Tyra on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS — Everything You Need to Know
Tyra was only on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS for a year but the woman caused all kinds of drama that affected the Winters family! The character appeared from June 2008 until August 2009 and was played by Eva Marcille, who first came to fame as the winner of the reality series AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL, created and hosted by Tyra Banks. So her Y&R character’s name brings her full circle!
Tyra Hamilton came to Genoa City with her daughter, Ana Hamilton, to attend Lily Winters’ birthday party so Ana could meet her cousin, Devon Hamilton. Neil Winters was curious about Tyra’s real reason for visiting but wanted Devon to get to know his family so he allowed them to live at his place and gave Tyra a job at his club, Indigo. When Katherine Chancellor offered Ana a scholarship to a music school, Tyra worried because she wasn’t really Ana’s mother, but her aunt. She’d taken Ana in when Yolanda couldn’t care for her anymore.
A few months later, Ana had left school and she and Tyra returned to Genoa City admitting things didn’t work out. They were going to go back to Seattle, but Neil urged them to stay where they had family, so she went back to work at Indigo and they moved in with Devon. Tyra had chemistry with Neil, but he proposed to girlfriend Karen Taylor. Tyra began dating detective Gil Wallace, but he found out Yolanda was looking for her daughter, and Ana was put into foster care as custody was worked out. Neil and Karen got married quickly to foster Ana, allowing Tyra supervised visits.
When the courts terminated Yolanda’s parental rights to Ana, Tyra was so excited that she impulsively kissed Neil and revealed her feelings. Karen witnessed it, of course, and responded by informing Tyra that she and Neil were going to legally adopt Ana. Panicked, Tyra took Ana and skipped town, but Neil found them and brought them back. Karen gave Neil an ultimatum, so he agreed to fire Tyra from Indigo, but when he did so, they ended up having sex in the empty club. Devon caught them and couldn’t believe Neil would risk his marriage.
Neil came clean with Karen, who forgave him, but after Neil convinced the judge to give custody of Ana to Tyra, Karen demanded a divorce. Tyra and Neil were still attracted to each other but agreed they should wait to act on it. Then, Devon’s great aunt Virginia arrived in town and secretly told him that Tyra was not actually related to the Hamiltons — she was taken in when her mother died. Devon confronted Tyra, who also explained to Neil when he interrupted. Devon said he was through with Tyra and her lies, but couldn’t resist his attraction to her and during one of their arguments, they had passionate sex on the couch! Tyra felt terrible and tried to apologize to Neil, but he wasn’t having it, so she took Ana and left town. And while Ana has returned on occasion, that was the last anyone saw of Tyra!
