CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless has appointed Jamey Giddens and Dan O'Connor as co-head writers, effective July 29, 2026.
The pair replaces Josh Griffith, who served as head writer since 2019.
The search for a new head writer began in late June, and cast and crew have been notified of the change.
Giddens and O'Connor will officially start their duties the week of August 3, 2026, with their material expected to air later in the summer as existing scripts are exhausted.
This marks the first co-head writing team for the show since Shelly Altman and Jean Passanante shared the role in 2013.
Insiders say the soap, created by William J.
Bell and Lee Phillip Bell in 1973, aims to return to its classic storytelling format to maintain its top-rated position in Nielsen ratings since the 1988–1989 season.
New Writers Bring Daytime Emmy Experience
Giddens joins from Beyond the Gates and Days of our Lives, where he earned a Daytime Emmy and Writers Guild of America Award.
He co-created the OWN primetime drama Ambitions and co-founded Daytime Confidential in 2007.
This year, he received two Daytime Emmy nominations for his work on Days of our Lives and Beyond the Gates.
In a 2015 commentary, Giddens described his vision for daytime television: "Good, properly-paced, character-driven, organic drama, romance, love, lust and betrayal, featuring the veteran characters/stars we know and love, along with next generation characters tied firmly to the previous ones."
O'Connor spent a decade at General Hospital as associate head writer, breakdown writer, and co-head writer alongside Chris Van Etten until 2024.
He began his career as a writers' assistant on One Life to Live and contributed to General Hospital's 50th anniversary episode, earning a Daytime Emmy and Writers Guild of America Award.
Reflecting on daytime storytelling, O'Connor said: "There's something fascinating about a never-ending story that allows you to explore the past, present and future of characters simultaneously.
You're creating today what will be the history fans remember tomorrow. And fans definitely remember!"
Outgoing head writer Josh Griffith had been in the role since 2019 and also served as executive producer from 2023 until earlier this year, when he stepped down to focus on writing before his departure.
