From the moment The Young and the Restless’ Jill (Jess Walton) gave her power at Chancellor-Winters to Billy (Jason Thompson), we’ve suspected there was more than meets the eye.
While she claimed her decision was due to her wanting to take a break from the stress of the business, it seemed odd that she would just hand over the reins of her side of Chancellor-Winters to Billy so abruptly and without first talking to Lily (Christel Khalil) and Devon (Bryton James) about her decision. Yes, Jill has every right to step back and give her power at the company to her son, but again, the move just struck us as a bit odd.
Well, it looks like our gut feeling was right, because in The Young and the Restless episode airing on May 29, Billy is barely back in Genoa when his mom sends him a text requesting they chat. He immediately heads to Chancellor-Winters and video calls his mom, who wants to first ensure privacy before she gets into the reason for their discussion. Once Billy guarantees he’s alone, she reveals:
"I’ve had some issues with my health. You know, little things. You know, like my heart beating too fast and difficulty in breathing. Just some lightheadedness."
Billy understandably becomes concerned because his mom suffered a heart attack back in 2017. Jill tries reassuring him that she’ll be fine, but she is incredibly vague about her prognosis, just telling him she's had "complications." Billy tries pressing her for more details, but she is unwilling to share more information. However, she does note she’s in great hands as Snapper (David Hasselhoff), her brother and a doctor, is looking after her.
Before the mother/son duo concludes the call, Jill claims she plans to return to the company, but in the meantime, she wants Billy to get rid of threats like Mamie (Veronica Redd) and to make sure Chancellor-Winters gets back on track to become better than ever. In return, Billy vows to protect the business and more importantly, his mother’s legacy.
With all of that being said, we can’t help but think Jill is withholding all the details of her current health status because she’s worse off than she’d like Billy to know. Perhaps she’s protecting Billy from the truth in an attempt to prevent him from worrying about her and spiraling into a dark place. Plus, her instructions about him whipping the company into shape kind of felt like her final instructions. So could Jill’s actual prognosis be terminal? Is Jill dying?
Now to be clear, we certainly don’t want to see the character of Jill leave the soap. She’s been a force to be reckoned with during her decades in Genoa City, often mixing it up with the Abbotts and being a thorn in the side of Mamie. Not to mention, her heated exchanges with Katherine Chancellor (Jeanne Cooper) are legendary in the soap world. Take a look at the following reel if you need a reminder of their battles.
While we don’t have official word that Jill will soon meet her end, or confirmation that Jill's portrayer Jess Walton is ready to leave the show, we certainly feel like Jill fans may want to prepare themselves.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
