Nathan Owens Leaving Young and the Restless Rumors Erupt as Fans Rage Over Holden Novak

NATHAN OWENS HAS NOT SAID GOODBYE, BUT HOLDEN’S FANS ARE ALREADY FURIOUS

TL;DR: Reports claim Nathan Owens is out as Holden Novak and a recast is coming, but nothing is official. Holden is off in London, and fans say the show never gave him a real story.

The Exit Talk Started With a Cast List

Reports of Nathan Owens leaving Young and the Restless lit up soap chatter on Thursday and Friday, and every one of them rests on the same claim: Owens was quietly dropped from the show’s cast list. A replacement’s name is already making the rounds. What nobody has produced is a statement from CBS, from the show or from Owens himself.

As of Saturday, Owens was still listed as Holden Novak on the official CBS cast page, and his bio page was still up. Here is the catch. That same page still lists Lucas Adams as Noah, and Noah left Genoa City back in August. The list proves nothing either way, so keep an eye on our two-week Young and the Restless spoilers for the first real sign of Holden.

None of this surprised the fans who have spent months asking what Holden is actually for. We asked the same question in September, when two star returns later, Holden still didn’t have a storyline to call his own.

Should Holden be recast, written out, or finally handed a real story? Tell our editor at amber@soapoperamagazine.com.

Holden Is in London, and the Door Is Wide Open

Holden has been more talked about than seen lately. On Sept 22, his mother, Stephanie Simmons, and Nate Hastings agreed to hold off telling him they are a couple, because he was on his way to London to visit his biological father, Malcolm Winters. Two days later, he texted Claire Newman asking to meet up. That was the whole week for Holden.

A London trip is the cleanest exit door a soap could ask for. Malcolm can keep his son overseas as long as the writers like, and Shemar Moore is busy with a primetime series anyway, though he has made it clear Genoa City’s door stays open for Malcolm. Stephanie is off canvas too, since Vivica A. Fox wrapped her run for now to film another project. Both of Holden’s anchors are gone at the same time.

Is Nathan Owens leaving Young and the Restless?

Not officially. Nobody with the show has confirmed an exit, a last air date or a recast. The replacement name in the chatter, Curtis Washington, traces back to a mid-September message board post that cited nothing but “a site,” and we could not find a single credit, casting notice or official word behind it. Until CBS says otherwise, Nathan Owens is still Holden on paper.

The Fan Post That Said It Out Loud

The loudest reaction came from a Reddit post that called Holden “one of the truly watchable male characters on this show.” The poster didn’t stop there. They blasted “the stereotypical, haphazard writing for Black characters” on both Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, and asked what the point is “in recasting for a character you never fully developed.”

The development complaint comes with receipts. Holden arrived in January 2025 posing as Damian Kane, the long-lost half-brother of Nate, and was soon exposed as an impostor. He and Audra Charles have been sitting on a deadly secret from Los Angeles, an art dealer who died after Holden struck him while defending her. As far as viewers have seen, that secret is still buried.

The Malcolm twist was supposed to change everything. On April 8, Stephanie told Malcolm that Holden is his son, which made Holden the paternal half-brother of Lily Winters. Then Holden wasn’t a bone marrow match, and Cane Ashby turned out to be the man who could save Malcolm. In June, Devon Winters called Holden an opportunist, and I’m still waiting for that fight to go somewhere.

What Happens to Holden Now

Nathan Owens said in an April interview that the Malcolm reveal was the show telling him, “Hey, we’re invested in you and your character.” Six months later, fans are asking where that investment went.

The London trip lets the show go either way. Holden can stay overseas with his father for good, or come home with Owens or someone new in the role. Fresh writers are on the way too, with the new head writing team’s first episodes airing Nov 11, and new regimes love to rethink the cast they inherit.

My gut tells me Holden’s secret with Audra is too juicy to leave in the ground, and Stephanie and Nate’s romance is a bomb that needs Holden in the room to go off. If Nathan Owens is staying, the new team owes him a story bigger than a text message to Claire.

Recast Holden, write him out, or give Owens one real shot? Leave your verdict in the comments.

Watch for Holden’s name in everything coming up on Young and the Restless.

Holden Novak Deserves a Story Before He Gets a Goodbye

Whoever plays him, Holden has the bones of a great soap character: a con man’s past, a body in Los Angeles, a famous father and a mother secretly dating Nate. That is more material than half the canvas gets. Wasting it would be the real crime.

So should the show recast Holden, or let him go with Owens? Tell us where you stand on our Facebook page.

He’s Not the Only One Leaving….