Conner Floyd Talks Chance’s ‘Y&R’ Ending and Becoming ‘DAYS’ New Chad DiMera

Chance Chancellor met a tragic end on today’s episode of The Young and the Restless, marking the conclusion of Conner Floyd‘s four-year run on the CBS soap.

“As sad as it is, I think that’s how Chance would want to go out,” says Floyd of his character’s death by gunshot, trying to save Cane [Ashby, Billy Flynn] and Lily [Winters, Christel Khalil]. “That’s his story that he’s always been telling — that he’s a hero — and the ultimate person to put everybody else above himself, so I think it’s a little poetic in a way. And then the way I died in Billy Flynn’s [Cane Ashby] arms is also very poetic.”

That’s because Floyd already has a new job at Days of Our Lives playing Chad DiMera, the part Flynn vacated in April. “I think Josh [Griffith, head writer and executive producer of Y&R] did that on purpose,” winks Floyd of the two sharing his final scenes.

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The actor has nothing but positive things to say about his first soap home. “Oh, it was just perfect,” he praises. “It’s such a special place. Since day one, I felt welcomed, and I have zero complaints. I feel very honored to be a part of that show and to make my little mark on history there.”

That sense of gratitude extends to both the personal and professional moments Floyd experienced during this time on Y&R. “Off-screen, I think it’s just the connections and the friendships that I made there,” he reflects. “So many of the actors, so many of the crew, so many of the creatives, everyone that works up in the offices, I’ve built this relationship with, and it’s sad to say goodbye.

“On-screen, to turn on the TV and see me in a scene with Eric Braeden [Victor Newman] or Peter Bergman [Jack Abbott] or Melody Thomas Scott [Nikki Newman], it’s super cool,” he continues. “I know my grandmothers are rolling over in their graves right now. I wish they could have been here to get a little piece of that, but it’s really cool just to be a part of the soap world. It’s a unique place for an artist, and I feel like I came out of this a little better of an actor than when I started.”

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Finding out about Chance’s fate was “bittersweet,” reports Floyd. “I had another job on the horizon, and so it’s like, ‘Oh, OK, I’m not going to be unemployed,’ but it is sad to say goodbye to Chance and to everyone over there at Y&R, so it’s a little bit of mixed emotions. I feel happy, I feel sad, it kind of depends on the day.”

Nevertheless, he enjoyed playing out Chance’s grisly exit. “It was a lot of fun,” Floyd enthuses. “The sets they built for this whole French storyline are amazing; I felt like I was there. The wardrobe was really fun — they really spiced it up since everybody was on vacation. We had all these actors in the storyline that I hadn’t seen in a while, like Bryton [James, Devon Winters] and Melissa [Ordway, Abby Newman Winters], and to do scenes with them and kind of do a callback on that whole history was fun. It was a good time.”

Walking out of the studio for the last time, however, proved more emotional than Floyd anticipated. “Oh man, I’m so soft-hearted and I’m such a crier,” he relays. “I was going into this thing being like, ‘I’m not gonna cry. I’m not gonna cry.’ And I remember talking to Billy Flynn, and he was like, ‘No, I bet you cry. I cried when I left [Days].’ I was like, ‘Yeah, we’ll see, man.’ We had this last scene, and everyone was clapping, and I was saying goodbye to everyone and walking out, and I cried like a baby. I’m not going to lie. There were a couple of us that got together and hung out afterwards, and I was still fighting tears there. But there are good things on the horizon, so I was OK.”

Floyd has already started working at Days as Chad and is embracing the challenge of his new role. “It’s just a really good opportunity,” he enthuses. “The DiMera family is really cool, and the more I dig into it, this character has a lot to unpack. I like working, so I was really, really excited to dive deep into Chad and explore this world that he’s in. Days of our Lives is an iconic show, and a lot of really talented people have walked those stages, Billy Flynn included, so it’s going to be fun to try to fill those shoes.”

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The gig came his way after a chance meeting with Days’ casting director, Marnie Saitta. “This is actually a pretty crazy story,” Floyd begins. “I was flying to Boston for Christmas with my fiancée to visit her family, and I was going to propose to her that weekend right before Christmas. The flight was delayed, then we get on the plane, and it’s delayed on the tarmac, delayed in the air, and delayed when we landed in Boston. I mean, this thing turned into, like, a 12-hour trip. We’re sitting next to these people the whole time and after about five hours, we made conversation, and it was Marnie and her family. So, we were chatting and CBS got brought up somehow. She was like, ‘What do you do at CBS?’ I said, ‘I’m on Young and the Restless.’ After 12 hours of talking, she said, ‘I’m gonna call you.’ And that’s kind of how this came into play.”

Working with Flynn for Floyd’s last month on Y&R proved to be a fruitful experience. “First of all, Billy’s the freaking man,” he raves. “I was kind of bummed, like, ‘I wish you were here for the other four years I was here; we could have had a good time.’ But it was really cool just getting to talk to him and pick his brain about how things work over there, about the character and the sets and the family and the schedule. He had the nicest things to say. It was very serendipitous, which I love.”

Flynn had a helpful note for the Salem newcomer. “When we had our first scene together [on Y&R], I said a couple words to him and then after they said cut, he goes, ‘You and I sound just alike,’ — we have this low, gravelly voice and kind of talk low and slow — ‘I guarantee you the first note you get over there is more voice.’ And sure enough, first scene I had over there, my first note was, ‘Uh, Conner, we need more voice.’ I texted Billy and said, ‘You called that, man.’ The more we hung out, it seems we’re very cut from the same cloth, and it’s good casting on Marnie’s part, I ain’t gonna lie.”

While fans won’t see Floyd on Days until 2026 because of the show’s unique filming schedule, he is settling in well. “Salem’s great,” he concludes. “Everyone’s awesome and very welcoming and very helpful. I’ve hit the ground running, and it’s been going great so far. Just like Y&R, everyone over there is very hardworking, and there’s a very talented cast and crew, and I’m going to bring it for them.”

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