Jai Rodriguez is headed to Genoa City, Us Weekly can exclusively reveal.
Rodriguez, 45, has joined the Young and the Restless cast in a guest role capacity. He will play Pietro, who is described as “a successful and sought-out party planner to the movers and shakers in Genoa City.”
Pietro has been hired by the Newman family to throw a birthday party for the family’s matriarch Nikki Newman, played by Melody Thomas Scott. The Newman family is one of the core broods on the series, which includes its patriarch Victor Newman portrayed by Eric Braeden. (Both Braeden, 84, and Scott, 68, have been staples on Young and the Restless for the past four decades.)
Rodriguez will appear in four episodes, with the first installment airing on May 28.
Many celebrities have soap operas to thank for launching their careers. Before becoming an Oscar winner, Julianne Moore got her start on As the World Turns in 1988. She portrayed sisters Frannie Hughes and Sabrina Hughes, which scored her a Daytime Emmy in 1988. Moore eventually exited the series to kickstart her film career. Like […]
This isn’t Rodriguez’s first experience in the soap world. He made his TV debut on All My Children in 1993 as Faith’s father. He also appeared on Days of Our Lives in 2012.
Rodriguez is best known for being one of the original members of the Fab Five on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. In addition to Rodriguez, the Bravo series starred Thom Filicia, Carson Kressley, Kyan Douglas and Ted Allen. On the groundbreaking reality series, Rodriguez was the group’s pop culture, relationships and social interaction expert, earning himself the nickname the “Culture Vulture.”
Jai Rodriguez. Photo by Ben Cope
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy premiered in 2003. It took home an Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program the following year. After five seasons and 100 episodes, the show ended in 2007.
In 2018, Queer Eye was rebooted with a new cast for Netflix. It has been on for nine seasons. The new Fab Five consisted of Tan France, Jonathan van Ness, Antoni Porowski, Karamo Brown and Bobby Berk. (Berk left the show in 2024 and was replaced by Jeremiah Brent.)
After Queer Eye for the Straight Guy wrapped, Rodriguez pursued more opportunities in TV and film. He’s had recurring roles in multiple series including EastSiders, Uncoupled and more. Rodriguez has also guest starred on episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, Dollface, The Resident, The Rookie, High Potential and others. As for Rodriguez’s film credits, he recently played Jason in Judd Apatow’s comedy Bros alongside Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane.
In addition to film and TV, Rodriguez has a passion for the stage. He played Angel in Broadway’s Rent before performing the titular role in Zanna Don’t!. Rodriguez also has an affinity for cabaret and previously ran the concert series Twisted Cabaret.
