Hunter King Teases Whether She'll Ever Return To The Young And The Restless

Hunter King had a remarkable, decade-long run as Summer Newman on "The Young and the Restless." Her character ultimately exited the fictional town of Genoa City, in 2022, to keep Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) in his son's life. However, bombshell revelations exposed the plot that really kept them apart, causing Kyle to depart town in her stead and join Summer in Italy (via Soaps In Depth). This was the final appearance of both characters until Victoria Newman's (Amelia Heinle) and Ashland Locke's (then Richard Burgi) highly anticipated nuptials. 

At Victoria and Ashland's wedding, Summer and Kyle popped in for a special surprise visit, with both King and Mealor temporarily reprising their roles too. During the multi-episode event, the young couple revealed they were married in a private ceremony — a detail that perfectly wrapped up their storyline during this brief, one-off appearance (via Soaps.com). And yet, that narrative shifted considerably following the announcement that Mealor was returning to "Y&R" full-time as Kyle. 

On the other hand, Summer's status remained up in the air. Sometime after the Kyle announcement, news broke that King wasn't returning as Summer and the character would be recast with Allison Lanier (via Soap Central). With King out as Summer, her future on the soap is bleaker than ever. But, luckily for viewers, the actor is finally opening up about whether or not she'd ever return to the show that launched her career. 

Unfortunately for fans of Hunter King's performance on "The Young and the Restless," it doesn't appear that the former daytime star is planning to return to her old stomping grounds any time soon. In an interview with Soaps.com, King ruminated on the possibility of returning to the daytime drama, remarking, "People do come and go and paths seem to cross in the soap world, so never say never, but right now, I am just so incredibly happy and honored and thankful to be with Hallmark."

It's easy to understand why King didn't entirely rule out a return in the future since her work on the long-running soap not only launched the star's primetime television career, which included shows like "Life In Pieces," but also earned King two Daytime Emmy Awards (via Soap Central). Allison Lanier has comfortably settled into the role of Summer Newman, so if King did return at some point, she'd likely portray an entirely different character. 

Of course, this isn't unheard of in soap operas, especially when an actor makes the move back to a show featuring their former character as played by someone new. "General Hospital" rehired former Carly Corinthos actor, Sarah Joy Brown. Laura Wright was securely planted into the role of Carly, leaving Brown to portray the newly formed Claudia Zacchara character instead (TV Source magazine).