What Really Happened To Jack On The Young And The Restless?

Since the start of 2022, famously long-running soap opera "The Young and the Restless" has already seen its fair share of shake-ups. First, Ashland Locke actor Richard Burgi was abruptly fired after inadvertently breaking one of the show's COVID-19 protocols. Phyllis Summers actor Michelle Stafford then seemed like she might leave soon after that, though the series has continued with her as a part of its cast, seemingly putting that speculation to rest.

Peter Bergman, who has portrayed Jack Abbott since 1989 (via IMDb), has likewise been missing for a string of episodes starting in early January. Bergman's absence even happened to land in the midst of a plotline into which Jack factored significantly. Essentially, in typical soap opera fashion, Jack and Phyllis seemed primed to rekindle an old romance after leaving their respective partners. Then, in the midst of this development, Jack revealed that a business trip would keep him away from Genoa City for a number of weeks.

Given the suddenness of Jack's departure and the length of his absence, most viewers have likely figured out that this was not a decision made for purely creative reasons, but to account for Bergman himself requiring some time away from set. Here's what really happened behind-the-scenes.

In an interview with Soap Opera Digest published around the time he disappeared from the cast of "The Young and the Restless," Peter Bergman revealed that he was sidelined from the series after finding out he had a detached retina and subsequently undergoing an emergency surgery.

To recover, "I had to keep my face parallel to the floor for 50 minutes out of every hour for 7 days," Bergman recounted. "My favorite activities are exercising and reading books and I could do neither one. It seemed like it took forever."

Bergman is not the first "Young and the Restless" actor to temporarily leave the show in order to recover from surgery on a detached retina — in August of 2021, Amanda Sinclair actor Mishael Morgan experienced virtually the same thing. Bergman told Soap Opera Digest that, fittingly, he reached out to Morgan for advice. "I called her and we talked for about 40 minutes. I'm not a big phone talker but I got as much information as I could possibly get from her about what to expect. She was fantastic."

Fortunately, Bergman appears to be back in action. He most recently appeared on the "Young and the Restless" Instagram page in a compilation of photos taken at a holiday party in late December. Jack's return, then, should be imminent.