Congratulations are in order for Young and Restless star Cait Fairbanks (Tessa), who got engaged to her boyfriend, Jay Rudolph. The actress shared a photo of her left hand wearing the sparkly engagement ring in front of some beautiful fall foliage, as well as a shot of her and her new fiancé beaming in the wake of. their betrothal in her Instagram Stories. Rudolph shared her photo of the ring on his own Instagram Stories, captioning it: “She said ‘yes’ ☺️”

In Perfect Harmony

Fairbanks is well known to soap fans for her role of Tessa Porter on Y&R, which she has been playing since March 2017. During her time on the soap, she has been nominated for three Daytime Emmy Awards, one in the Outstanding Younger Actress category and two in the Outstanding Original Song category. Rudolph is also a musician who plays drums and keyboards, as well as producing. In addition to creating his own music, he has toured with artists like Weyes Blood and Nick Waterhouse.

The couple first began dating back in October 2020 and celebrated their five-year anniversary on October 16. “Love my honey,” Fairbanks wrote on Instagram in 2024 with a gallery of photos and videos of her and her beau, including him playing drums in a store and the couple fooling around on the Daytime Emmys red carpet. “Thanks for the best four years.”

On the same day, Rudolph expressed his own feelings on Instagram as he shared some of his own favorite memories of their romance: a pic of his future fiancée walking in the woods, one of them holding hands as they jump in the air together, and a brief video clip of her walking on the beach. “Four years with Cait Fairbanks and it keeps getting better,” he captioned his post, adding a series of heart emojis for good measure.

Prior to kicking off her romance with Rudolph, Fairbanks was in a relationship with former co-star Zach Tinker (ex-Fen), who she met on the Y&R set. Recalling the origins of their involvement, Fairbanks shared during a 2020 appearance on Soap Opera Digest‘s podcast, Dishing With Digest, “When he was working there he would always just kind of pop into my dressing room and I’d be like, ‘Who is this goof and why is he always in my dressing room?’ And then when he wasn’t working on the show as much we were still hanging out and I was helping him with self-tapes and then we just kind of ended up starting to date. I mean, he was just always really good with whenever I needed advice and vice versa. We were always there for each other. I think it just kind of naturally progressed, honestly. He always made me laugh. He liked me, I guess. And I liked him.” The duo split that same year.

Fairbanks’s real-life happiness with Rudolph stands in stark contrast to her character’s, as Tessa’s love life is kind of a mess on Y&R right now. Her wife, Mariah, has been pushing her away while she’s dealing with her trauma at an out-of-town facility, and her own growing feelings for Daniel — not to mention the kiss they shared last week! — complicating things even further. But happily, the actress is saving all that drama for her fictional life as she looks forward to a lifetime of happiness with her husband-to-be.

Soap Opera Digest sends its warmest wishes to the happy couple!