Daytime Emmy winner dishes Claire and Kyle, her ‘GH’ pals and dysfunction soap families
On the heels of Claire’s showdown with Audra and as Victor accidentally exposes yet another secret Kyle’s kept on The Young and the Restless, Hayley Erin gets candid with Woman’s World about what it’s been like to become a Newman—again! This Daytime Emmy-winner got a glimpse of the Newman madness when she played Abby from 2008 to 2010 and has also been part of powerhouse clans on General Hospital and Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionist.
So who was the worst of the best? Here, Erin reveals which soap opera family ranks as her most dysfunctional and also teases that Claire’s honeymoon with the Newmans, Kyle and the good life in Genoa City is over—which is why her character’s darker side is emerging!
Plus, with her twin girls finally school-aged, Erin reveals what she’s got cooking with General Hospital alum and bestie, Chloe Lanier.
Y&R beauty Hayley Erin warns good girl Claire is ‘capable of really dark things’
Having spent her life living a lie perpetrated by her crazy Aunt Jordan, Claire learned her parents, Victoria and Cole, had actually mourned her death, and after a few wild rides, was welcomed into the Newman family.
“Life has been so romantic this past year—obviously romantic with Kyle, but also, she’s found this dream life with the Newmans,” Hayley Erin sets up. “It was easy to just live in the moment, but now, all of that beauty, brightness, and shine is dimming a bit. It kicked off with Cole dying, and it’s brought out this side of Claire that had been under the surface for a while.”
For all the therapy Claire’s had since coming to town in 2023, her portrayer warns Cole’s death, Kyle’s lies, and Audra’s dirty schemes all tap into the trauma she’s still carrying.
“We’re starting to see her struggle with this part of herself that she’s worked really hard to overcome, but apparently it’s not that easy!” Erin says.
“I love playing Claire because she has this really strong moral compass and works hard to be a good person… but there’s also this other side of her that is capable of these really dark things,” she reminds.
Erin on Claire and Kyle on Y&R—’I hope to see a long, tumultuous relationship’
While Kyle’s apology proposal last week was a total flop, Erin loved shooting those scenes with leading man Michael Mealor.
“When I read that, I was excited, because it was so juicy and dramatic, and Michael did such a good job with it,” she raves. “I’m really pleased with how it went. Claire wanted to say, ‘Yes’—but he’s just such an idiot!”
That said, Erin isn’t writing off Kyle.
“Claire and Kyle have long game potential,” she insists. “They could work it out. And Michael is such a lovely, kind, funny person, and he’s so well prepared and super collaborative, so selfishly, I hope to see a long, tumultuous relationship.”
Hayley Erin invites Summer to try to come between Kyle and Claire
They’ve got enough tumult at the moment—including Holden sniffing around!—but Claire and Kyle have already overcome one of soaps opera’s biggest hurdles: In the wake of the fan-favorite pairing of Kyle and Summer, viewers have actually welcomed this romance, perhaps because there’s no baggage.
“Kyle’s been around the block,” Erin maintains. “He’s been married a few times. He has a kid. But it’s never worked out. And it’s probably usually his fault! But it’s nice to see him with someone who has that optimism and sees him the way that he would like to be seen.”
Summer, on the other hand, basically grew up alongside Kyle.
“I hope Summer comes back to town and there’s some drama there—especially because they’re cousins,” grins Erin. “Unlike Claire, Summer knows too much. That history that makes them so strong is also their downfall, because they’ve hurt each other. There’s good and bad in that bag, so it could get interesting!”
Why Claire forgave Victor, but not Kyle… yet?
In the meantime, while Claire laid into Audra today and is furious at Kyle for not confessing to kissing her, she’s not holding Victor’s involvement against him—and he planned the whole thing!
“The fact that after the 45th time she asked Kyle about Audra, he finally came clean doesn’t get him any points, does it?” Erin sniffs. “And now she knows there was more to the story! But Victor came to her with a heartfelt apology, of his own free will, and that means something to Claire.
“Also, Victor is her grandfather: Kyle’s her boyfriend,” she adds. “There are certain things she’d be more willing to look past, because it’s for the family.”
For both Erin and Claire, being a Newman feels ‘almost too good to be true’
While Claire has embraced her new family, so too has Erin—who was also part of the clan when she played Cousin Abby as a teenager.
“There’s nothing better than getting all the Newman’s together,” she raves. “We just have a great laugh. We really enjoy what we get to do together, and that shows on the screen.
“I haven’t even been here that long, but the rest of these people are like real family,” she says of her costars. “They’ve been working together for so long, so it’s great to feel like a part of that. And I get to kind of feel what Claire is dealing with: I feel really comfortable here, but it’s almost too good to be true. Is the other shoe gonna drop? Do they really like me?”
Erin adds that having Amelia Heinle and Melody Thomas Scott, who play Victoria and Nikki, in her corner has been a gift.
“Amelia’s so great to work with, and Melody has a special place in my heart, because I was working with her so closely when I first started,” she says. “There’s no shortage of awesome people here, but I’ve really lucked out with Amelia and Melody!”
GH alum Erin ranks Kiki & Ava as the most dysfunctional soap family she’s been in
Over the last two decades, Erin has been associated with some seriously dysfunctional soap opera families, and with all the Newmans’ machinations, they certainly rank, but she maintains they’re not the worst of the bunch.
“I’m gonna have to say that’s Ava and Kiki on General Hospital, due to the fact that they fought over multiple men,” she says. “And there was that time that Kiki slapped her mother, so that’s gonna have to be the standout winner! But then the scenes when Kiki died… I couldn’t even watch them! I’ve still only seen a clip of when Ava unzips the body bag and sees Kiki in it.
“I love Maura West,” she adds of her former onscreen mom. “I miss her a lot. I really am the luckiest, if you look at the people I’ve been surrounded by at work.”
GH and Y&R star Erin dishes soap opera besties Carmyn Grimes & Chloe Lanier
Not only has Erin gotten to learn from some of daytime’s biggest legends, she also found her soap besties during her years on General Hospital—but interestingly, she didn’t actually work with them at the time!
“I met Cammie doing an event in Marco Island,” she says of Grimes, who plays The Young and the Restless’ Mariah. “She climbed into the minivan we were in, wearing these black overalls, and I was like, ‘She’s so cool. I’m gonna be her best friend.’ And then she was so cool, and then I was her best friend. It was crazy.”
And while she met Chloe Lanier, who played Nelle, during their runs in Port Charles, they rarely crossed.
“I think there were two episodes where we were in the same scenes—which is so funny, because it was revealed after Kiki’s death that they were half-sisters,” Erin says. “I’m so disappointed that we didn’t get to explore that.”
Hayley Erin on her real-life love story–’I couldn’t have written it better myself’
Erin got to explore plenty with her General Hospital romantic lead, Matt Cohen—who played Griffin, is now her newest co-star on The Young and the Restless, and also happened to introduce her to her husband, actor Adam Fergus, when he directed them in his high octane short, Mama Bear.
“If I look at the timeline of my life, I couldn’t have written it better myself,” Erin admits. “We got married during COVID and had our twin girls. We settled in Ireland and because the world shut down for a while there, we really got to enjoy our new family for that time.”
Returning to the U.S.—and the world!—to join The Young and the Restless when Juno and Maude were two was an adjustment, to say the least!
“My life for the past couple years has been work and family,” Erin says. “There wasn’t really time for anything else.
“But just recently, the girls started school,” she cheers. “It’s like, ‘Oh, this is what it feels like to have it figured out.’ I’ve even gotten to watch TV! In life, there are busy periods and lulls, and I’m learning to appreciate the period I’m in while I’m there—because nothing lasts forever. You’re always evolving.”
Erin teases Claire’s Y&R drama and producing with Chloe Lanier
With more time on her hands, Erin has been busy with her General Hospital costar-turned-writing partner, Chloe Lanier.
“We’ve been working away on a few scripts, and we’re producing a film that will hopefully shoot next year,” Erin teases. “So stay tuned on that one! It’s just so great to be able to fill my days with things that I love and have a good life.”
While she’s enjoying her own life, Erin tells Woman’s World she’s looking forward to seeing just how far Claire slides back on The Young and the Restless.
“I’m really excited to explore this side of Claire,” she concludes. “We’re getting to know her better, and Claire is getting to know herself better. It’s going to be a really interesting time!”
