Soap opera fans will no doubt influence Kleenex stock prices this week, because Eileen Davidson's last moments as The Young and the Restless' Ashley Abbott will soon be happening.
The fan-favorite actress took to social media on Tuesday with a gloomy post meant to serve as the "saddest countdown" ever to her last airdate on the CBS soap opera.
"Wow. So here's the countdown. I'm leaving this place in four days," she says in a video of her walking on the property of CBS Studios, where Y&R films. "First time I walked in here, I was not even 23 years old. How crazy is that? Ok, four more days. Love this place. Changed my life, in every single way."
News of Davidson's decision to leave the top-rated CBS soap broke in June, and she reportedly made the tough call out of desire to spend more time with her family.
"Time for a little more control over my day to day," she explained in a tweet written earlier this summer.
Davidson, who took home the Outstanding Lead Actress trophy at the Daytime Emmys this year, has been playing the role of Ashley on-again, off-again since June of 1982. Though some fans had hoped that her choice to walk away from Genoa City meant that she could reprise her role as Days of our Lives' Kristen DiMera, that proved to be impossible due to DAYS' decision to cast Y&R alum Stacy Haiduk in the role.
"Big congratulations to Stacy Haiduk debuting as Kristen/Susan on DAYS this week!!!" Davidson wrote when Haiduk debuted on the NBC soap in August. "Stacy is a fantastic actress and I'm sure she will SLAY!!!!"
Davidson joined DAYS as Kristen Blake DiMera in 1993 and added four additional look-alike roles (Susan Banks, Thomas Banks, Penelope Banks, and Mary Moira) in subsequent years. Her work earned her a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1998 and a Daytime Emmy win in 2014.
How much are you dreading Davidson's final airdate as Y&R's Ashley? How do you foresee the soap opera writing out the character of Ashley? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
