Who Y&R's Zuleyka Silver Credits For Helping Her Get Through Kyle And Audra's Steamy Love Scene

There have been some surprising changes among the couples on "The Young and the Restless" lately. While Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic) seemed to genuinely love Elena Dawson (Brytni Sarpy), he turned out to be nothing more than a two-bit cad when he cheated on her with Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle), and fans are not liking the new Nate. Meanwhile, Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) has been fed up with his wife, Summer Newman (Allison Lanier), who kept secret the fact that her mother, Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford), faked her own death and pinned it on his mom, Dian Jenkins (Susan Walters). He was so disenchanted that he began an unlikely tryst with corporate ladder climber Audra Charles (Zuleyka Silver).

While steamy scenes seem to be largely missing from today's soap operas, they might be making a big comeback. Chance Chancellor (Conner Floyd) and Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) had passionate, non-cheating sex, and Kyle and Audra's dance between the sheets has also filled that daytime passion void. Unsure if Kyle and Audra are actually attracted to each other, or if she's just working a calculated business angle, Silver told Soap Opera Digest, "I think Audra needs some action! She hasn't got action in a long time and Kyle was already checking her out and giving her the eyes at the gala." The actress is referring to the time Kyle and Audra met at Genoa City's bicentennial gala. One chance meeting after another, coupled with Summer's betrayal, led to an affair. Thankfully, she had Mealor there to help her get through the filming of the passionate scene they shared. 

Surprised that the writers paired up Audra with Kyle, Zuleyka Silver admitted to Soap Opera Digest that she never expected there to be a sex scene between them because she didn't know Michael Mealor was on the show's group production text thread. "I was thinking, 'Oh, it's going to be Tucker, Trevor St. John, or Sean [Dominic, Nate] or something,'" she recalled. When she found out it was going to be with Mealor, she wondered how the connection was going to play out. Silver felt that both characters are attracted to each other, but questioned whether Audra would actually be into Kyle if he wasn't part of a wealthy family.

Because her previous sex scenes with St. John were rather mild, she was shocked when Mealor explained his character was previously a bad boy and he'd done many of those scenes over the years. "Okay, so he's, like, professional at these sex scenes and I'm — not!" she jokingly stated. She further explained that because she was nervous going into the scenes, Mealor's professional demeanor helped her get through it. "I think it really helps when you have a partner who understands that you're not a pro at sex scenes, and does everything they can to make you feel comfortable on set and stuff," she remarked. She also felt that the character pairing works because they come across as opposites, and she enjoys the positive fan reaction to it.