Preview: Young and the Restless' "Dynamite" Twist

• Feb 6, 2008 05:34 PM ET
• by TV Guide News

Say it ain't so! On Feb. 11, The Young and the Restless will bring back the marvelous Signy Coleman as blind heroine Hope Adams. But, after just a week, the character - a major fan favorite from the '90s - is going to die on screen from pancreatic cancer.

"It's welcome back, now get the hell out of here!" says Coleman, who got the call to return while shopping in a New Jersey mall. "I was thrilled they want me to play Hope again, but so heartbroken they're killing her off that I just stood there crying in the middle of Barnes & Noble. She's the best character ever. But I'm also very grateful. They allowed me to bring her in, and they're allowing me to take her out."

And there's a big upside to this sad event. Hope's son, Vic, to be played by Chris Engen ( Felicity), doesn't know he's the spawn of Genoa City megalomaniac Victor Newman (Eric Braeden). "Hope's last wish is that her son connect with his father," Coleman says. "It's going to be dynamite."

Y&R's younger set will also get a boost from Elizabeth Hendrickson, who was a sensation as All My Children's Maggie. The actress, now sporting a Posh Spice bob, joins the show Feb. 6 as Chloe, whom she describes as a "funky, edgy fashion coordinator. She controls the Fresh Face of Jabot photo shoots - and she's not a very good influence."

High-flying Chloe will get hold of contest winner Lily Winters (Christel Khalil) and expose her to a world of upscale parties, drugs and weight obsession to the point where the kid starts to lose her identity and her soul. Hendrickson can't wait. "I'm always playing the girl next door," she says. "I want to be evil!" - Michael Logan