Young & Restless Icon Eric Braeden Shuts Down Exit and Retirement Rumors

Victor Newman isn't packing up his mustache and leaving Genoa City. Eric Braeden just swatted down the latest round of exit rumors, and he did it in the most direct way possible.

Where the rumor came from

On October 7, an unofficial Young and the Restless fan page on Facebook pushed out an unverified post claiming Braeden had said goodbye on Instagram and officially quit the show. Fans freaked out. Braeden saw it and jumped into the comments to correct the record himself.

SIMPLY NOT TRUE.

So, no, they&aposre not writing Victor out next week.

What Braeden has actually said about retiring

In a 2024 chat with TV Insider, Braeden made it pretty clear he isn't looking for the exit. He said he doesn't want to retire and plans to keep working now that his health is in a good place. At the time, he explained that his bladder cancer was under control and he had a follow-up cystoscopy coming up; if that came back clean, he&aposd get a nice stretch of breathing room. He also threw in a very Victor Newman detail: his new knee is fully rehabbed, and he's back to doing squats and power cleans.

Health timeline, in plain English

• April 2023: Braeden revealed he'd been diagnosed with bladder cancer.
• August 2023: He went live on Facebook and said he was cancer-free.
• 2024: Told TV Insider his cancer remained under control and another cystoscopy was on the calendar.
• Recently: Posted a selfie on Facebook thanking his doctors and saying he's been cancer-free for the last two years thanks to catching it early.

A quick reminder of how we got here

Braeden joined The Young and the Restless back in 1980 as a short-term hire — he was only supposed to be around for a few weeks. Then Victor Newman became the beating heart of the show, and he's been in that spot for more than 40 years.

So if you see another sketchy post saying he's out, take it from the man himself: not happening.