Vail Bloom confirms Heather’s death on The Young and the Restless

On The Young and the Restless last week, fans saw Heather Stevens' (Vail Bloom) dead body on the floor of her apartment. Sharon had just woken up on the couch and didn’t remember what had happened. The thing that Sharon could recall was arguing with Heather and seeing her cower on the floor.

Assuming she must have killed Heather, Sharon wrapped her body in blankets, collected the evidence, and dragged Heather’s body to the car. She drove to a bridge and dumped Heather's body to the river below.

Viewers knew what they saw but were left with fear and speculation. Was Heather really dead, or was this another one of Sharon’s nightmares? If Heather died, who killed her?

Until now, no one from the show, including Vail Bloom, has commented. Today, Bloom broke her silence and confirmed Heather’s fate in an interview.

Vail Bloom was as surprised as The Young and the Restless fans

Bloom told TV Insider she was surprised to learn of Heather’s grisly fate just weeks before filming her final scene. “I had about three weeks’ notice. It’s always surprising when you get that news, but you’re aware that that can happen. That’s just the world of soaps,” Bloom said. She added that she loved the character, and it had been “a beautiful, long run woven in and out through a couple decades.”

Viewers thought Sharon was going to try to kill Daniel. However, the twist in the storyline was something that Bloom appreciated creatively. In the interview, she said, “You’re going to pull on the heartstrings of the audience, you’re going to engage them, you’re going to offset and uplift a different storyline. But there’s sadness because change is always hard.

Bloom said she loved Heather and her storyline this year and enjoyed playing her. Heather’s fate was part of a larger story, and Bloom appreciated “the meaty material” she had this year.

Bloom said her final scenes were intense, with a lot of dialogue and blocking. “It was really fun to do all of that interesting stuff the last couple of weeks. Any time there are those dynamics when the stakes are that high, it’s a joy to act,” Bloom said.

Heather really did die on The Young and the Restless

Bloom told TV Insider that the way Heather’s final scenes were shot, there could be a chance at some sort of reversal for her fate.

“I’m a huge fan of resurrection. I think what’s really fun about daytime as opposed to maybe other formats is you can experience things beyond your wildest dreams. I would be open to it if the fans really wanted to see more of Heather again,” Bloom said.

The actress teased, “I don’t think it’s the last time you’ll see Heather. You really never know in the wonderful, wild world of soaps.” Whether or not that’s a resurrection or she’ll be the next to haunt Sharon’s dreams remains to be seen.

Leaving her The Young and the Restless co-stars

Bloom shared that her favorite person to work with was Michael Gaziadei, the actor who played her on-screen partner, Daniel Romalotti.

“He’s just so full of life, and he’s funny and a really nimble, talented actor, but he’s also hard-working. He doesn’t wing it, he does the prep work and he’s always making jokes so he makes it fun on set. I think that’s probably a large part of why my experience was so positive,” Bloom explained.

Bloom also enjoyed playing opposite Sharon Case (Sharon Newman). “Sharon is extremely relaxed in between scenes, and she’s very go-with-the-flow,” Bloom said. The actress added that Case was “really humble and so chill in between scenes.”

Heather’s final scene on The Young and the Restless

Bloom had to play dead on the floor for most of her final episode and said the contorted position was difficult to hold for as long as she did.

“The next day, I was like, ‘Oh, I think I gotta get a little massage or a stretch.’ It is surprising how difficult it is to lay there still in an awkward position. I was like, ‘I’m not a diva; I’m totally fine,’ and the next day, I was like, ‘Ouch, I’m stiff!’ So that was funny to me,” Bloom said.

Bloom said of co-star Sharon Case (who was in her final scenes), “At the end, we were like, ‘Oh, no. What are we going to do now? Ok, let’s link up outside of work.’”

In her interview, Bloom described returning to play Heather as “a million percent a blessing…it was so beautiful to have the experience of what I had in my early 20s and then be able to see it through the lens of someone who’s older and wiser and 10 years deeper into the industry.”

Watch full episodes of The Young and the Restless on weekdays on CBS or stream through Paramount+.