The return of Matt Clark, The Young and the Restless‘ notorious villain, came as just as big a shock to Rick Hearst as it did to the show’s devoted fans. Hearst, the original actor to play the role, wasn’t expecting his character’s resurrection. Now played by Roger Howarth, the problematic persona, presumed dead since 2001, is returning to the CBS soap opera after 24 long years.

Rick Hearst on Roger Howarth playing Matt Clark on The Young and the Restless

After being absent from the screens as well as from the lives of his favorite targets, Sharon and Nick, Matt Clark is officially back. While stunned by Matt’s return, Rick Hearst is equally thrilled about Roger Howarth taking over the challenging role.

Hearst expressed his viewpoint on his former General Hospital castmate reprising the villainous role with Soap Opera Digest. “When I first found out about Roger, I had no idea what his role was,” Hearst said. “And then a fan sent me a video or something that had superimposed images on it. I saw Roger on one side and Sharon on the other side, and it said something like, ‘Matt Clark is back!’ And I went, ‘What?!?!’”, the Ric Lansing actor explained.

Approving of Roger Howarth’s casting as Matt Clark, Hearst said, “I think it’s a brilliant choice. He’s a great actor. If they were going to pick anybody to play this role and be able to do something really extraordinary with it, I would say Roger would absolutely be the right person.”

Matt’s dramatic exit convinced everyone that he was “dead for good”. After all, he had yanked out his own breathing tube, framing Nick for his murder. Reacting to Matt’s unexpected return, Rick Hearst joked that the “dead is never dead on soaps”.

The show’s latest plotline revealed that Matt is very much alive and has been living under the alias Mitch Bacall. He adopted a new identity while plotting revenge against Sharon and Nick Newman.