Last week, The Young and the Restless said goodbye to yet another character—Cole Howard—marking the end of J. Eddie Peck’s latest run on the long-running soap. Just over a week later, Peck took to social media to speak directly to fans about his emotional exit and share his gratitude.
In a heartfelt video message, Peck thanked viewers for their support and reflected on his character’s journey. His caption read:
HI Friends, for those who commented-—thank you for your thoughtful messages of support for Cole and me. I wanted to share a few thoughts directly as for why Cole and I left. Please feel free to comment or share. I’d love to hear what Cole’s journey meant to.
In the video, Peck began
Hey everyone, I hope this finds you doing well and I hope that everyone had a wonderful and safe 4th of July weekend.
I’m finally getting this video out. I’ve taped a few of them in the last week and it was just too long. I didn’t have a heart to do it to you.
But I just wanted to take a minute to think. Those of you who took your time to send me such heartfelt comments and things concerning my departure from The Young and Restless. If you don’t know, they kill, Cole off last Thursday.
Peck confirmed that Cole died of Legionnaires’ disease in an emotional episode where Victoria and Claire were by his side—until Claire stepped out of the room just before his final breath.
I know it’s certainly emotional for me. So anyway, hey listen, just thank you all so much. I want to thank not only our viewers and fans and those who have been fans of mine from the old days when I played Cole Howard.
Peck recalled the surprise of being asked to return as Cole, originally just for two episodes back in 2023.
I was thinking Cole was going to get sick and the cough was bad and he was going to go back to the Tact house with Victoria and she’s going to nurse him back to health and it’s going to deepen the relationship and put Cole and Victoria in a place where they can move even further towards maybe something else. And what was I wrong? You all were so much smarter than me. I was kind of clueless.
Instead, the storyline took a different turn. As for what’s next? Peck isn’t sure yet—but he’s hopeful.
I don’t really know where I’m going to go. I’m hoping I’m going to go to another daytime show because I love daytime. I love the daytime roles.
He even hinted at possibly starting a YouTube channel and asked fans for ideas on what they’d like to see.
I’ve been thinking a long time about doing something on YouTube
Before signing off, Peck gave one more round of thanks:
I love to have you and again, for those of you that have said such nice kind things, thank you so much. I wish all of you nothing but the very best you and your family and hey, listen, stay in the loop.
So, question—would you like to see J. Eddie Peck join another soap?
Which one do you think he’d be a great fit for—General Hospital, Days of Our Lives ( he was already on there), Bold and the Beautiful, or maybe Beyond the Gates? Watch his video below! (Photo: CBS.)
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