Victor and Nikki Newman

Victor Newman and Nikki Reed are a supercouple on the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless. Victor is played by veteran daytime actor Eric Braeden and Nikki is played by Melody Thomas Scott.

For a quarter of a century, YOUNG AND RESTLESS' Victor and Nikki Newman have been the screaming definition of 'supercouple' - soul mates and eternal lovers, surviving three marriages (to each other) and building a family together. Here we relive their love story, with all of its ups and downs.

From the early days of The Young and the Restless, Victor Newman has been a symbol of power in Genoa City.

An orphaned child from a poor family, Victor overcame many obstacles to become a shrewd and successful businessman with an unstoppable work ethic and a cunning intellect. Although he often resorts to "ruthless" tactics in order to satiate his need to conquer, Victor always wins when it comes to business. When it comes to affairs of the heart, however, Victor's track record is not so perfect.

Victor is the consummate womanizer and has been a part of many relationships over the years. Nonetheless, his heart belongs to one woman alone, the stunning Nikki Reed. Doug Austin introduced the two when Nikki was a stripper at the Bayou in 1981, a year after Victor's arrival in Genoa City and freshly divorced from his ex-wife, Julia Martin.

Victor was instantly smitten with the young dancer and took it upon himself to become part of her life. He encouraged her to pursue an education and to explore her love and great talent for piano. Despite his quickly developing feelings for the young girl, he discouraged her wildly romantic advances towards him. However, one night Victor gave in and he and Nikki slept together. Afterwards, Victor insisted that their night together was a mistake that wouldn't happen again. He convinced a devastated Nikki to pursue a relationship with eligible bachelor Kevin Bancroft, whom she later married at Victor's suggestion. Unbeknownst to Kevin, Nikki was pregnant with Victor's child (Victoria) from their one night of passion. Kevin and Nikki eventually divorced, allowing Victor and Nikki to pursue their feelings for one another.

In an interesting turn of events, gangster Rick Daros kidnapped Nikki. Victor came to her rescue but was wounded by a harpoon in the process; he proposed to Nikki from his hospital bed and she proudly accepted. The couple married on April 13, 1984 in an extravagant wedding that one could only expect from millionaire Victor Newman. The beaming bride was showcased in a hand-made gown complete with a 10 foot train adorned with 20,000 beads and pearls. Their baby daughter, Victoria, was among the audience. Although the marriage didn't last, the opulent wedding will live forever in the hearts and minds of Y&R fans.

Despite true love and good intention, the relationship between Victor and Nikki has always been troubled by poor timing and miscommunication. Three years after they took their vows, Victor and Nikki split, having affairs with Ashley and Jack Abbott respectively. Although Ashley Abbott became pregnant with Victor’s child, she had an abortion when she found out Nikki was in the throes of a terminal illness. At the first sign of Nikki's terminal illness, Victor returned to support and love her. Nikki hid the news of her remission in order to hold on to her marriage, but the truth surfaced and Victor soon divorced her - but not after they spent one more night of passion together, after Victor, who had had several drinks that night, commiserated over Ashley Abbott's plans to marry her doctor. Following Victor and Nikki's night together, Nikki was pregnant once again.

Nikki, alone and devastated, left town with Victoria and gave birth to Victor's second child, a son, Nicholas, and attempted to move on with her life. Meanwhile, Victor quickly married and eventually divorced Leanna Love, who wrote Ruthless, an ill-painted biography of him. Nikki eventually entered a rocky relationship with Jack Abbott, and just as Victor was about to propose remarriage, Jack persuaded Nikki to marry him in a quickie ceremony in Las Vegas. Victor, devastated upon finding this out, wandered to a remote cabin where he and Ashley Abbott used to rendezvous. Ashley, having problems of her own with her sister Traci, who was competing with her for Brad Carlton's affections, also happened to wander to the cabin. Upon meeting there, Victor and Ashley concluded that this was a sign that they were meant to be together, and married on impulse. Meanwhile, Nikki, heartbroken that she had lost her chance with Victor, took a horrible fall from a horse while horseback riding. She hurt her back in the fall and became addicted to alcohol and pain medication. Although she finally overcame the addiction with the love and support from Victor and went on to have successful back surgery, and both Victor and Nikki had separated from their respective spouses, Ashley and Jack, circumstances continued to keep the soul mates apart. Throughout the whole ordeal, there was always a place in Nikki’s heart for Victor Newman.

Both Victor and Nikki went on with their separate relationships, unable to express their true feelings for one another. Victor got involved with Hope Adams, whom he married and had a son with (much to Nikki’s tearfulness and jealousy), while Nikki started a relationship with Brad Carlton. The couple were finally reunited when Victor was shot by Mari Jo Mason. When Nikki learned of the shooting, she immediately called off her marriage to Brad and rushed to be at Victor's side. The two almost reconciled but Victor rushed off to Kansas to console Hope whose husband Cliff had just died in a car accident. Again, miscommunication drove the two apart. Victor married Diane Jenkins and Nikki, again feeling rejected by Victor, hastily married Dr. Joshua Landers.

Josh's ex-wife, who was presumed dead, entered the picture and tried to win her lover back from Nikki. In the process, she killed Josh and shot Nikki four times. The sight of Nikki on her deathbed caused Victor's love for Nikki to resurface, and he quickly divorced his current wife, Diane Jenkins to remarry Nikki in the hospital on her deathbed. The marriage gave her the will to survive and she went on to make a full recovery. Much to Nikki's dismay, Victor's 'quick divorce' from Diane was declared illegal and their marriage was voided.

Victor finally divorced Diane legally and, although not married to Nikki, the couple continued their relationship, intending to remarry. Then, following an accident, Victor was presumed dead in a plane crash, but was actually being held hostage by crazy Chet and Chet's girlfriend, Ramona. She helped Victor escape and Chet was killed during a fight. When Victor returned home, Nikki was overjoyed, but soon grew wary of his friendship with Ramona. Nikki asked Victor for another baby, but he refused. Angry, she got involved with Brad again, while Victor slept with Ramona, and then got involved with Ashley.

Nikki broke things off with Brad right before Ashley and Victor became romantically involved again. Although Victor and the pregnant Ashley’s relationship continued to heat up, a series of events, including Victor’s preoccupation with crushing Ashley’s brother Jack Abbott and Jabot, eventually broke them up. On the rebound, Ashley wed Brad, who after several weeks of dating, had fallen in love with her. Ashley gave birth to a daughter, Abby, keeping the father's identity a secret.

Thus, both Nikki and Victor were unattached again. However, Victor became furious with Nikki when she bailed out a flailing Jabot in exchange for a board seat and a new job. Following a year of bitterness, the two decided on attempting to be “just friends”. They were drawn closer towards the end of 2001, following the Matt Clark saga with Nick and Sharon, and the murder of Ryan, Victoria’s fiance. During these times, Victor and Nikki leaned heavily on each other for emotional support. As the year ended, Victor reminisced about their first kiss a full two decades earlier, and on that day of New Year's Eve, he and Nikki enjoyed a romantic dance to their wedding song, "Through The Eyes Of Love".

As the 2002 entered, dealing with a new crisis in Nick and Sharon's marriage, Nikki and Victor spent more and more time together, eventually giving in to their passions for one another and ending up in each other's beds once more. Nikki, vulnerable as always, was afraid of getting hurt, but Victor suggested that they worry about things day by day. Towards the middle of the year, Victor decided he needed to go on a soul-searching journey before formally asking Nikki to be his wife once more. As a result, Victor made contact with his former wives and lovers including Julia, Ramona, Ashley and Hope. Victor's meetings were taped by Leanna Love, and the footage was aired on her television show. Nikki, heartbroken upon watching the show, decided there was no chance of a reunion with Victor. Later, when Victor returned to Genoa City, Nikki confronted him. Victor told Nikki he visited his exes looking for insight to make his next marriage to her last. He then asked her to be his wife once again. Stunned, Nikki promised him an answer in two weeks (she needed time to herself in order to think things through). Fourteen days later, Nikki told Victor she would marry him. The two were married in a lavish ceremony on September 5th, 2002, surrounded by their children and family.

(Sources: Soapcity, CBS)