The Young and the Restless is getting an on-screen reunion that should have Half & Half fans screaming with joy — Phyllis and Big Dee Dee are back together again. Well, sort of. Telma Hopkins is returning to Genoa City as Detective Denise Tolliver, after a three-year absence, to help Amy, played by Valarie Pettiford, find her son, Damian. But, viewers shouldn’t expect their characters to have the same adversarial relationship as their iconic sitcom roles.

“We’re two totally different characters. She’s a worker and she is a mom,” Hopkins tells Soaps.com about the differences between Denise and her former UPN role as Phyllis. “Denise is who she is. She’s an investigator. She’s nosy. She’s got the best job in the world and now she can get in everybody’s business legally. She doesn’t have to sneak around like she used to do.”

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Pettiford, whose character could be heading up a whole new branch of the family tree in Genoa City, is open to a long-term role on The Young and the Restless. “Good God, yes. Good God, yes,” she responds. “I’m going to be very honest with you, I never thought I would do a soap again. [She was the original Sheila Price on One Life to Live.] I just didn’t think it was ever going to be in the cards for me. I had no idea what I was walking into and then I get here and it is so delicious — the character, the writing, the cast, the crew.”

The sweetest part is working with Hopkins again. “It’s so easy,” adds Pettiford. “I just look into her eyes. It just makes all the difference in the world because you don’t have to work.” The feeling is mutual because Hopkins raved about the “foundation of trust” they built after working on the UPN show from 2002 to 2006. It’s her second sitcom reunion after working with her former Family Matters co-star Bryton James (Devon) in 2021 on the soap.

“I’m always a little nervous,” Hopkins continues. “Everything is so fast in soaps now. It just makes it easier when you have someone that you feel safe with. There’s a comfort level that I don’t have to work for. We’re just ready.”