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What Happened to Ashley on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS

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The Abbott family has been a major part of THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS for years, and Ashley Abbott has been a character that proved so popular, she even journeyed over to sister soap THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL for a while. Eileen Davidson originated the role in June of 1982 and when she left in December of 1988, Brenda Epperson (1988-95) and Shari Shattuck (1995-99) both took over for a while before Davidson returned in 1999. Unfortunately, the actress announced her decision to leave Y&R again at the end of 2018, but thankfully, that wasn’t the last viewers saw of Ashley as she has continued to pop in for brief appearances here and there in subsequent years and eventually stuck around for a new storyline!

In 1982, John Abbott and Dina Mergeron’s daughter, Ashley, came home to Genoa City as an adult to work as a chemist at Jabot Cosmetics. She didn’t have much luck in love, though — her first beau, Eric Garrison, slept with her mom and Marc Mergeron turned out to be her former stepbrother! Then Ashley learned that her real father was Brent Davis, and the trauma caused her to flee Genoa City with amnesia. Victor Newman found her and brought her home where they had an affair while he was married to Nikki. Ashley got pregnant but Victor left her for Nikki Reed, who was diagnosed with cancer. Ashley secretly had an abortion and suffered a mental breakdown, later marrying her shrink, Steven Lassiter.

Y&R John and Ashley - JPI
Ashley would always think of John as her father.John Paschal/jpistudios.com

After Steven was shot and killed by an unstable patient, Ashley had a brief affair with Brad Carlton before finally becoming Mrs. Victor Newman. After their marriage fell apart, she fell for Jabot photographer Blade Bladeson, but their union suffered when his evil twin, Rick, tormented them. Ashley next married Cole Howard, who was on the rebound from Victoria, so naturally, that one didn’t last long, either.

When Diane Jenkins attempted to steal Victor’s sperm in 2000, Ashley switched it with Jack’s sample and used Victor’s sperm to get herself pregnant. She then married Brad and gave birth to her daughter, Abby. But when Ashley was diagnosed with breast cancer, she confessed the truth about Abby’s paternity. The couple split, but were drawn back together when Ashley learned she was pregnant with Brad’s baby. Sadly, she lost the child in a car accident, and their marriage ultimately collapsed. 

When John shot and killed his wife, Gloria’s, dangerous ex, Tom Fisher, Ashley tried to protect her father by confessing, but John was sentenced to prison. After Gloria tampered with Ashley’s new line of beauty cream leading to a woman’s death and John passed away after suffering a heart attack, Ashley left town to escape all the drama.

The Bold and The Beautiful Ridge Ashley
Ashley had chemistry even with men on other shows!Brian Lowe/jpistudios.com

But Ashley found plenty more drama when she had an affair with Rick Forrester while overseas on business, and then went to Los Angeles to work for Forrester Creations. She started a relationship with Ridge Forrester and they became engaged, but he was clearly still in love with Brooke Logan. She then had a fling with Ridge’s brother, Thorne, and when Forrester ended the fragrance line, Ashley moved to Europe with Abby.

Ashley reunited with Victor in France and they returned to Genoa City as a couple. They married and she became pregnant, but Adam Newman gaslighted her and caused her to fall down the stairs and miscarry. However, he convinced her that was all a dream and Ashley suffered a hysterical pregnancy, “giving birth” to a baby that Adam had stolen from Sharon Newman. The truth eventually came out and Ashley returned Faith to Sharon.

Her next relationship, with businessman Tucker McCall, also ended in divorce, and Ashley was forced out as CEO of Jabot by Jack. She moved to New York City to live with sister Traci Abbott, and returned to visit for events like Victor and Nikki’s wedding, Delia Abbott’s funeral, and Abby and Tyler’s engagement party.

The Young and The Restless Abby Stitch Ashley
“Honey, I know you’re engaged, but are you sure you don’t want to share him?”seam smith/jpistudios.com

In 2014, Ashley returned to Genoa City and got mixed up in a love triangle with her daughter’s boyfriend, Dr. Ben “Stitch” Rayburn. Moving on, she fell for doctor Simon Neville, who found a cure for her brain tumor, but they split when he left town. An unlikely romance started between Ashley and Ravi Shapur, but nothing ever really came of it.

The return of Ashley’s mother, Dina, threw the Abbotts into chaos as they learned she was suffering from Alzheimer’s and tried to get her away from the scheming Graham Bloodworth. Ashley quit Jabot and Victor invited her to come work at Newman Enterprises. But working with the Newmans was a constant struggle, and she approached Billy Abbott about returning to Jabot as COO. He agreed, but she then began to realize that Billy was stealing from the company to fund his gambling habit so she and Kyle worked together to oust him as CEO. She also briefly sparked opposite Neil Winters, but opted to focus on business instead of pleasure.

The Young and The Restless Jabot Meeting
Ashley had some big surprises for the Abbott family!Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

After Ashley wrangled herself into the CEO position at Jabot she revealed to Jack that John Abbott was always his father and she had faked the DNA tests in order to take revenge on her brother! Jack was furious, and the Abbott family quickly rallied to remove Ashley as the head of the company. Then Kyle and Jack discovered that Dina had drafted a contract giving Ashley ownership over the patents she created while at Jabot and tried to shred it. But Traci learned the truth and forced them to come clean about it to Ashley. Feeling betrayed and hurt, Ashley decided to take the patents and move to Paris to start her own company called “My Beauty,” which is what John used to call her.

Ashley still comes home occasionally for visits, like when Phyllis was ousted as Jabot CEO. Ashley offered to make Jabot a subsidiary of her company but Jack declined. Instead, the siblings made a bet to see whose company would succeed and whose would go bankrupt! But when the Abbott family needed her, Ashley would be there for them, such as when Dina’s condition worsened and she remained in Genoa City to support Jack and Traci during this difficult time.

Following Dina’s passing, Ashley returned to Genoa City again in 2021 for Abby and Chance’s wedding and was there again when her daughter decided on surrogacy to have a child. She also weighed in with her opinion when Devon later started a custody battle for Baby Dominic. Ashley went with Victor to Spain to search for Abby after she skipped town to go after a presumed-dead Chance, and like everyone else, was thrilled to discover that the guy actually was still alive.

Y&R Phyllis Nikki Ashley
Ashley was more than happy to lend a hand bringing Diane down.Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

Ashley was wary when Jack discovered he had a granddaughter, but eventually welcomed Allie Nguyen into the Abbott family. She was decidedly less happy when Diane returned from the dead and agreed to help Phyllis and Nikki try to drive her back out of town. And she was seriously irritated when Tucker showed up in Genoa City again and wanted to know what he was after. But she agreed to cozy up to the guy in the hopes of getting him to reveal his true motives and was surprised to learn of his connection to Diane.

Irritated that Jack continued defending Diane, Ashley teamed with Nikki and Phyllis to help drive her back out of town. She drew the line at contacting Jeremy Stark, as the criminal had a dangerous reputation, but Phyllis went ahead and did it anyway. Tucker tried to convince Ashley to leave Jabot and let him help her build her own empire, but after sleeping with him and discovering Jabot documents in his room, returned to Paris. 

When Ashley returned to Genoa City again, she continued clashing with Jack over his reuniting with Diane. Tucker confessed his financial woes to her, and she bought up his debt to force him to sell McCall Unlimited to Devon. She continued taunting Tucker while also keeping him at arm’s length, turning down his marriage proposal. But he refused to give up!

Y&R Tucker Ashley
Who’s wearing the pants in this relationship?Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

As her rift with Jack continued to widen, Ashley stopped Tucker from leaving town after he sold McCall Unlimited to Victor, and convinced him to move into the Abbott mansion with her so they could really stick it to her brother. She also announced to her family that she and Tucker were in love and engaged to be married. She later informed Tucker that while she didn’t truly love him right now, she was sure things would work out. Although her family remained wary and weren’t sure if Tucker was using Ashley to take over Jabot or she was using him to take control herself!

Ashley agreed to go into business with Tucker, but it was a while longer before she admitted she was falling in love with him again. She also tried recruiting Billy to work with her and Tucker against Jack and Diane. After Ashley married Tucker, she was surprised when Jack gave her back her company assets as a wedding present. And after Diane saved her life when she was choking, Ashley agreed to give the woman another chance. 

When Tucker returned from his honeymoon without Ashley, she called Jack to warn him Tucker got mad at her for not wanting to cut ties with Jabot or her family. Finally coming home herself, Ashley confronted Tucker over his abusive behavior in Paris, though he insisted he had no idea what she was talking about. Realizing Tucker wanted to use Glissade to take down Jabot, she offered to sell it to him for an exorbitant price, but he paid it. Ashley continued to have flashbacks to Tucker’s outburst and he began growing angry at her insistence he was violent with her.

Keep watching Y&R to see what happens next!

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