Source: Jill Farren Phelps Has Been Fired at The Young and the Restless
About those blind items I did near the end of May... You remember; the lead item mentioned a veteran soap opera showrunner being on his or her way out? The cat's finally out of the bag — and out of a job. I'm hearing from multiple sources, Jill Farren Phelps is out at CBS Daytime's The Young and the Restless.
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Phelps always seems to have a new gig waiting for her once she's done at a sudser, despite being one of the most loathed soap opera executives among the genre's fans. I hear that isn't the case this time.
In fact, my moles tell me Sony Pictures TV's' Steve Kent — whose friendship with JFP goes all the way back to Santa Barbara in the 80's— is perfectly okay with her termination. I wouldn't expect her to pop up at Sony co-production Days of Our Lives anytime soon.
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How much do soap fans dislike JFP? They started a party that trended last week on Twitter based on the tweets of super suds lover David Bedford. Speaking of tweets, Bell family insider Tommy Lightfoot Garrett tweeted today about JFP being out.
"Everyone knows the Bells love Tommy," says one insider. "They still see all the paperwork regarding Y&R; so they'd know for a fact if Jill is out." I bet Tommy's first round of champagne will be on Maria Arena Bell.
I reached out to Y&R last week for confirmation on JFP's ouster, but never heard back. I've actually been hearing JFP's days in fictional Genoa City have been numbered ever since British soap opera guru Mal Young hopped the pond for a supervising producer gig at Y&R. The Doctor Who and EastEnders veteran has had six months or so to learn how things work at the long-running sudser. He seems the likely choice to replace JFP.
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As for JFP's co-executive producer and head writer Chuck Pratt, I hear he has one foot on a banana peel and the other on a patch of black ice. Keep checking back with Daytime Confidential as this story develops!
