Victoria Newman

Victoria Abbott
The Young and the Restless character
File:AH Victoria.png Amelia Heinle as Victoria Abbott
Portrayed by	Heather Tom (1991–97, 1997–2003) Sarah Aldrich (1997) Amelia Heinle (2005—) (and child actors)
Duration	1982–90, 1991–2003, 2005—
First appearance	1982
Created by	William J. Bell
File:Heather Tom as Victoria.png Heather Tom as Victoria Newman
In-universe information Occupation Former member of the Board of Directors of Newman Enterprises CEO of Beauty Of Nature at FMN CEO of Newman Enterprises COO of Newman Enterprises Executive at Newman Enterprises Executive at Jabot Cosmetics Co-CEO of Newman Enterprises Volunteer teaching art at a convent school in Florence, Italy Graduate from Guggenheim Program, Florence, Italy President of Brash & Sassy Division at Newman Enterprises Worked in the Newman mailroom Parents Victor Newman Nikki Newman Siblings Nicholas Newman Adam Newman Abby Newman Spouse Ryan McNeil (1992–93) Cole Howard (1994, 1994–98) Brad Carlton (2006–07) J.T. Hellstrom (2008–10) Billy Abbott (2010–11, 2011—) Children Eve Howard (stillborn) Unnamed child (miscarriage) Reed Hellstrom Unnamed child (miscarriage) John Abbott (adoptive) Grandparents Albert Miller Cora Miller Nicholas Reed Aunts and uncles Matthew Miller Reinette Miller Casey Reed Nieces and nephews Cassie Newman (adoptive) Noah Newman Summer Newman Faith Newman Other relatives John Abbott, Sr. Jill Abbott Fenmore Jack Abbott Ashley Abbott Traci Abbott Connolly Phyllis Newman Chelsea Newman

Victoria Nicole Abbott (née Newman; formerly McNeil, Howard, Carlton and Hellstrom) is a fictional character from the American CBS Daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless. She was born onscreen in 1982 as the daughter and first child of Victor Newman and Nikki Reed. The role was originally portrayed by Heather Tom for over a decade, who was universally acclaimed for her portrayal. After her departure, Amelia Heinle assumed the role on March 21, 2005.

Victoria's initial history on the soap involved romances with Ryan McNeil (Scott Reeves) and Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck). A decade later, she became involved with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) and later J.T. Hellstrom (Thad Luckinbill). She is currently married to former playboy Billy Abbott (Billy Miller), which has also garnered a fan following. The character has a history of rough pregnancies and motherhood; suffering various miscarriages and having a stillborn child. Nonetheless, her son Reed Hellstrom was born in 2007, and she is also the legal mother of John Abbott, born in 2012.

Casting

Heather Tom (pictured) left the soap after "creative differences" with David Shaughnessy.

As a child, the role was portrayed by Ashley Nicole Millan from 1982 to 1991, and Jessica Jean Dollarhide did a brief voice-over in 1991. Afterward, Heather Tom assumed the role, after the character's birth year was revised to 1971. Tom was only 15 years old at the time she began to portray Victoria, and just 16 years of age when she won her first ever Daytime Emmy Award. In April 1997, Tom left the soap, reportedly to focus on stage work. The role was recast with Sarah Aldrich, who was let go shortly after her debut. That October, Tom was asked for a reprisal, and returned to the role. In 1999, the actress signed a two-year deal with The Young and the Restless after weeks of contract negotiations. The soap had reportedly secured Carrie Genzel as a replacement for Tom in case negotiations fell through. In September 2003, it was announced that Tom was to leave the soap again, reportedly due to "creative differences" with then executive producer David Shaughnessy. On her departure, Tom said: "I want to thank all of my fans in daytime for making these 13 years such a joy for me. A big thank you must go to [Y&R creator] Bill Bell for creating such a rich, complex character that I loved sinking my teeth into." Taping her final scenes on November 22, 2003, audiences, crew and co-stars were saddened by the actress's departure. On Tom's departure, Shaughnessy said: "It's tough. We started together in the same month in 1991. She was a little 16-year-old, so wonderful and talented, and she has grown so much as an actress. We're going to miss her tremendously. But there are a lot of opportunities for her out there, so I wish her the best." Co-executive producer Jack Smith also spoke out about her departure, saying: "It's a sad day and a happy day. It's a good opportunity for Heather, who's getting her chance to go to Broadway and explore other possibilities as well as television. We regret losing her, but I'm very philosophical about these things -- things happen the way they're supposed to happen, so this will be good." Tom made her onscreen exit on December 17, 2003.

A spokesperson for the soap stated that Victoria was initially supposed to reappear onscreen in January 2004, however a wave of auditions reportedly failed as a suitable replacement for Tom could not be immediately found. Amelia Heinle was cast in the role in February 2005, taping her first scenes on February 16 and debuting onscreen on March 21, 2005. In 2008, the actress took a leave of absence due to a real-life pregnancy, and onscreen Victoria slipped into a coma. In 2011, Heinle signed a new contract with The Young and the Restless, furthering her portrayal of Victoria for the foreseeable future. She stated: “I’m happy here. The people are good here. I can’t believe I’ve been here for six years!”

Development

Early years and relationships

Victoria was created in 1982 as the daughter of Nikki Reed. The storyline surrounding her conception was the question of her paternity, with Victor Newman and Nikki's then husband, Kevin Bancroft, as potential fathers. Despite a brief custody battle involving Kevin's mother Allison, a paternity test showed that Victor was Victoria's father. Victoria was written out of the soap in 1990, when she was sent to boarding school in Switzerland. The following year, she returned a moody teenager, later pursuing a relationship with Ryan McNeil, an older man. They fell in love and married, but their union was short-lived when they separated due to "Victoria's lack of maturity". Victoria was next involved in a relationship and marriage with Cole Howard, which was threatened by revelations that they may be siblings, resulting in the annulment of their marriage. When the allegations were proved false, Victoria and Cole remarried, which ended four years later when Cole slept with Ashley Abbott. However, Victoria became pregnant with Cole's child, and instead opted to raise the child with her new boyfriend, Neil Winters, and they became engaged. When the child, named Eve Howard after Cole's mother, died shortly after birth, Victoria and Neil broke off the engagement and parted ways as friends.

Since becoming an adult, the soap's official website has said that Victoria "has displayed both her father's headstrong qualities and her mother's tendency to be impulsive". Victoria's next storyline was with a man named Gary Dawson, portrayed by Ricky Paull Goldin, with whom she pursued a relationship until she discovered he was in fact stalking her. He then kidnapped and brutally raped Victoria, though she was rescued and took months to recover from the incident. She and her first husband, Ryan, reunited and planned to remarry, but on their wedding day Ryan's insane ex-wife, Tricia Dennison, kidnapped Victoria and held Ryan at gunpoint to marry her. Ryan took two bullets for Victoria and died from the injury. After his death, Victoria began a relationship with Diego Guittierez to find out if he was sleeping with Sharon Newman. Despite pursuing a genuine relationship with him, their union did not last long. Victoria then fell in love with Michael Baldwin, but she left him and Genoa City when family problems became too much to handle.

Relationships with Brad and J.T.

After Tom departed from the role and Heinle took over, the actress stated she "had big shoes to fill" and felt uncomfortable taking over Tom's role, though however has since admitted to treating the soap like "home". A decade after her marriage to Cole, Victoria became involved with Brad Carlton, described as "the man shrouded in mystery". They fell in love and married, much to the disapproval of her father. However, the marriage ended after Brad had an affair with Sharon. Victoria's next romantic involvement was with J.T. Hellstrom, a man she was previously involved with before Brad. The actor who portrayed J.T., Thad Luckinbill, is Heinle's real-life husband. Victoria gave birth to a son, Reed Hellstrom, and they were married. On the pair's relationship, Heinle said: "I think they will stay together for a while before they wreck it. Look at how long I was with Brad! It went on for years almost, and that was not even a good, true love story. At least, I don’t think it was." For their wedding, Heinle wore a "very famous" Y&R gown, the one that Melody Thomas Scott previously wore. "It is designer Badgley Mischka’s creation. It was pretty and nice," Heinle said at the time. When Victoria came out of the coma, Heinle previewed that, "She is going to work at the offices right away." After Luckinbill was announced to exit, the pair drifted apart and Victoria developed an attraction to Billy Abbott. On her husband's departure, Heinle said: "It's a blessing in disguise. He's never been in this position before. [He] is going to grow as a person and as an actor. [...] Now that he has nothing holding him back, you just wait -- he's going to [succeed even more]. I know it. He's going to be so happy that this has happened." When asked in an interview how she felt Victoria was feeling about her divorce with J.T., Heinle said: "I think sometimes in life you’re going through things, and you act out. With Victoria going through a difficult situation, like the divorce with J.T. … really, on a soap opera, if you want to try and make it real for yourself, you think, “Oh my gosh, my character’s actually been married like 15 times!” She also added: "Each time, you have to figure out a way to make it real for yourself, otherwise it gets silly, you know. But Victoria’s probably thinking she’s been through so many things. At this point, she’s got a child now. And as far as Billy goes, it’s something new and exciting and different. He’s like the forbidden fruit. Maybe right now in her life she’s going through a little bit of a mini-crisis, being that she’s getting divorced again. And maybe this is just something that’s exciting, like riding on the back of a motorcycle, or doing something dangerous. I think that’s what’s going through Victoria’s head." Afterward, when asked "what was in store for Victoria", Heinle said: "I know there’s going to be more Billy and Victoria. I don’t know exactly where they’re headed, but I know it’s going to be interesting and fun! It’s like forbidden love, kind of like Romeo and Juliet, and I think that’s what they’re going to be doing with our characters. For a little while, anyway, which I think people will like. A “push me away, pull me back” sort of thing."

Relationship with Billy

After her divorce from J.T., Victoria pursued a relationship with Billy, which her father tried to stop on many occasions, to the point of having them arrested on their wedding day. After being unable to conceive a child, Billy presented Victoria with a baby girl that he adopted illegally, whom they named Lucy. On the storyline, Heinle commented that it was a "good way to conflict and drama to the soap", also stating: "It [storyline] worked, and so they liked it and it spun off from there. So now we are stealing babies together!" When the illegal adoption came to light, Victoria and Billy lost custody of Lucy to Phyllis Newman. Following the loss of the child Victoria adored, their marriage fell apart, and eventually Billy left Victoria and Genoa City, later revealed to be in Myanmar. Victoria didn't know what was to come of her marriage and went forward with divorce proceedings, just as Billy's daughter Delia Abbott was diagnosed with leukemia. Victor found Billy in prison for drug trafficking, and brought him back to town in hopes of Billy becoming a bone marrow donor for Delia. Eventually, after the pair were officially divorced, Victoria and Billy's mother went searching for him but were unsuccessful, and in a turn of events, she found him in a New York airport bar, and eventually they reunited, with Victoria cutting her father out of her life after the discovery of his role in Billy's absence. "Victoria is going to be absolutely furious at her dad for what he's done, and understandably so. There is a potential for a huge rift between father and daughter and there will be some consequences for Victor with his relationship with Victoria in light of all that he's done to keep her apart from the man she loves," noted then co-head writer Scott Hamner at the time. He also said that, "The impact of [those] secrets coming to light is going to be very serious in Billy and Victoria's ability to move forward together." Soon after, the pair remarried. However, after returning from their honeymoon, a woman named Chelsea Lawson, from Myanmar, arrived on their doorstep, claiming to be pregnant with Billy's child. Her claim was proven true, and the pair decided to adopt the child and raise it as their own. In reality, Victor brought Chelsea (and later her mother) to town to thwart his daughter's marriage.

Storylines

Childhood

When Nikki became pregnant with Victoria, her paternity was in question on whether if she was fathered by Victor or Nikki's then-husband, Kevin Bancroft. Kevin's mother, Alison Bancroft, who disliked Nikki, believed the child was Kevin's, and she set out to take custody from Nikki. She even hired Rick Daros to romance Nikki in order to pull both Kevin and Victoria from Nikki. Months later, it was learned that Victor was indeed Victoria's father. In 1990, Victoria was not happy about Nikki having married Jack Abbott, but he saved her life when she nearly drowned in the Newman Ranch pool. Afterward, Victoria continued acting out until Victor, without consulting Nikki, sent her off to boarding school in Switzerland. There she realized her profound love for her brother's friend Mickey Skinner as well as a love for Swiss chocolate and their banking systems.

1991–2003

A teenaged Victoria returned from boarding school in Switzerland, determined to put an end to both Nikki and Victor's marriages to Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) and Ashley Abbott (then Brenda Epperson). She then began working in the mail room at Newman Enterprises, and she set her sights on Ryan McNeil (Scott Reeves). Victor, unhappy about his daughter's involvement with an older man, attempted to pay Ryan off to leave town. Ryan refused Victor's offer and eloped with Victoria. Their marriage did not last long, as Ryan left Victoria for Nina Webster (Tricia Cast).

After her divorce from Ryan, Victoria fell in love with Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck). They eloped, but Victor was then forced to break some news to his daughter; Cole's mother, Eve Howard (Margaret Mason), told Victor that Cole was Victor's son. Believing they are brother and sister, Cole and Victoria annulled the marriage. When blood tests revealed that Cole was not actually Victor's son, he and Victoria then remarried. Eventually, Cole left Victoria for Ashley. Soon after, Victoria discovered that she was pregnant with Cole's baby; Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) was the first person to whom Victoria confessed that she was pregnant. Victoria and Neil became engaged and planned to raise her child together. They broke off the engagement when Victoria's child, a girl that they named Eve after Cole's mother, died shortly after birth. They remained friends. Victoria then tried to win Cole back from Ashley, and ended up sleeping with Ashley's half-brother Rafael Delgado (Carlos Bernard).

Victoria later developed an attraction to a man named Gary Dawson (Ricky Paull Goldin), a shy marketing expert, who turned out to be a stalker whose bedroom walls were plastered with her photos, including a nude centerfold that she had posed for years ago. After Victoria discovered the disturbing collage on his wall, she was kidnapped and brutally raped by Gary in the long-abandoned Newman treehouse. Her brother Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow) and Paul Williams (Doug Davidson) rescued her before Gary tried to kill her, and Gary was committed to a sanitarium. It took months for Victoria to recover from the rape. Afterward, Victoria and Ryan fell in love again and planned to remarry. Neil, Victoria's one-time love interest, was Ryan's best man. On the day of the wedding, Ryan's psychotic ex-wife Tricia Dennison (Sabryn Genet) attacked Victoria and knocked her out cold, and she arrived at the ceremony dressed in a wedding gown, identical to Victoria's, begging Ryan for a second chance, and held him at gunpoint to marry her. Victor rescued Victoria, but when she arrived at the chapel, Tricia fired two shots at her and Ryan jumped in front of Victoria and took the bullet, saving Victoria's life, but he eventually died from the injury, leaving Victoria devastated and alone.

Victoria then feigned an interest in ranch hand Diego Guittierez (Greg Vaughan), in order to find out whether or not he had been sleeping with Nick's wife, Sharon Newman (Sharon Case). She eventually developed feelings for him, and they began a relationship. Victor, having found out that Diego had slept with Sharon, paid him to leave town, infuriating Victoria. When Diego was beaten up by two thugs, who also took the $100,000 given to him by Victor, Victoria tracked him down at the hospital and they reunited. Diego became consumed with revenge against the thugs who beat him up. Victoria did not like this new vengeful side to Diego, so she left him. Victoria and Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc) then began dating and fell in love, but Victoria left Michael and Genoa City when family problems became too much for her to handle.

2005—

Victoria was not seen or heard from until she returned to town two years later. She arrived at Michael's doorstep, expecting to pick up where they left off. Michael informed her that he got married to Lauren Fenmore (Tracey E. Bregman) while she was away, and Victoria bowed out gracefully.

Victoria then started dating Brad Carlton (Don Diamont), and they eventually married, much to Victor's disapproval. She became pregnant with his child, but she lost the baby shortly thereafter. Victoria discovered that Brad had a one-night stand with Sharon shortly after they got married, and they consequently divorced. Victoria turned to J.T. Hellstrom (Thad Luckinbill) whenever there was a problem in her relationship with Brad, and the pair shared two one-night stands. Victoria became pregnant with a son shortly after deciding to divorce Brad, and she was unsure of the paternity of the child. The father could have been Brad or J.T. Victoria and J.T. became engaged but later a pregnant Victoria was left comatose after being hit by a falling piece of rock during the Clear Springs explosion. Her baby was delivered prematurely via C-section, and Victoria was cared for at the Newman Ranch. It was later announced J.T. fathered her child. Reed Hellstrom (Max Page) was their son. Victoria awakened from her coma and they were married. J.T. kissed his ex-girlfriend Colleen Carlton (Tammin Sursok), and Victoria slept with Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan), complicating their marriage. They reconciled and Victoria quit her job at Newman Enterprises. She traveled to Dubai and upon return, grew close to Billy while J.T. grew close to Mackenzie Browning (Clementine Ford), his former girlfriend. The marriage ended.

Victoria and Billy's romance began, and it was exposed to all by Deacon. When Victoria was detained by police, the judge gave J.T. full custody of Reed. Billy and Victoria eventually married after a drunken night together; but it was declared invalid. They continued to date. They bought a house together and ended up pregnant. They married; however, Victor had the police come and arrest Victoria in order to stop the wedding for bribing a foreign official; she was freed. She lost her baby while arguing with Victor; reigniting the Abbott-Newman feud. Victoria was enraged and joined Abby in a lawsuit against Victor, which Nick joined, too. They wanted to win over Beauty of Nature, his most valued cosmetic line under the branch of Newman Enterprises. They even turned down his $3 billion dollar offer. J.T. and Reed left Genoa City with his new pregnant wife, Mackenzie. Billy later bought a baby girl for $2 million from Primrose Deville (Ellen Greene) from a black market adoption ring. They named her Lucy.

Around the same time as the "death" of Sharon Newman, Daniel Romalotti (Michael Graziadei) was revealed as Lucy's biological father to all. Victoria and Billy, however, vowed to keep their daughter. Phyllis forbid him to give the couple parental rights. Phyllis eventually brought Daisy Carter (Yvonne Zima) back into the picture. Victoria and Billy eventually lost Lucy to Phyllis, the child's grandmother. At the same time, their marriage began to deteriorate. Victoria's personality shifted to her old business self. They eventually split up. Billy returned to the house to collect his things but instead ended up making love with Victoria, and then leaving her; breaking her hart. He wanted to Hong Kong and later Myanmar. Victoria became friends with Sharon's former lover from New Mexico, Sam Gibson (Sean Patrick Flannery), who helped her deal alone. Victor was revealed to have been holding Billy prisoner and he released Billy on the grounds of him never seeing Victoria again; because his daughter, Delia, needed a bone marrow transplant and Billy was a match. Billy lived on his trailer for months; and later left town. Victoria once again set out to find Billy. After traveling to Myanmar she was briefly in belief that Billy had died; however, they eventually reunited. They made love in a hotel room. Billy told Victoria he met a woman in Myanmar; but instead of listening to this, she instead wanted to focus on their life together. They remarried and returned home.

The woman from Myanmar, Chelsea Lawson (Melissa Claire Egan) arrived in town pregnant with Billy's child; a DNA test confirmed this. Chelsea agreed to let Victoria and Billy raise the child as theirs when it is born. Chelsea's mother, Anita Lawson (Catherine Bach), tries to change Chelsea's mind however, Chelsea decides to go ahead with it. Victoria briefly worked as CEO of Beauty Of Nature before it was given to Jack. Chelsea and Victoria engaged in an argument along with Abby; Chelsea ended up falling into a frozen lake. Adam found her, and delivered her baby. Victoria and Billy officially adopted the child and named him John. When Victor went missing, Sharon took over Newman Enterprises. Along with Nick, Victoria attempted to help the company but failed. Victor eventually returned.

Reception

Tom won two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Younger Actress for her portrayal of Victoria in 1993 and 1999, with eight other nominations for the same award. In 1993 and 1994, she was nominated for a Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Younger Leading Actress, and won in 1997. Tom was also nominated for three Young Artist Awards. In 2011, Heinle was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her portrayal.

Tom was universally acclaimed for her portrayal of the role, and audiences were saddened by her departure. Heinle has been overall praised for her portrayal of Victoria, she has been listed on the "Top 5 Actresses" viewers' poll of CBS Soaps In Depth for over eight consecutive weeks. Heinle stated that she felt Victoria's romance with Brad was "not even a good, true love story". Victoria's relationship with Billy has garnered a fan following, they have been listed on the "Top 10 Couples" viewers' poll of CBS Soaps In Depth for over six consecutive weeks.