What Happened to Jeremy Stark on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS
The character of Jeremy Stark on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS has been talked about and even seen in some flashback scenes, but that’s likely not the last we’ll see of the guy! The actor playing Jeremy is James Hyde, who is best known for playing Sam on NBC sudser PASSIONS, so after his appearance in the Oct. 21, 2022, episode, viewers knew that there was more to come! Unfortunately, his run on Y&R came to a gruesome end in April 2023!
Jeremy Stark was a handsome businessman that Diane Jenkins encountered while she was presumed dead but actually living under an assumed identity in Los Angeles. He poured on the charm and she fell hard for him, enjoying a whirlwind romance. But after a while, Diane noticed that with all the jet-setting they had been doing, they never traveled together. Months later she was horrified to discover he was using her as a courier to launder money in foreign banks!
When Diane confronted him, Jeremy revealed that the man who created her fake identity worked for him, so now she did, too. He threatened to expose her if she didn’t continue working for him, so she was forced to pretend to still be in a relationship with him while helping him do his dirty work. Eventually, Jeremy learned he was about to be arrested and Diane managed to get away before she was caught as well. After years of investigations and a trial, Jeremy was locked up in prison and Diane was free to try and put her life back together again.
However, with Diane back in Genoa City and being threatened by Tucker McCall, who found out about her involvement with Jeremy and used it to force her to help him with the Abbotts, it was only a matter of time before Stark resurfaced. With the felon being released from prison, Phyllis Summers contacted him anonymously to let him know Diane was responsible for him being locked up, and he stunned his former partner-in-crime by showing up on the doorstep of the Abbott mansion! He acted like he was happy to see her, but she was shaken to her core fearing how he might try to take revenge!
Jack offered to pay Stark back the fortune that Diane had taken from him to start her new life, but he declared he wasn’t after money, even when he tried to sweeten the deal. Jeremy informed Phyllis he was aware she was the one who contacted him and continued threatening Diane. When The Abbotts told him a frightened Diane had skipped town, Stark didn’t buy it, and upon her return, also wasn’t buying her claims that she wanted to get back together with him.
Stark wanted Diane to prove her loyalty to him, so she told him she would steal an expensive necklace from Nikki Newman, but insisted on doing it on her own. When Diane returned with the necklace, Jeremy was pleased, but then Chance Chancellor arrived with a search warrant! After the cop found evidence planted around the room, Stark protested that he was being framed, but found himself under arrest anyway.
Of course, with no real solid evidence against him, Jeremy was released and immediately got back to his mission, taunting Diane. And noticing Phyllis in an emotionally vulnerable state, he took advantage and persuaded her to join him in his quest to destroy her rival! The two plotted in secret and he crashed the Genoa City bicentennial gala to be on hand when their plan went into action.
After Phyllis set it up so that Jack, Kyle, and others would walk in on Diane physically assaulting her upstairs, she then went downstairs to step on Jack and Diane’s engagement announcement. She ranted at the couple, then passed out and was rushed to the hospital. Jeremy naturally declared that Diane had done something to her, and when Chance reported that the ambulance had crashed and Phyllis didn’t survive the explosion, he wanted justice for his wife’s death. Stark stunned the crowd by revealing that he and Phyllis had gotten married just days earlier!
Stark pushed Chance and the police to discover the evidence they’d planted that led to Diane’s arrest. However, he was furious with Phyllis for threatening their plan by sneaking out to attend her own memorial service in disguise! Realizing that Phyllis was having second thoughts, he threatened to make her fake death all too real. But when he threatened her with a pair of scissors, she turned the weapon on him and found herself with a bloody body to dispose of! As the police searched for Stark’s whereabouts, they were stunned when the guy was discovered brutally murdered!
Stay tuned to Y&R to see what happens next!
