Young & Restless fans quickly deduced that something is up with Genoa City newcomer Claire Grace and most are convinced that she’s not what she seems. So, who is Claire Grace and what’s her secret?
Hayley Erin shared her first scenes with Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki) and Zuleyka Silver (Audra) and although her character’s vibe was personable and upbeat many viewers instantly sensed trouble. Now, we’re a suspicious lot to begin with, but there were definitely some “tells” in Claire Grace’s debut that put us on high alert.
During the interview, Nikki asked Claire why she wanted to work at Newman and she specifically mentioned being interested in how McCall Unlimited would fit into Newman Media. If that didn’t set off alarm bells, we can’t imagine what would. Perhaps Claire merely has a nerdy interest in corporate mergers, but we’re guessing that’s not the case here, and the name drop leads to two different possibilities.
The first? She’s a mole who’s not particularly subtle. Audra was part of the interview, of course, and at one point seemed to be pushing for Nikki to seal the deal with Grace. Is Claire someone who has worked with Tucker and Audra in the past? It’s entirely possible, although up to that point McCall had been laser focused on taking over Jabot.
McCall could have planted her to keep an eye on his newly minted enemy Adam, but since he only just found out that Victor’s black sheep son gave the Abbotts dirt on him, that’s unlikely. Of course, she could be a mole working on someone else’s behalf.
The second possibility is that Claire bears some sort of grudge against Tucker McCall and that’s why she’s so interested in what’s become of his company. Might she be a disgruntled former employee or even a long-lost offspring of the devilish character?
Or perhaps Tucker is the person who killed Claire’s parents in a car crash?!
We know things don’t typically happen on soaps without a reason, but perhaps the McCall name-drop was a red herring designed to distract us so we didn’t sniff out her connection to someone else entirely.
Claire gave Audra and Nikki a condensed version of her life thus far, and if you’re a suspicious sort, you might have been left thinking along the same lines we are — it reeked of a fake background story, what with the dead parents and all. Perhaps she crafted a phony biography to hide the secret she’s keeping — that she’s related to characters we know from the past.
Her last name certainly gives us pause, since it’s that of Grace Turner, Sharon’s former bestie who had an affair with none other than Nick Newman. This would present her with a reason to want to infiltrate the Newman family and business:
But Grace was also involved with the nortorious late Cameron Kirsten. Can it really be a coincidence that she showed up in town with this moniker right after his death? How soapy would it be if she was the daughter of Grace and Cameron out for revenge on the Newmans, who she holds responsible for her father’s death. The only caveat here is that it would make more sense for her to be angling for a job at Kirsten Incorporated, which she’d likely have seen as her birthright “stolen” out from under her by Sharon, who was left the company in Kirsten’s will.
Claire Grace being the evil, vengeful offspring of Cameron and Grace really would be the end all, be all. Not all Young & Restless viewers were so quick to become suspicious, however, but instead began playing matchmaker for the fetching blonde newcomer.
As a new assistant at Newman, she’s bound to be crossing paths with the other new assistant, Adam, on a regular basis. With Sally and Nick headed for shakier ground, what better time to have Adam’s head turned by someone new? It certainly would throw up another obstacle for Sally and Adam. Is Claire Grace hiding her true identity? Is she a mole? Is she out for revenge? All will be revealed on Young & Restless, so keep watching for clues!