What Happened to Gina on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS
Gina Roma was on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS for decades but not always frequently, so if you need a refresher on who she was and what happened to her, we’ve got you covered! The character was first introduced in 1982 and was played by actress Patty Weaver until her exit in 2009. She did make a return appearance on Y&R in 2013, but it wasn’t until 10 years later that it was announced the actress would be reprising her role in time for the soap’s 50th anniversary.
Gina Romalotti arrived in Genoa City after serving five years in prison and asked her brother, Danny Romalotti, for help in getting on the straight and narrow. He got her a job singing at Jonas’ restaurant and when they decided to close, she bought the restaurant and renamed it Gina’s. She began dating Neil Fenmore, but when his ex-wife, Joanna Manning, returned to town, Lauren wanted her parents back together and she split Neil and Gina up by exposing her criminal past.
Gina’s father, Brian Romalotti, turned up as a homeless drifter just out of prison and Jill Abbott transformed him into “Rex Sterling” to scam Katherine Chancellor. However, Rex and Kay fell in love and he changed his ways. But his former cellmate, Clint Radison, showed up and wooed Gina, convincing her to marry him. After his scheme to replace Katherine with her look-alike was exposed and he was sent to prison, Gina turned to Kay’s son, Brock Reynolds. They grew close, but he left town on another one of his missions to save the world.
After Gina’s father was shot by a burglar, Danny was attacked by a mugger and needed a kidney transplant and she was upset she wasn’t a viable donor. After Danny recovered and took his son on the road, Gina remained in touch with them but refused to share any updates with Phyllis Summers, who she hated. Gina also continued running her restaurant, which was a popular Genoa City hot spot for many years. But in 2003, Gina’s burned down and with it, she also lost her home, which was upstairs. The fire had been set by Kevin Fisher, but thankfully Colleen Carlton, who he’d locked inside, was rescued in time.
Danny returned home to help Gina get her life back together, and she decided against using the insurance money to rebuild her restaurant, instead taking the job as manager at the Genoa City Athletic Club restaurant. She also lost her occasional boyfriend, John Abbott, to Gloria Fisher. After Katherine was believed dead (it was really her look-alike, Marge who’d passed), Gina inherited some money, which brought Clint back sniffing around for a little bit. Gina wasn’t mentioned for years, but in 2013, returned to Genoa City to attend Katherine’s funeral and stuck around for Paul and Christine’s wedding. And in 2022, Danny told Christine that Gina occasionally joined him on stage when he was performing.
Stay tuned to see what happens when she comes back for another visit!
