After a three-year run as Summer Newman on “The Young and the Restless,” actress Allison Lanier is exiting the role as of the Friday, May 2 episode, she announced on X (formerly Twitter).
“I’ve loved the journey and learned so much but it’s time to grow in a different direction,” she wrote in a post, adding, “Very grateful for all of the ‘Y&R’ fans who have supported me.”
Before her announcement on Wednesday, Lanier’s most recent post on the social media platform was a repost from last November by the show’s official handle (@YRInsider) which saw her and co-star Conner Floyd (Phillip “Chance” Chancellor IV) visiting the set of KCAL News, a non-network affiliated Los Angeles station owned by Paramount Global, parent of CBS, to promote the Chips4Kids Toy Drive.
In a bit of irony, as the social media craze continues with AI-generated doll size designs of fan favorite characters, Floyd re-posted an image earlier this month on his Instagram story timeline, first posted by user @so_soaps_baby, indicating that the pairing of Chance and Summer were officially done, captioning the post “RIP Summance,” the couple name for the characters.
Reportedly, the show has no immediate plans to recast the role of Summer Newman as the character will be rested for the time being.
Lanier made her on-screen debut as Summer Newman on the May 17, 2022 episode, formally replacing Hunter King in the role. During her run on the show, Summer returned to Genoa City as the wife of Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) before the couple later broke up. Later, Summer began a relationship with Chance Chancellor.
In 2024, Lanier received her first-ever Daytime Emmy Award nomination for her portrayal of Summer Newman in the category of Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actress.
Outside of “The Young and the Restless,” Lanier’s other acting credits include a starring role in the series “Red Oaks” and the films “It Happened in L.A.,” an official selection screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017, “Fish Bones” and “Mia.”
