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Chloe Mitchell is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless, an American soap opera on the CBS network. Introduced by former executive producer Edward J. Scott as the daughter of trusty Chancellor family maid, Esther Valentine (Kate Linder), the character was born onscreen on July 27, 1990. Portrayed by twins, Darla and Sandra Greer, until 1991, upon her brief return in 1994, child actress, Danielle Ryah, portrayed the role. On February 6, 2008, executive producer/head writer Josh Griffith introduced a new character, Chloe Mitchell, played by former All My Children actress, Elizabeth Hendrickson. That August, a change in storyline revealed Chloe was Kate, having legally changed her name while offscreen, when the character was away in boarding school. Upgraded from recurring to contract status, Hendrickson became an integral part of the cast.
Immediately upon her arrival on the show, Chloe was characterized as a manipulative "bad girl" by Soap Opera Digest. Hendrickson expressed pleasure in portraying a vixen, stating that it was her idea to make the character "edgy and funny" instead of "some girl who was putting on fancy clothes". Chloe is first hired as a fashion consultant at Jabot Cosmetics by Cane Ashby (Daniel Goddard), whom she develops an attraction for. She breaks up Cane's relationship with his girlfriend, Lily Winters, (Christel Khalil) by announcing that she is pregnant with his child. Upon the birth of her daughter Delia Abbott (Sophie Pollono) the truth is revealed: Billy Abbott (Billy Miller) fathered the child, not Cane. After brief marriages to Cane and then Billy, Chloe begins an unsuccessful streak of relationships with men including Chance Chancellor (John Driscoll), Ronan Malloy (Jeff Branson), and most recently Kevin Fisher (Greg Rikaart). Other storylines the character encountered included Delia facing leukemia in 2011, and later when she was killed in a hit and run accident in 2013.
Despite temporarily breaking up the popular pairing of Lily and Cane, Chloe was met with popularity among viewers and critics. Soap Opera Weekly described the character as "complex" and her storyline "meaty". Nelson Branco of TV Guide hailed Chloe as "one of the most legendary bitches in soap history", crediting her for rejuvenating the "dying breed" of soap opera vixens. The character's various relationships have been met with mixed reviews. While the pairing of Chloe and Billy has been popular, Sara Bibel of Xfinity heavily criticized the romance between Chloe and Chance for mellowing the character out, wanting the "sassy" Chloe back. While Chloe and Kevin were initially met with favorable reviews, Zap2it placed them on a list of "Worst Soap Opera Couples" and said that the soap opera "needs to put a fork in this relationship". Hendrickson's performance has been met with critical acclaim, having garnered her four Daytime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2018. After six years in the role, Hendrickson chose to leave The Young and the Restless in 2014, returning for two brief guest stints thereafter. She later returned as a series regular from 2016 to 2017. Hendrickson briefly reprised the role in June 2019 and on August 26, 2019.
In May 2016, Daytime Confidential revealed that Hendrickson will reprise the role of Chloe as a series regular. She returned on July 14, 2016. In March 2017, the website reported that Hendrickson had been taken off contract and the character was to be written out. However, it was said that Hendrickson could stick around on a recurring basis. In May 2017, Hendrickson announced she was leaving the serial. Hendrickson last aired on July 18, 2017, alongside Greg Rikaart's Kevin Fisher.
In May 2019, it was reported that Hendrickson would reprise the role once again; she returned for a two-episode guest stint on June 27 and 28, and on recurring status beginning August 26.
Her involvement with Billy Abbott is another significant romance for Chloe, and the characters marry shortly after Delia is born. However, the marriage ended, paving the way for a reunion between Billy and his high school sweetheart, Mac Browning (Clementine Ford). In response to whether or not the Chloe and Billy pairing should be revisited, Hendrickson stated, "You know what, I really hope so. I’ve definitely asked for it." Chloe's next relationship is with Chance Chancellor (John Driscoll), Jill's grandson who is a virgin. Speaking of the developing romance, John Driscoll said, "At this point Chloe is the object of his affection, and he is attracted to her. He is very interested in her because she has a very rocky background, but through and through she has just been herself. He respects her, and there is a spark and energy between them." Chance loses his virginity to Chloe and they become engaged, though she develops into a "clingy" fiancé. The relationship ends after he cheats on her with Heather Stevens (Eden Riegel). Soon after, Chance fakes his death and enters the Witness Protection Program. Of Chloe's "heartbroken" reaction to his "death" in spite of the bitter break-up, Hendrickson said, "to open up and show what was going on with her was a great release for me, because that entire time she was remaining strong and stable, and like no one is going to mess with her. I mean, no one dumps Chloe Mitchell!"
In the midst of these events, Chloe begins a recurring relationship with Chance's brother Ronan Malloy (Jeff Branson). The actress was pleased with the pairing's potential; "My fingers are crossed that there will be more to come because I think those two characters could go so far with each other". Jeff Branson was also hopeful for the pairing, commending them for bringing out a "different side" of Ronan, describing them as "a chance for him to drop the frosty, crusty exterior he puts on because Chloe really gets under his skin, but in a good way."
Another pivotal romantic relationship for the character occurred when Chloe began dating her best friend Kevin Fisher (Greg Rikaart). The decision to develop the friendship into a romance was debated by the writers, as it was Hendrickson and Rikaart who approached the writers wanting to work together. Due to their real-life friendship, Rikaart said of the storyline turn, "The level of comfort is so easy, certainly for portraying the friendship part of the Kevin/Chloe relationship, that is a no-brainer. So it was like, when are we going to have to start acting?" The relationship is plagued with constant issues, such as interference from Kevin's mentally unstable ex-wife Jana Hawkes (Emily O'Brien), and mob princess Angelina Veneziano's (Diana DeGarmo) intense crush on Kevin (which leads to a brief marriage, with Angelina's mob father threatening to kill Kevin if he doesn't wed his daughter). Angelina leaves town and Chloe and Kevin finally marry. In 2013, Kevin and Chloe have financial troubles which Kevin thinks can be solved through criminal acts; Hendrickson said, "Money is usually a common issue between couples. They’re kind of battling through this struggle. He’s trying to do his best to take care of the family and morally, it just doesn’t sit well with her. Especially with what he’s been through in the past." Rikaart told On-Air On-Soaps that he and Hendrickson have discussed wanting the characters to break up, "We always say, 'We have done this. We have played this. Now let’s play breaking up.' That will be different."
In September 2011, Delia is rushed to hospital after spiking a high temperature of 105, where she is diagnosed with leukemia, devastating Chloe. SoapNet noted that "Chloe's world is turned upside down" as a result of the diagnosis. The leukemia storyline spans into January 2012. Hendrickson was happy with the storyline, stating that "it was my supporting actors who supported me through the entire shooting day, and the writing. It was just all wrapped up in a neat little package. I could not ask for a better show." Delia needs a bone marrow transplant to survive. Billy is being forced away from town by his wife's father Victor Newman (Eric Braeden). Victor arranges for Billy to secretly be able to donate his bone marrow, saving Delia's life, though he passes the donation off as Kevin's. Hendrickson praised the writing for the storyline as a "full arc" which had a "beginning, middle and an end". She said, "It was a great story. I got to show a lot of range, and also got to work with some great supporting actors who were in those scenes." For the 39th Daytime Emmy Awards, Hendrickson submitted the scenes in which Chloe is informed of Delia's leukemia, which allowed her to receive a nomination in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In July 2013, Delia has a health scare. In light of Chloe's marriage to Kevin ending and Billy experiencing troubles in his marriage to Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle), Jamey Giddens of Zap2it observed that this could act as a catalyst towards a "Chilly" (Chloe and Billy) reunion, writing, "The perfect storm of two failing marriages and a sick child seems to be conjuring up the right elements for some Chilly weather in Genoa City."
Audiences and critics were unfavorable of the storyline, outraged that Delia was killed off. Jeevan Brar of MSN TV asked the rhetorical question: "If Y&R was so intent on killing off a child and an Abbott, then why not Johnny Abbott?", pointing out that it would have been a more "symbolic" storyline for different reasons. Shortly after her death, Delia's corneas were given to Connor Newman, the newborn son of Chloe's best friend Chelsea Lawson (Melissa Claire Egan) and her ex-husband Adam Newman (Michael Muhney), who was in desperate need of a cornea transplant. Coincidentally, Adam happens to be the driver of the car that killed Delia.
In response to Delia's corneas being donated to Connor Newman in a transplant surgery, Jeevan Brar brought up Colleen Carlton (Tammin Sursok), Delia's cousin, being killed off years earlier for her heart to be donated to a dying Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), Connor's grandfather. Brar wrote, "Now we’ve got another Abbott organ saving a Newman. The character of Delia Abbott was also rich in history because of her parentage: she’s Billy’s child with the daughter of the Chancellor maid. This was a legacy character belonging to two families: the Abbotts and the Chancellors." Similarly, Jamey Giddens of Zap2it noted Delia to be "not only an Abbott, but the granddaughter of original character, Jill Foster. Did I mention Delia is also the child of Kate Valentine aka Chloe Mitchell, herself the goddaughter of Katherine Chancellor, whose death the canvas is still reeling from?", referring to the death of Katherine Chancellor that occurred only two months earlier, which was still a prominent topic in Genoa City.
Hendrickson told TVSource magazine that she was "petrified" of filming the heavily emotional storyline. She stated, "I was just really intimidated because I don’t have a child. I’ve never experienced that unconditional love with someone – for someone ... I really didn’t have that much to connect to in my own personal life. I think that’s what scared me the most – how I was going to find it within myself to tell a truthful story." Having previously noted that becoming a mother "matured" Chloe, Hendrickson said, "I would love to see a little bit of the old Chloe come out of this extreme loss that she’s just experienced. I think it would make a lot of sense."
Before the birth of Chloe's child, an affair she had with Cane's "brother" Billy Abbott (Billy Miller) is revealed through flashbacks, making it clear that he is the father of the baby. Following the birth of Cordelia "Delia" Abbott and the truth being revealed, Cane is enraged and still wants to be Delia's legal father, filing a custody suit against Chloe which is soon dropped. Chloe then briefly marries Billy for Delia's sake. The marriage is tainted from its inception due to Billy sleeping with Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) the night before their wedding. They are soon divorced, and she moves on with Phillip "Chance" Chancellor IV (John Driscoll), Jill's grandson through Phillip Chancellor III (Thom Bierdz). He loses his virginity to her and the couple are soon engaged, though the engagement is thwarted when Chance cheats on Chloe with attorney Heather Stevens (Eden Riegel). Her unlucky romantic streak continues when Chloe and her best friend Kevin Fisher (Greg Rikaart) begin falling for each other. They soon begin a relationship, though Kevin's mentally unstable ex-wife Jana Hawkes (Emily O' Brien) comes in between them. Due to her mental illness, Jana kidnaps Kevin. Chloe tracks them down and threatens to fight with Jana; Jana suffers an intracranial aneurysm and dies on the spot. Kevin and Chloe are then free to be together, but he leaves her due to her inability to move past previous relationships. Chloe briefly sleeps with Ronan Malloy (Jeff Branson), Chance's brother.
Chloe takes over full custody of her daughter from Billy; Delia is later diagnosed with leukemia, and Billy's bone marrow donation saves her life. During this trying time, Chloe reconnects with Kevin, and they become engaged following Delia's recovery. Mob princess Angelina Veneziano (Diana DeGarmo) arrives in town and develops a crush on Kevin. Her father Angelo Veneziano (Mike Starr) blackmails Kevin into leaving Chloe at the altar and marry Angelina, which he does. Once Angelina leaves town, Chloe and Kevin marry and resume their courtship. The couple join forces with Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) and Chelsea Lawson (Melissa Claire Egan) to start a fashion website entitled TagNGrab. The site ends unsuccessfully, leaving Chloe and Kevin in need of money. In a Bonnie and Clyde themed story arc, they steal money to save their house. Their marriage flounders as Kevin continues to steal and lets Chloe spend a night in jail for his crime, and they decide to get a divorce, which particularly affects Delia who adored her stepfather. During this period Chloe develops a fashion line for Jabot's fashion division with her best friend, Chelsea. Months later, Chloe and Kevin decide to start over and begin dating again. On the night of Delia's performance in a play, Billy leaves Delia and her dog, Dash, alone in his car while purchasing ice-cream. Dash runs off, causing Delia to run after him. Delia is struck down by a car believed to be driven by Adam, before being rushed to the hospital and dying of her injuries. When she learns of Delia's death from Billy at the hospital, Chloe breaks down and begins lashing out emotionally at Billy and everyone around her. Chloe decides to honor Delia by donating her corneas to Adam's son, Connor, who needs a transplant to save his eyesight. The operation is successful and Connor's vision is restored.
Following Connor receiving Delia's corneas, Chloe began to become more attached to him. Unbeknownst to Chelsea and Kevin, Chloe's attachment becomes unhealthy, especially when Kevin finds that Chloe included photographs of Connor in Delia's baby scrapbook. While Billy goes to grief counseling, Chloe refuses and says she is handling her grief from Delia's death by herself. When it is revealed that Chelsea's husband Adam in fact struck Delia with his car that night and is later presumed dead, Chloe becomes increasingly angry with Chelsea and goes so far as blaming her for Delia's death. Afterward, Chloe breaks down at a fundraiser event for a foundation in Delia's name and goes into Chelsea's home (who had initially planned on moving to Paris with Adam and Connor), takes Connor and Chelsea's passport and poses as her at the airport, where she intends on flying to Paris with Connor and starting a new life. Chelsea and Kevin meet Chloe and Connor in Paris, where she comes to terms with what she's done. Back in Genoa City, Chloe is arrested for kidnapping and is given the choice of psychiatric inpatient or outpatient treatment. Wanting outpatient treatment, she has to be placed under a conservatorship, and not wanting it to be under Esther, Kevin proposes to her and they abruptly marry again. Not considering their reunion to be genuine, Chloe refuses to consummate her marriage with Kevin, hurting him. Despite Chelsea and Chloe making up, she is offended when Chelsea registers a restraining order against her, keeping her away from Connor. They later appear to make up, but Chloe still harbors anger for her and tears up one of the dresses Chelsea designed for a Jabot fashion shoot. Despite receiving treatment, Chloe decides that she wants another child to replace Delia, however not fathered by Kevin but by Billy. She asks Billy for his sperm so she can be inseminated and become pregnant, but he immediately refuses and alerts Chelsea, Kevin and her other loved ones. While they plan an intervention, Chloe goes to the sperm bank at the hospital and is able to steal a specimen of sperm that Billy donated when he was trying to get pregnant with his wife, Victoria. She is blindsided by what her loved ones propose, which is getting treatment from a psychiatric facility. Kevin also accepted that he can't give Chloe the help she needs and Chloe accepts that she needs help. She chooses a facility in California, the night before leaving, she and Kevin make love one last time. She leaves town soon after, having had heartfelt goodbyes with her friends and family. However, she reveals that she still has Billy's sperm in her bag before leaving town. Soon after, Kevin sends her flowers, but she refuses them, and asks that Kevin not visit her, devastating him.
Chloe briefly returns to Genoa City on the one-year anniversary of Delia's death. She reveals to Kevin that she had been given a 24-hour pass from the clinic in order to visit the accident site. She tells Kevin that she also does not plan on returning to Genoa City, instead wishing to begin a new life somewhere else, without Kevin and her family. As she leaves, she rubs her pregnant belly, assuring Delia that her emptiness would once again by fulfilled, believing that the child is Billy's when it could also be Kevin's. She returns again in 2016, working as an outside aid to Victor under the alias of Dorothy Gale, helping plot out his revenge against Adam. When Victor ends up shot and in the hospital, Chloe unveils herself and confesses that she and her daughter, Bella, will be making a permanent return to Genoa City, to make sure Adam ultimately pays for his crimes, once and for all. She later shoots Adam and orchestrates an explosion, leading to his death, but covers up her involvement in the ordeal with Victor's help. After returning to Genoa City permanently with her daughter, Chloe reconnects with Kevin and Chelsea as she and Kevin prepare to remarry. However, Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow) expresses suspicion to Chelsea over Chloe's possible role in Adam's death and her crimes are revealed at her wedding to Kevin; once again with Victor's help, she arranges to disappear again. Meanwhile, Bella is revealed as Kevin's biological daughter. Chloe later fakes her death and brings Kevin into her scheme, convincing him it was the only way for them to be a family with their daughter. They move to Portland, Oregon under different names and disappear; however, Kevin later returns to Genoa City with Bella, with no mention of Chloe's whereabouts as she is believed to be dead. In 2019, Chloe resurfaces in Genoa City and shoots Adam upon finding out that he survived the explosion. Adam shuts down the investigation by finding a fall guy to take the rap for the shooting and he takes matters into his own hands to track down an alive Chloe. Chloe is then kidnapped and placed in a motel room and Kevin eventually comes to get her out. Adam arrives with him as well and stands his ground with Chloe. He pours his heart out about his regrets of the night Delia died and tells Chloe that her vendetta against him needs to end and she should do it for Bella’s sake. Afterwards, Chloe meets up with Billy and he is shocked that she is alive. She asks him to look over Kevin because she knows that he agreed to work for Adam in exchange for her freedom. Chloe then leaves Genoa City again for Oregon. In August 2019, Chloe is arrested and brought back to town but Michael is able to get the charges dropped against her and get her out of custody considering he was the new district attorney. Chloe is freed and moves into the Chancellor Estate with Kevin and Bella as she rebuilds her life. On Christmas Day, Chloe tells Kevin she’s pregnant and later on asks Chelsea to the baby’s godmother. In August 2020, Chloe gives birth to a boy and allows Kevin to choose the name. He decides on the name Miles because it was the name of a man in his past who helped through a difficult time in his life when he was growing up. In 2021, Chloe is offered a job by Adam at Newman Media to help create a fashion division at the company as she is hesitant at for but ultimately accepts. She becomes friends with Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope) when she suggests to Adam to hire her at the company in which he does.
After it became known that Billy, not Cane, fathered Chloe's daughter Delia, journalist Michael Fairman of On-Air On-Soaps praised the storyline that involved Chloe, Lily, Billy and Cane as "one of soaps all-time best quadrangle story arcs". Jeevan Brar of MSN noted the popularity that Chloe and Billy (a couple that fans have named "Chilly") generated, writing, "A lot of fans saw that pairing end way too quickly to make way for the ill-fated Billy & Mac redux." Referring to the love triangle between Chance, Chloe and Heather, Nekeeta Borden (also writing for Zap2it) said, "All things considered, will Chance and Chloe survive Hurricane Heather?" In another article, Borden heavily criticized the writing for Chloe's character. She wrote, "Initially I hated the pint-sized minx when she first planted her stilettos in Genoa City and on Lily’s face a few years back, but lately I've come to realize how much I miss the scheming, sassy Chloe of old ... The pairing with Chance killed poor Chloe dead. She, like Phyllis Newman (Michelle Stafford), is not meant to be some happy housewife, married to a boy scout. Chloe needs a sparring partner and partner-in-crime. She is way too much woman to be cheated on by someone like Chance." Also unfavorable of the relationship was Sara Bibel of Xfinity, who wrote that "Chance and Chloe never had much chemistry. She was attracted to him because she thought he was a safe, dependable guy who would not cheat on her", describing Chance as "the anti-Billy" in Chloe's eyes.
Reception towards the pairing of Chloe and Kevin was initially positive. In December 2010, On-Air On-Soaps said of the potential couple, "If there are two young stars that break the mold from your standardized soap opera acting style, the names Greg Rikaart and Elizabeth Hendrickson of The Young and the Restless are at the very top of the list." Andrea W. of Yahoo! Voices was also receptive of the potential pairing. She wrote, "Chloe and Kevin make a wonderful couple and I surly hope they overcome all of the obstacles they may or may not face. Kevin is wonderful with her daughter which is one of the most important parts of a relationship. I also hope they stay together because deep down Kevin has changed and he has turned into such a great and nice guy."
In contrast to a positive early response, Zap2it placed Chloe and Kevin fifth on their list of "10 Worst Soap Opera Couples of 2012" by the end of the year. They wrote, "sometimes the Geek and the Glamour Puss are meant to just be friends." In June 2013, over two years into the Kevin/Chloe romance, Luke Kerr (also of Zap2it) said, "I love Greg Rikaart and Elizabeth Hendrickson separately, but the Kevin/Chloe pairing has gone from a nice, Crimson Lights latte to rotten, spoiled, curdling milk. The Young and the Restless needs to put a fork in this relationship — it's done." Hendrickson's portrayal earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2012 and 2014.
The character has received attention out of soap opera media. Kyle Anderson of MTV News noted the song "Blame Game" by American rapper Kanye West to contain a reference to the character of Chloe Mitchell. Before Chris Rock's cameo in the song, West "blurts out" the name Chloe Mitchell, which Anderson commented "doesn't rhyme with anything and doesn't seem to have much context". The author concluded that it was in fact the soap opera character being mentioned.
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