Stephen Nichols' (Tucker McCall) three-year run on The Young and the Restless has come to an end. The multi-soap veteran has taped his final scenes for the CBS soap, but speculation about a potential next job is just heating up.

Soap Opera Uncensored's Nelson Branco revealed that Nichols' alter ego will be off-screen "for the foreseeable future." The actor taped his exit yesterday.

Nichols joined the cast of The Young and the Restless in December 2009, assuming the role of Tucker from William Russ, who had been with the show for only two months at the time of his dismissal. The official word from Y&R was that the show wanted to move the character in a new direction.

Nichols is a long-time soap opera veteran. The actor got his start in daytime in 1985 on Days of our Lives. To many viewers, he will always be known as Steven "Patch" Johnson. Nichols remained with Days of our Lives through 1990, when he left to pursue other opportunities. In 1992, he appeared briefly on Santa Barbara. In 1996, Nichols began a six-year stint on ABC's General Hospital. Nichols eventually landed back on DAYS, a return that helped usher in a renewed interest in core characters on DAYS. He was let go from the show in February 2009 amid a series of cost-cutting measures at the sole NBC soap.

The actor was nominated for an Outstanding Supporting Actor Daytime Emmy in 1988.


By snagging Nichols in 2009, The Young and the Restless may have thwarted GH's attempts to reintroduce the Cassadines to the show's storylines. Now that Nichols is a free agent, fans are wondering which of his two former daytime haunts might make a play for him.