and the Restless” as Dru or possibly another role on “The Bold and the Beautiful,” among other soaps remaining on the air, but she was being “impoverished and blackballed.” Also named in the lawsuit was Bell-Phillip Television Productions, Inc., producers of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and Corday Productions, producers of “Days of our Lives.”

Rowell’s Return to CBS

In 2022, Rowell was cast in the recurring role of Tina Kingsley in the short-lived primetime drama series Good Sam. The series starred Sophia Bush (“One Tree Hill,” “Chicago P.D.”) and marked the first time in more than a decade since Rowell had appeared on a CBS series in an acting capacity. In 2019, Rowell appeared on “The Talk” and a special standalone episode of “The Young and the Restless” dedicated to the memory of Kristoff St. John (Neil Winters), who died suddenly with his death ruled accidental and the cause of death listed as hypertrophic heart disease.

On “The Young and the Restless,” Drucilla notoriously fell off a cliff along with bestie Sharon (Sharon Case) after a scuffle with Phyllis (Michelle Stafford). To this day, Dru’s body has never been formally discovered, leading many to believe she could one day come back very much alive, albeit needing a very good excuse as to why she’s been away for so long.

While there is currently no indication that Rowell might ever return to Genoa City, even though it would make sense storyline wise, and could potentially lift the series to multi-year highs in Total Viewers and the key women sales demographics, fans have already added the actress to their wish list of potential actors to be cast on “The Gates,” along with other prominent Black actresses such as Debbi Morgan (“All My Children”), Vivica A. Fox (“The Young and the Restless,” “Generations”) and Tonya Pinkins (“All My Children”), among others.

Potential Return to Y&R

During last year’s 50th anniversary celebration for “The Young and the Restless,” Rowell walked the red carpet alongside several of the show’s past and present cast, leading many to hope that, again, Rowell would one day make a return to the series. Even still, the actress has kept herself busy in the years since leaving the show, including creating, starring in and executive producing “The Rich and the Ruthless,” a series adaptation loosely based on her novels “Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva” and “The Young and the Ruthless.”

The series, which ran for four seasons across streamers UMC (now called ALLBLK) and BET+, followed the behind-the-scenes drama of a struggling soap opera forced to move production from Los Angeles to Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Rowell won all 11 NAACP Images Awards she was nominated for throughout her run on “The Young and the Restless.” Separately, for much of the eight-season run of “Diagnosis Murder,” where she portrayed Dr. Amanda Bentley-Livingston opposite legendary actor Dick Van Dyke, Rowell pulled double duty in daytime and primetime, proving it can be done and done very well.