It’s been a while since Daniel Romalotti appeared on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS. Seeing him in old episodes might make some newer viewers curious about who he is and what his story is. But that’s where we come in! The character first appeared in 1994 and, after a string of child performers, was aged into a young adult in 2004. Cam gigandet briefly played the role before being recast with Owen Beckman, which never even aired because Michael Graziadei was quickly brought on board. He played Daniel from May 2004 to January 2013. Although he appeared in 2016 as part of Kurz Y&R‘s anniversary, so future returns are not necessarily excluded!
Daniel Romalotti thought he was the son of Danny Romalotti and Phyllis Summers but his real father was Brian Hamilton. When Danny found out that Phyllis had lied to him, he divorced her, took custody of the boy and moved to Europe. So Daniel grew up resentful of his mother for not being a part of his childhood. Returning to Genoa City as a teenager in 2003, Daniel befriended Kevin Fisher, who was trying to make amends for some of the terrible things he had done. Daniel agreed in exchange for Kevin helping him meet up with Mackenzie Browning. They got a guy to come to Lily Winters so Kevin could save her, but he went too far and tried to rape her. Luckily Kevin saved her from crawling anyway, but Phyllis was furious when she found out what Daniel had done.
After a car accident that killed Cassie Newman, Daniel had memory loss and couldn’t remember her driving him home because he was drunk. After falling in love with Lily, the two ran away when the truth was out, and after Daniel was exonerated, he was heartbroken when Lily’s parents sent her to boarding school. When Lily got home, the couple fled to Vegas. Daniel began flirting with Amber Forrester and helped her keep her claws in Cane Ashby in exchange for a pass to see her on an adult site. This got Daniel addicted to pornography and led to Lily dumping him and Neil firing him from his job.
Daniel moved in with Kevin and Amber and the trio got into serious trouble when they stumbled upon a large sum of money that some dangerous people were also after. After his marriage, Daniel flirted with Heather Stevens and slept with Amber. This led to a real relationship and Amber helped Daniel fix the fences with his father Danny. Phyllis tried to break them up and after Amber confessed to sleeping with Adrien Korbel, Daniel dumped her and dated Colleen Carlton on the rebound. They eventually got back together and Daniel got in a lot of trouble for forging a painting. After his release, Daniel proposed and he and Amber were finally married.
The union quickly broke up due to Amber’s obsession with her adopted son and Daisy Callahan’s obsession with Daniel. Daisy drugged and had sex with Daniel, but it was Amber’s fears for her son’s safety that led her to end the marriage. Daniel moved on with Abby Newman but was shocked when Daisy returned pregnant with their child. After Phyllis took a paternity test that confirmed this, Daniel invited Daisy to stay with him until the baby was born. However, after Daniel helped her give birth, Daisy knocked him unconscious and disappeared with the baby!
After Billy and Victoria adopted a baby on the black market, Daniel realized Lucy was his daughter. Although he was happy to sign his parental rights, Phyllis himself wanted to fight for custody of the little girl. In the end, however, the judge ruled in favor of Daisy and Daniel was furious with his mother. Fearing for his daughter’s safety, Daniel proposed to Daisy and they fled, but of course the relationship would never work. When Daisy went missing, Daniel was the prime suspect, but the truth that Ricky Williams had gone insane eventually came out.
Daniel reconnected with Heather and after locating Daisy and confirming she was safe, he moved to Georgia with Heather and Lucy in 2013. He returned for a brief visit later that year when Phyllis fell into a coma and took her to a facility outside of Savannah to be cared for. In 2016, Daniel returned to Genoa City to attend Summer Newman and Luca Santori’s engagement party. He also met Cassie’s twin Mariah Copeland and caught up with Kevin. In June 2022, Phyllis welcomed a call from Daniel and met her son.
Stay tuned to see if Daniel ever returns!
