young restless sharon case cbs
Credit: CBS

Many longtime viewers had to hit the rewind button while asking, “Did Sharon really just say that?”

Over the years, The Young and the Restless‘ Sharon has been successfully paired with more than a few of Genoa City’s handsomest men. But for ages, she and Nick were one of daytime’s hottest supercouples. Life threw them challenges — from his disapproving mom to secrets from her past — and they faced them, usually as a united front.

sharon nick yr 1994 cbs

Until, that is, Cassie’s death drove Nick to have a torrid affair with Phyllis. What started as a no-strings-attached fling turned far more serious, especially after the redhead wound up pregnant. Nick and Sharon divorced, he wed Phyllis, and the rest is… well, complicated. Just ask fans of either couple, because both Sharon and Nick as well as Nick and Phyllis have very, very devoted followings. (Sharon and Nick’s brother, Adam, are also extremely popular, but that’s a story for another day.)

Phyllis, Nick couch sex Y&R

While Nick has generally managed to maintain a good relationship with both women, regardless of which one he’s with, the same can not be said for the ladies. In fact, it’s safe to say that theirs is one of the biggest rivalries this side of the legendary Katherine/Jill feud. And while Kay and her nemesis eventually made peace and came to care for one another deeply, the same can not be said for Phyllis and Sharon.

Which is why when Sharon turned to Nick in the January 13 episode and said of his relationship with Phyllis, “You two, you’re a good couple,” fans did a double take.

The general concensus? As @LeighSoapFan said on Twitter, “That should never have come out of Sharon’s mouth. Stop it.”

Although Sharon has moved on with Rey, many longtime Shick shippers still believe that she and Nick are destined to reunite. As it turns out, they’re not alone. Nick’s portrayer, Joshua Morrow, has repeatedly said that he feels the same way.

More: Former Y&R star shares devastating news

“I believe they’re star-crossed lovers,” he told TVInsider last year, “the Romeo and Juliet story. There’s zero chance they don’t end up together multiple times as long as these characters are on the show.”

That’s not to say that Nick can’t have other relationships. “It’d be a little disrespectful to the other ladies I work with [to say there aren’t other significant women in Nick’s life],” he acknowledged. “The better answer for the Shick diehards is that these characters will cross paths many more times in spectacular fashion.”

More: Why Michelle Stafford deleted her own post

Even were Sharon and Nick to never reconnect, many fans find it difficult to imagine a universe in which the blonde would ever go so far as to say he and Phyllis are a “great” couple.

Were you shocked to hear those words coming out of Sharon’s mouth? Or do you perhaps think that Sharon and Nick have, after all this time, come to a place where they are friends who want the best for one another, no matter what? Share your thoughts in the comments, then join us in revisiting the long, bump-filled road traveled by Nick and Sharon since first they met way back in 1994.