What Happened to Lily on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS
Lily on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS has gone through a lot of drama, but if you take a look back at everything in her past, it’s clear this woman is a survivor. Originally played by child actors, the role of Lily was aged into a teen in 2002 when Christel Khalil joined the soap. When she left Y&R in 2005, Davetta Sherwood took over briefly until Khalil returned in 2006. After the actress revealed her decision to drop to recurring status with the soap in 2018, she only popped in for the occasional visit, but by August 2020 was back full-time.
When Drucilla Winters gave birth to Lily, she allowed husband Neil Winters to believe the child was his, even though it was his brother, Malcolm Winters, who was the true babydaddy. Neil and Dru had a rocky relationship and Dru ultimately left to model in Paris and took their daughter with her. When Dru returned with a now-teenaged Lily in 2002, it was just the inspiration that an alcoholic Neil needed to get back on the wagon. Lily was victimized by Kevin Fisher, who she met online, and he gave her a sexually transmitted disease. She befriended Devon Hamilton, a troubled teen, and Neil and Dru agreed to become his foster parents, ultimately adopting him.
Malcolm returned to Genoa City, resentful of Neil and suspicious about Lily’s true parentage. She fell for Daniel Romalotti but when he was charged with vehicular manslaughter in the death of Cassie Newman, the teens went on the run from the law. After their families were able to finally bring them home, Daniel was cleared, but Lily was shipped off to boarding school. She returned for Devon’s 18th birthday and immediately reunited with Daniel. The young couple eloped and lived on the Abbott estate. Lily was shocked to overhear Phyllis and Dru arguing and learned the truth that she was Malcolm’s daughter, news which she shared with Neil. Later, Lily was devastated when her mother was presumed dead, and then her marriage to Daniel fell apart when he became addicted to porn.
Lily was attracted to Cane Ashby, but he was hesitant to start a relationship because of their age difference. Of course, that didn’t last long and they fell madly in love with each other. But when Chloe claimed to be pregnant with Cane’s child (it was really Billy Abbott’s), they split up. Once the truth about the baby finally came out, Lily and Cane reconciled and were married. Although the truth about his identity nearly destroyed their union, Lily’s diagnosis of ovarian cancer brought them back together again. Thankfully, some of Lily’s eggs were able to be preserved, and Mackenzie Browning offered to be their surrogate. Mac gave birth to twins, Charlie and Mattie, and Lily also went into remission. Unfortunately, Cane’s dangerous past in Australia caught up to him and after he was shot, Lily’s husband died in her arms!
Grieving her spouse’s death, Lily was shaken to frequently see visions of him and stunned to learn that Cane was alive and that it had actually been his twin brother, Caleb, who had been killed! Feeling betrayed, she left him and even nearly returned to Daniel, but couldn’t resist her love for Cane and the couple was remarried on Valentine’s Day. They both worked for Jabot Cosmetics, where Cane was briefly jealous of Tyler Michaelson’s attraction to Lily. (Of course, she only had eyes for her hubby!)
Lily was suspicious of Cane’s new assistant, Hilary Curtis, and eventually discovered she was trying to destroy Neil. So you can imagine how she felt later on down the road when Hilary had a change of heart and Neil fell in love with her! Lily’s opinion of Hilary continued to decline when she started an affair with Devon, as well. Lily and Cane’s marriage continued to go through some rough patches, like when she had an affair with Joe Clark, but they eventually worked it out.
The next threat to their happiness came when Cane got drunk on a business trip in Hong Kong and slept with Juliet Helton. Lily was hurt, and even more so when Juliet found she was pregnant. Tragically, Juliet died giving birth, leaving Cane to raise their son, Sam, with Lily. Furious to find out that Hilary had put Juliet up to suing Cane for sexual harassment, Lily didn’t approve when Devon offered to help Hilary realize her dream of having a baby.
While arguing with a pregnant Hilary in the car, Lily was distracted and ran a red light causing a truck to crash into them. Hilary and her unborn child died from their injuries, and a devastated Devon vowed to make Lily pay for killing the woman he loved. Although he changed his mind at the last minute and asked for leniency, the judge still sentenced Lily to a year in prison! She received regular visits from Cane and the twins but clearly struggled with life behind bars, even transferring to a facility farther away from Genoa City for her own safety.
Lily was released early, but she revealed to Cane that she also wanted to be released from their marriage. Unfortunately, at the same time, her father passed away unexpectedly, and following Neil’s funeral, Lily left Genoa City to start a new life teaching the inmates with whom she was once imprisoned. She returned later that year for both Neil’s dedication ceremony and to support Devon when he lost his inheritance. Then, in March of 2020, Lily returned to consider Jill Abbott‘s job offer to run Chancellor’s social media division with Billy, and while things got off to a rocky start, sparks started flying and romance blossomed!
When Billy was accused of shooting Chance Chancellor, Lily defended him and even helped her new beau clear his name. She even praised his honesty when he came clean to her about sleeping with Summer Newman. Although Lily suspected Victoria was using her and Billy’s kids to sabotage their budding relationship, the children took a shine to Lily and accepted her as their dad’s new girlfriend. They even decided to move in together! But after a failed attempt to purchase Cyaxares Media they found themselves teaming up to protect Chance Comm from Newman Media. Lily didn’t approve of Billy’s plans to dig up dirt on Ashland Locke and spoil his marriage to Victoria, but stood by his side when the Newmans took a shot at their business.
As Lily continued to recruit new employees, she convinced Devon to merge Chancellor and Hamilton-Winters into one big family company. But this left Billy feeling like an outsider, and after Lily expressed her concerns, he quit doing his podcast to focus on being her COO. She also considered opening up a hotel and even tried to buy the Grand Phoenix, though Phyllis turned her down. Lily attempted to smooth things over but Nate quit after clashing with Devon one time too many.
Lily and Devon worked together to take Chancellor-Winters public and everyone was stunned when Nate confessed that he’d spilled confidential information about the IPO out of revenge. Lily also had to inform Jill that Billy had quit his job as COO and was also surprised when Amanda quit as well. Although she understood why Billy had been spending so much time with Chelsea Lawson when he revealed her depression had led her to attempt suicide, Lily grew increasingly frustrated that he seemed more interested in saving Chelsea than spending time with her.
Lily was surprised to see Daniel back in Genoa City and he was surprised to learn she and Billy were a couple. But the relationship was becoming more and more strained. Lily suggested they seek couples counseling, but it didn’t really help so she suggested they take some time apart. Lily signed Daniel to produce his new gaming platform for Chancellor-Winters but things got complicated when Devon opposed taking the company public and wanted to take Hamilton Winters back.
Stay tuned to see how Lily’s story continues!
