Kyle is determined to win Claire back on Young and Restless, but everything he’s done so far only seems to be driving her further and further away. First, when she was upset to learn that he’d pretended to seduce Audra in France, Kyle recklessly decided that would be the perfect moment to propose. Then, he wanted to show there were no more secrets between them by confessing that he’d signed a contract with her grandfather, Victor, stipulating that Kyle would pay him five million dollars and leave Genoa City if Kyle broke Claire’s heart. But that didn’t quite go over as well as he’d hoped it would.

Mr. Fix It

Despite all of the recent setbacks in their relationship, Kyle still believes he can make their courtship work and have a future with Claire. “Absolutely,” portrayer Michael Mealor tells Soap Opera Digest. “There’s no doubt in his mind. Kyle just believes he needs to find the right words. I think if he just figures out how to put the words together in the correct order, it will all go back to normal.”

The actor chuckles at the idea, then adds, “It’s funny, and I don’t mean to minimize it or simplify it, but I think that’s part of what he’s thinking. ‘If I can just say the right thing in the right order, it’ll all be okay. She’ll see it, she’ll understand it, and we can just go back to the way things were before.’ And you know, unfortunately, that’s not how life works. But he does wholeheartedly believe that he can fix all of this.”

Despite all the obstacles in their way — including Holden hanging around — Mealor believes that Kyle and Claire make a great couple that could ultimately go the distance. “Claire steers Kyle in the right direction with every single thing,” he says. “She calls him on all of his stupidity, and I think that he appreciates that. She always kind of sets him straight and brings him back to reality and pushes him to do the right thing.”

Being a Newman and an Abbott is just the start of the differences between Claire and Kyle, but that’s exactly why Mealor believes the pair works. “What’s beautiful is that they are two completely opposite people, and with that, it kind of creates a whole picture within a relationship,” he explains. “You know, he has kind of the history of the rough hand and the hotheadedness, quick with the tongue, and all the romances and that kind of stuff. And she has this pure love that’s inside of her, and this light that just kind of shines through. And I think together, they make a beautiful couple.”