Roger Howarth Wins Daytime Emmy for Young and the Restless’ Matt Clark as Nick Newman’s Story Unravels

WHAT’S NEXT FOR MISSING MATT CLARK AFTER ROGER HOWARTH’S EMMY WIN

TL;DR: Roger Howarth wins Daytime Emmy for Matt Clark, 32 years after his first. On screen, Matt is missing and Nick won’t say where he went. What’s next? No exit has been announced, and new writers take over November 11.

Howarth Takes the Emmy While Matt Clark Stays Missing

Roger Howarth wins Daytime Emmy gold, and the man he plays is nowhere to be found. On Friday, October 30, 2026, he took Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Matt Clark on Young and the Restless, beating castmates Sean Dominic and Michael Graziadei. It is his second Daytime Emmy, 32 years after he won in 1994 as Todd Manning on One Life to Live, and his first nomination in 21 years.

On screen, Matt Clark is missing, and Nick Newman‘s story is coming apart at the seams. Nick says Matt checked into a facility. Sharon Newman found no record of him at the clinic she arranged or at any other, and when she pushed, Nick said it was best she not know. Sharon called him a liar.

“I’m really, really happy. I love being an actor,” Howarth said in his acceptance speech, and he thanked Josh Griffith, the head writer who brought Matt back, along with CBS and Sony. The trophy landed the night before the first anniversary of his debut: Matt Clark was unmasked at the end of the October 31, 2025 episode, hiding behind the name Mitch Bacall. What comes next is in our two weeks of Young and the Restless spoilers.

Did the Emmy voters get it right? Write to our editor at amber@soapoperamagazine.com and tell us what you think.

Nick Newman’s Clinic Story Is Falling Apart

Here’s the record. On October 16, Matt Clark agreed to check into a clinic if Sharon would be his therapist, and she said yes. Since then, every word about him has come from someone else. Nick told Sharon that Matt was “safely put away,” and on October 22, Victor Newman grilled his son about what happened to him.

On October 28, Nick told Phyllis Summers that Matt turned up at the ranch and checked into a facility, then urged her to focus on her business. The next day, Sharon discovered Matt never reached the clinic she set up. Then she and Phyllis teamed up on Friday to make Nick talk. Phyllis wondered whether Nick got rid of Matt for good, and Sharon said she doesn’t believe he killed him.

We already asked whether Nick made Matt disappear for good, and history isn’t on his side. In January, Matt Clark turned up at Sharon’s tied up in the trunk of Nick’s car. When that same man won’t name the clinic, Sharon has every right to doubt him.

Is Roger Howarth Leaving Young and the Restless?

No exit has been announced. As of October 31, neither CBS nor Roger Howarth has said he is leaving, and neither has said how long his deal runs. The date to watch is Wednesday, November 11, when the first episodes from new co-head writers Jamey Giddens and Dan O’Connor air.

Here’s the irony. Roger Howarth won for the scenes where Matt held Noah Newman and Sienna Bacall hostage in late 2025, yet the show has kept that same Matt off screen, and no CBS episode description through November 6 mentions him. Even the November mystery is running low on secrets. The two things Phyllis was expected to discover, that Matt came back and that Sharon agreed to treat him, both reached her on screen on October 28 and October 30. The only secret left is where Nick put him.

Our Readers Doubt Nick and Want Howarth to Stay

Before the trophy, on our own Facebook post of October 29, more than 20 of you said no when we asked whether Nick really sent Matt to a clinic. One wrote, “Writers please keep Roger on the show, he is a great asset to Y&R as well as a great actor!” Others were blunter: “Don’t know, don’t care. Don’t like Matt.”

Not everyone wants him back. At least one soap column has urged the new writers to scrap Matt’s story, calling it tired. The Emmy voters just disagreed, loudly.

Phyllis Could Be the One Who Finds Matt

So when does Matt Clark resurface? Nothing from CBS puts him back on screen yet, and reading between the lines, the outgoing writers left this cliffhanger for the new team on purpose. Griffith said as much in December: “Just when we think he’s out of the picture, we find out he’s not.”

My gut tells me Phyllis gets there first. Spoilers pointed to a stunning discovery for her the week of November 2, and she ended Friday ready to make Nick talk. Don’t be surprised if Roger Howarth is back in Matt’s shoes soon after November 11, with a fresh trophy on his shelf and Nick Newman out of excuses.

Should Matt come back, or stay wherever Nick put him? Tell us in the comments.

See what’s next for Matt, Nick, Sharon and Phyllis in the full two-week preview of Young and the Restless spoilers.

Howarth Earned His Emmy, and Matt Clark Is Too Good to Keep Off Screen

Our take: nothing on or off screen says Howarth is leaving, and nothing puts Matt back on screen before the new writers arrive. Our call is that he resurfaces on their watch, and Phyllis is the one who finds him.

Team Nick says Matt belongs wherever he is. Team Sharon says the truth comes out now. Pick your side on our Facebook page.