THE Young and the Restless fans have slammed the show for its recasting of Hunter King’s character, Summer Newman, after the new actress made her debut on Tuesday.
Allison Lanier has picked up the role following Hunter’s leave, which came after a decade of her portraying Phyllis Summers’ and Nicholas Newman’s daughter on and off.
On Tuesday, The Young and the Restless welcomed Summer back into the fold, but she was played by a completely different actress.
Last month, the show revealed that the character was returning but, instead of Hunter, she’d be played by newcomer Allison.
This is her first time on a soap, with the star previously holding roles on the show Red Oaks, as Annabelle, and in movies like Mia and Fish Bones.
With her debut, fans blasted Y&R for not having Hunter back in the role, which she began playing in 2012.
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One viewer demanded: “I would like to see Hunter King come back!”
Another wrote, this time of the new actress: “Needs a haircut, doesn’t look anything like Summer (Hunter).”
“It’ll take time to get used to her as Summer,” a third said.
A fourth Y&R fan tweeted: “Sorry. Won’t be watching.
“Bring back #HunterKing as Summer. Viewers are tired of how #YR has treated its actors.
“If you can bring back #MichaelMealor, then do the same for Hunter – or accept losing even more viewers.”
“I would like to see Hunter King come back.”
Y&R let go of both Hunter and Michael, who starred together as onscreen couple Summer and Kyle, during contract negotiations last summer.
The actress told Soap Opera Digest at the time: “When these things happen, there’s a variety of reasons why they happen.
“…It’s such an odd process [working out a business arrangement] but also feeling like it’s your family. It’s definitely weird.”
She added: “I do hope to always have Summer in my life in some capacity.
“What that will continue to look like, I’m not quite sure yet, but I know that I hold her very near and dear to my heart.”
Eventually, the show decided to bring back Michael in his role of Kyle Abbott, as Y&R had just resurrected his character’s mom, Diane Jenkins.
While not everyone was happy about Summer’s recasting, some were just happy to see the character back on the show and were also willing to give Allison a chance in the role.
“So excited to see Summer back… Allison will do an amazing job,” wrote one excited fan.
A second said: “It usually takes awhile to warm up to a replacement character, but I liked her right away. Great job!”
More than just happy to see Summer solo, fans were ecstatic about the fact that that meant one of their favorite couples was whole again, as well.
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A joyful viewer tweeted: “Looking forward to seeing Nu Summer (Allison) she’s lovely, and now we get #Skyle back as well, very excited for this”
Another said they “already like Allison” and are “so happy to have #Skyle back!”
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