Daniel Romalotti is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. The role has most notably been portrayed by Michael Graziadei since 2004.
Daniel is the son of Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford/Sandra Nelson/Gina Tognoni) and Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian), however a later storyline revealed that Daniel's biological father is a man named Brian Hamilton. Daniel's major storylines have included a love story and marriage with Lily Winters (Christel Khalil/Davetta Sherwood), of which their parents disapproved, as well as being married to Amber Moore (Adrienne Frantz). Daniel fathered a child named Lucy after the mother, Daisy Carter (Yvonne Zima), raped Daniel. Other storylines include his strong friendship with Kevin Fisher (Greg Rikaart), the death of Cassie Newman (Camryn Grimes), and short-lived romances with Abby Newman (Marcy Rylan/Melissa Ordway) and Eden Baldwin (Jessica Heap).
Graziadei's performance in the role received positive reviews from audiences and critics. He was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series in 2005 and 2006, and for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2025 and 2026.
Casting
The character was first portrayed by twins Desiree and Hannah Wheel from 1994 to 1996, after which Michael McElroy took over the recurring role from 1996 to 1997. Chase MacKenzie Bebak portrayed Daniel from 1997 to 1998, followed by Roland Gibbons, who had a brief stint until the character was written out.
Subsequently, the character was rapidly aged, with Cam Gigandet assuming the role on March 10, 2004.The Young and the Restless recap (March 10, 2004) - Soapcentral.com The actor was fired after only a few days, and he last aired as Daniel on May 6, 2004. The role was recast with Owen Beckman, but the actor was also fired soon after landing the role; as opposed to Gigandet, Beckman's scenes were deleted when Michael Graziadei was cast in the role,The Young and the Restless news: Gigandet, Beckman out (April 26, 2004) - Soapcentral.com who debuted on May 10, 2004. In May 2009, Graziadei signed a new contract with the soap, but in 2012, he chose not to renew his contract. He made his last appearance on January 3, 2013. However, Graziadei later reprised the role for four episodes from July 30 to August 2, 2013, to help usher his onscreen mother, Michelle Stafford, out of the series.
In July 2016, Entertainment Weekly reported that Graziadei would briefly return on August 25, 2016, coinciding with The Young and the Restless'''s 11,000th episode.
In September 2022, it was announced Graziadei would return; he returned on November 21 of the same year.
Storylines Daniel was born off-screen on August 17, 1993; his birth year has since been revised to 1987. Daniel first arrived in Genoa City in 2004 after returning from boarding school to live with his mother, Phyllis Summers. Because she did not raise him as a child, Daniel resented Phyllis as well as her boyfriend, chemist Damon Porter. Daniel then befriended Kevin Fisher, who was desperate to regain some respect after performing some not so nice deeds. Daniel agreed to help him out in exchange for hooking him up with Mackenzie Browning. The two had a lowlife named Alex come on to Lily Winters too strong, so that Kevin could rescue her and that she would like him. Alex went too far and slipped her a date rape drug and attempted to rape her. However, Kevin did arrive in time to "save" her. When Alex kept threatening Daniel and Kevin, Phyllis found out, and she and Damon scared Alex enough to get him out of town. Daniel then decided to give Phyllis a chance.
Daniel had a romance with Lily Winters in 2005, after he was involved in an accident with Cassie Newman, resulting in her death. Suffering memory loss from the accident, Daniel could not remember that fourteen-year-old Cassie was driving in an ill-fated attempt to drive a drunken Daniel home herself. Daniel and Lily then ran away to Los Angeles to escape vehicular homicide charges, and a Romeo and Juliet-style romance unfolded. The fugitives were caught, and Daniel was soon exonerated. Lily's furious parents, Neil and Dru Winters, soon sent her away to boarding school, leaving Daniel devastated. Lily returned in February 2006, and they reunited and eloped in Las Vegas. Later on, Alex returned to blackmail Daniel and Kevin. Daniel then decided to come clean to Lily, who then told her parents. However, she decided to forgive him as did her parents.
In early 2007, Daniel began a flirtation with the conniving Amber Forrester, of which Lily was unaware. He then began helping her in her mission to keep her new husband, Cane Ashby, so that she could get her hands on his newfound family's money. To say thank you, Amber gave Daniel a pass to watch a video of her on an adult website, which eventually led to Daniel becoming addicted to pornography. After Lily figured out that Amber was the person that had a picture of her naked breasts on Daniel's cellphone, she realized that she couldn't trust her husband any longer and subsequently kicked him out. When Neil found out about Daniel's recent behavior, he fired him from his job at Newman Enterprises. Daniel then moved in with Kevin and Amber.
Daniel, Amber, and Kevin found a princely sum of money ($700,000 to be precise) belonging to Plum, one of Amber's beaus from her Strangers By Night days. They found the money next to Plum's dead body and decided to keep it all a secret. They then received a visit from John Bonacheck who claimed to be looking for Plum and his money because Plum had stolen it from his war buddy, Carson McDonald. It turned out Bonacheck was a rogue member of the FBI who wanted the money for himself and even kidnapped Amber, Cane and Carson. Once they were rescued, Daniel, Kevin and Amber were arrested.
However, Kevin's brother and lawyer, Michael Baldwin, had the charges against them dropped. All of this commotion caused Daniel and Lily to end their marriage. Lily then began a relationship with Cane, while Daniel soon began a flirtation with A.D.A. Heather Stevens, after she began to show her more sensitive side, which was a big deal considering that she was attempting to prosecute him, Kevin and Amber. She also managed to send his mother to prison for extortion, although she was released after two months. After Daniel threw Heather a party to cheer her up in the midst of her court cases, and he and a drunken Amber had sex.
Since the encounter made their living together awkward, Amber moved out. However, the two were unable to stay away from each other, and they had sex again, which ended with Daniel discovering that Amber had kept some of the stolen money that they got from Plum. Although she tried to convince him and Kevin to keep it, they decided to burn it. Daniel then got Amber a job at his mom, Nicholas Newman, Jack Abbott, and Sharon Newman's new magazine Restless Style. While at the launch party for the magazine, Amber helped convince Daniel to mend the rift between him and his father, Danny Romalotti, who came to perform at the event. He and Amber then began an actual relationship. Daniel's father offered him a job on his tour as an assistant photographer, which Daniel accepted.
Daniel returned home on July 10, 2008, and he found out from his girlfriend, Amber, that his mother, Phyllis Summers Newman, had been trying to break them up by making Amber believe that Daniel had been cheating on her. Soon after, she informed him that she had sex with Adrian Korbel out of inadequacy, whereupon he angrily and suddenly broke up with her and left her apartment, much to her devastation. He struggled to get over the break-up via rebound dates with Colleen Carlton. On October 15, 2008, Amber and Daniel got back together. In early 2009, Daniel started his painting and drawing with Amber at his side as a fashion designer. In mid 2009, Daniel was asked to make a fake copy of a 'Terroni,' and he would get paid a sum of money for it. Later, it is believed that he and Jana Hawkes, Kevin's wife, killed the man who asked him to do this in an alley. Daniel managed to stay out of jail long enough to meet Deacon Sharpe, Amber's ex-lover and father of Amber's adopted child, Eric Sharpe, when she was in Los Angeles. Then, Daniel was put in jail, leaving Amber to get him out of jail herself. While Daniel was in jail, he received a phone call from Deacon, claiming to be Michael, Daniel's lawyer. On the other end, he heard Amber and Deacon having sex. When Amber visited him later, he yelled at her, asking her why she did that and what was he supposed to do now that he was going to propose to her. Amber and Daniel consequently broke up. Daniel was soon released, due to the DVD that Deacon sent to the A.D.A, Heather Stevens.
On September 14, 2009, Daniel proposed to Amber, calling her his "soul mate". Two months later, he and Amber were finally married. The couple ignored the fact that the date was Friday the 13th, which was often associated with bad luck. Their marriage began to fall apart over Amber's obsession of her adoptive son, Eric Forrester Sharpe, and Daisy Callahan's personal obsession with Daniel. Daisy was the daughter of Sheila Carter and Tom Fisher, making her Kevin's half-sister. She drugged and had sex with a barely conscious Daniel, who thought he was having sex with his wife, Amber, while her aunt, Sarah Smythe, posing as Lauren Fenmore, attempted to kill Phyllis on another scheme with Patty Williams, who was posing as Dr. Emily Peterson. Amber then realized that Daniel didn't betray her. However, her fear over Eric's safety led to her abandoning him, and therefore ending their marriage. Amber left Genoa City with Eric in tow, and a heartbroken Daniel finally gave up on their marriage. Daniel decided not to give up on his friendship with Jana Hawkes just because she and Kevin were getting a divorce. Jana was touched by Daniel's kind words.
Soon after, Daniel began a flirtation with a now grown-up, Abby Newman. In October 2010, a powerful storm hit Genoa City, and Daniel decided to help a worried Abby look for her mother, Ashley Abbott. When the storm became too much, the two took shelter at Crimson Lights. Daisy then returned to town, pregnant with Daniel's daughter. Phyllis did not believe that the pregnancy was possible, and she ordered a paternity test. It was confirmed that Daniel was the father; however, he did not take the news well. He ultimately agreed to have Daisy stay with him until the baby was born, which caused friction between him and Kevin, who planned to become the baby's guardian once she was born, being that the baby would be his niece.
On New Year's Eve, Daniel searched for Daisy when she went into labor and escaped from Jana, who was supposed to be driving her to the hospital. He ultimately found her on the side of the road, stopped on her way to Canada and about to give birth. He helped her deliver their baby girl. As Daniel was holding his daughter, Daisy took a flashlight and hit Daniel over the head with it. He was later found and taken to the hospital for his injuries inflicted by Daisy. A few days later, Daniel was released and brought home.
Meanwhile, Abby was sent to rehab by her parents, Victor Newman and Ashley Abbott, in order for her to keep her mouth shut about the truth regarding Tucker McCall's accident. Upon returning to Genoa City from rehab, Abby tried to reconnect with Daniel, since they both got caught up in their own lives and grew apart. Diane Jenkins arranged for paparazzi to come to GloWorm, where Daniel and Abby were talking. Daniel thought that Abby set the entire thing up as a publicity stunt for her alter ego, the "Naked Heiress". He told her that what they had was over because he didn't want to deal with her constant need for attention.