The Young and the Restless Announces New Head Writers Taking Over For Josh Griffith

The Young and the Restless has finally announced who will take over for Josh Griffith as Head Writer of the CBS soap. He’ll be replaced by two co-Head writers, and CTS has the details below.

Co-Head Writers, On The Job

As per reports, Jamey Giddens and Dan O’Connor will share co-head writing duties, moving forward. Giddens is a long-time fan of soaps, and in 2007, became the co-owner of Daytime Confidential.

He’s written and is a podcaster for both sites. In addition, Giddens created the primetime show, Ambitions, which aired on OWN from 2019 to 2020.

Giddens would move on to join the writing team for Days of Our Lives from 2020 to 2025, working as a breakdown writer.

He won Writers Guild of America and Daytime Emmy awards for his work on Days. He also wrote for the Days of Our Lives’ streaming spinoff, Beyond Salem.

In 2025, Gidden left the Peacock soap to work on Beyond the Gates as a breakdown writer. This year, he’s been nominated for two Daytime Emmys, one for his work on Beyond the Gates, and the other for Days.

Dan O’Connor’s Legacy

Meanwhile, O’Connor started off his soap opera writing career at One Life to Live. He worked as a writer’s assistant, then script supervisor, and moved on to script writer.

When the daytime drama was canceled in 2012, he joined General Hospital. In 2019, he was appointed as the ABC soap’s co-head writer with Chris Van Etten and eventually exited the role in 2024.

During his time with General Hospital, O’Connor won a Daytime Emmy and a Writers Guild Award.

According to reports, Y&R’s cast and crew know about the new head writers, as Giddens and O’Connor will officially start their new jobs the week of August 3 to 7.

They take over from Griffith, who has been the show’s head writer since 2019, as well as executive producer from 2023-2025.

Sally McDonald eventually joined Griffith as co-executive producer, and then took over the role as her own earlier in 2026 so Griffith could focus on writing.

As of this writing, Griffith has not yet commented on his decision to leave the CBS soap. What are your thoughts on the new co-head writers? Join the conversation below!

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