After a four-year run as Phillip “Chance” Chancellor IV on “The Young and the Restless,” actor Conner Floyd saw his character killed off in dramatic fashion during the Monday, July 28 episode of the long-running drama series.
In story, while still at the chateau, Chance swooped in to save both Cane Ashby (Billy Flynn) and Lily Winters (Christel Khalil), whose lives were in danger after it was revealed that Carter (Vincent Stalba) had killed Damian. In an attempt to escape punishment for his crime, he took Lily hostage, but when things reached their breaking point, he let her go, only to fire his gun with a bullet striking Chance directly in his chest.
During Chance’s final moments, he died in Cane’s arms, a poignant plot point, both from a story perspective and also a real-life one as, at one time, Cane (then played by Daniel Goddard) assumed the identity of Chance’s father, Phillip Chancellor (Thom Bierdz), to scam Jill (Jess Walton), Chance’s grandmother, out of her money. Secondly, it was announced last month that Floyd had assumed the role of Chad DiMera on “Days of our Lives,” a character previously portrayed by Billy Flynn, though Flynn continues to appear on both soaps due to the advanced tape-to-air schedule followed by the latter series.
On-screen, Flynn will conclude his run in Salem in early 2026, while Floyd will assume the role beginning with the Tuesday, April 21, 2026 episode. “Days of our Lives” was recently renewed for a 62nd and 63rd season at Peacock.
In an interview with TV Insider, Floyd shared with the outlet that his character died the way he would have wanted to go out, specifically as a hero. “That’s his story that he’s always been telling — that he’s a hero — and the ultimate person to put everybody else above himself, so I think it’s a little poetic in a way. And then the way I died in Billy Flynn’s arms is also very poetic.” Interestingly, Floyd thinks “The Young and the Restless” head writer Josh Griffith purposely had Chance die in Cane’s arms as a nod to what the future held for the actor.
CBS
While he’s sad to see his time in Genoa City come to an end, particularly as his character was one of the last remaining remnants of the iconic Chancellor family, Floyd has great things to say about his experience, including his chance to work with such greats as Eric Braeden (Victor Newman), Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott) and Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki Newman), just to name a few, saying, “I know my grandmothers are rolling over in their graves right now. I wish they could have been here to get a little piece of that, but it’s really cool just to be a part of the soap world. It’s a unique place for an artist, and I feel like I came out of this a little better of an actor than when I started.”
Calling Chance’s death “bittersweet,” Floyd is thankful that he already had another job lined up at the time when he found out where the storyline was going, sharing, “I had another job on the horizon, and so it’s like, ‘Oh, OK, I’m not going to be unemployed,’ but it is sad to say goodbye to Chance and to everyone over there at ‘Y&R,’ so it’s a little bit of mixed emotions. I feel happy, I feel sad, it kind of depends on the day.”
While closing out his time at the Television City studio where “The Young and the Restless” is taped, he recalled that his last day hit him more than expected, revealing that while he is a “crier,” he tried his best not to succumb to tears, but ultimately failed. “I remember talking to Billy Flynn, and he was like, ‘No, I bet you cry. I cried when I left [‘DAYS’].’ I was like, ‘Yeah, we’ll see, man.’ We had this last scene, and everyone was clapping, and I was saying goodbye to everyone and walking out, and I cried like a baby. I’m not going to lie,” said Floyd. “There were a couple of us that got together and hung out afterwards, and I was still fighting tears there. But there are good things on the horizon, so I was OK.”
