Y&R Recap September 22: Victoria Chooses Claire Over Kyle

On the Tuesday, September 22, 2026, episode of The Young and the Restless, Victoria chose her daughter, Phyllis grew frustrated with Matt, and Nate and Stephanie got their flirt on.

Victoria's Choice

Claire wondered what made her mother smile | Image: JPI

Victoria prepared for her upcoming tryst with Kyle with a big smile on her face. She couldn't wait to go over the details of their agenda in person. When Claire walked in the room, she wondered what her mother was laughing about as she looked at her phone. Victoria lied and claimed that someone had sent her a funny meme.

They discussed Nick, including Victoria's fears that the stress of returning to work might be too much for him. Claire reminded her mother that whether Nick used again was out of her control. When Claire got an alert on her phone, she seemed disturbed. "Aunt Jordan strikes again," Claire said. She had received a notification about Jordan's birthday.

Claire became reminiscent and told her mother about Jordan's big, elaborate birthday parties. Claire grew pensive as she told Victoria stories of Aunt Jordan, as well as stories of her own misbehavior as a child. There was a new girl at school who threw a party on the same day as Claire and all the kids went to the other girl's party. So, Aunt Jordan convinced Claire to make up a story to get the girl expelled.

"Please don't let the memory of Jordan get inside of your head," Victoria said. "I might think that I've erased all traces of my old life, but clearly it can just creep back in," Claire lamented.

When Kyle texted Victoria about their meetup, Victoria grew flustered and told her daughter she could cancel her appointment, but Claire told her not to. Victoria insisted and chose to be with her daughter rather than Kyle.

Phyllis and Nick go Head-to-Head

Nick tried to understand Phyllis | Image: JPI

At Crimson Lights, Phyllis tried to ignore Nick, but he insisted on talking. Nick asked Phyllis if she'd managed to talk Matt into sticking around town. After some arguing back and forth, a forlorn Phyllis finally admitted that Matt was gone. Even Nick had to relent a bit and admit that he saw a different Matt earlier, but he still refused to completely trust the guy.

Phyllis reminded Nick that Matt was gone now and he had nothing to worry about. Besides, even if Matt were still in town, she couldn't see him going after Nick or his family ever again. Nick begged to differ. Phyllis was wrong about this one, which surprised him because she can usually see through situations like this. Phyllis insisted she was fine and didn't need Nick to play hero and swoop in to save her.

Nick remembered that he was supposed to be dropping his hero complex stance, but it wasn't easy. Phyllis just wanted to talk about Matt and all his many virtues, but she didn't win over Nick. In fact, he suspected that Phyllis had an ulterior motive when it came to his old enemy. "Is that the plan? Are you going to use Matt for your own personal gain?" he asked. Phyllis took offense to that and denied the accusation.

Nick wanted Phyllis to focus on her professional life and not think about Matt all the time. "Stop focusing on Matt Clark and work to rebuild yourself," Nick insisted. "Maybe I don't want to do it alone. Do you understand that?" Phyllis asked.

Phyllis had to confess that she liked that someone was nice to her. People constantly berated her for everything and Matt didn't do that, so it was refreshing. "While everyone in town was dismissing me, he was telling me that I was beautiful and that I was intelligent and dazzling. And he was kind. And he didn't ostracize me," Phyllis said. Nick apologized to Phyllis for making her feel that she should doubt herself, but that doesn't take away from all the heinous things that Matt has done.

Like clockwork, Matt suddenly called, as he had been sitting at Society, flashing back to his conversations with Phyllis. Nick urged Phyllis not to pick up, but she walked away to do it anyway. Phyllis was surprised when Matt asked to see her and made sure she knew that Patty had not hurt her. A frustrated and suspicious Phyllis asked Matt what sort of game he was playing with her.

Back inside Crimson Lights, Nick and Kyle made some small talk about Vibrante and the social media challenge going out the window. Nick scoffed that it was not like Victoria would ever give him the time of day anyway. Nick certainly missed a lot when he was in rehab.

The Evening After

Stephanie and Nate met for a meal | Image: JPI

When Stephanie and Nate meet up at the GCAC for the first time after their night in bed, things are a bit awkward between them as they discuss Holden. He was planning a trip to see Malcolm in London, and Stephanie couldn't bring herself to tell him about her relationship with Nate. Holden could pick up on something else going on between Nate and his mom, but Stephanie told him they were just friends, which was now a lie.

Nate decided they could label their relationship as "dating," but Stephanie wasn't about to tell her son about her "booty calls" because they were none of his business. Eventually, she might tell him, but for now she was just feeling things out and seeing where their relationship would go.

Nate offered to speak to Holden on Stephanie's behalf, so they rehearsed such a scenario. Nate played himself and told Holden (really Stephanie) how wonderful and amazing his mother was. Stephanie suggested they just enjoy themselves for the moment and not worry about Holden since he would be in London anyway.

Is Matt playing a game with Phyllis? Is Victoria starting to feel guilty? Sound off in the comments.