Young & Restless’ Victoria Rowell ‘Blessed’ to Find Out Who Her Biological Father Was: ‘I Wasn’t Going to Give Up’
Monday, July 26th, 2021
The soap vet, who grew up in foster care, shares her life-changing discovery.
While promoting her new film, Pureflix’s Birdie, which is now streaming, Young & Restless alum Victoria Rowell shared a touching personal reveal — last year she finally found out the identity of her biological father.
Describing the search as ‘exhausting’ and something she had to keep going back to, Rowell revealed she finally decided to hire a genealogist from Ancestry to locate her real father.
More: Brytni Sarpy asks for prayers for her dad
The actress and author spent 18 years in foster care, an experience that was the subject of her book, The Women Who Raised Me, and has often been reflected in her work. Young & Restless fans will remember that Drucilla and Neil took in Devon Hamilton, a teen who was living in dire straits, and fostered him, eventually adopting the young man and making him a permanent member of the family. Her latest film, Birdie, has Rowell playing a grandmother fighting to keep her grandchild out of the foster system.
Rowell describes her excitement at finding out last year that she had family in Washington DC and Maryland while she was directing for BET in the area, and arranging to meet with them. “We decided, ‘Covid, no Covid, we’ll social distance, but we have to see each other’.” She added, “It’s been a remarkable journey; I’m still on it. It’s been positive.”
More: See the ‘new’ Michael Baldwin
We couldn’t be happier for Victoria Rowell. Check out the full video interview below for more on her life-changing discovery and her new flick!
Still miss Drucilla? Take a walk down memory lane as you peruse photos of the Winters and Barber families in the photo gallery below.
Get your free daily soap-opera fix for The Young and the Restless — and all of the other daytime dramas — delivered straight to your email inbox by signing up for Soaps.com’s newsletter.
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Image: CBS/Everett Collection
1/23
<p>Neil Winters first arrived in Genoa City as a junior executive working for Victor Newman at Newman Enterprises. Though Neil left the company more than once, and eventually began Hamilton-Winters with his son, he and Victor remained friends until Neil’s untimely death.</p>
Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
2/23
<p>Though Drucilla and Olivia loved each other, the disparity in their upbringings, (Olivia was favored by their parents, Walter and Lillie Bell), took them down different paths in life. One thing they had in common, however, was an attraction for the same men, which had them at odds more than once.</p>
Image: Jesse Grant/JPI
3/23
<p>Before falling for Drucilla, Neil had a thing for her sister Olivia. The two seemed to be a good match, but alas, life isn’t that simple on a soap opera. Olivia only had eyes for Nathan Hastings, whom she eventually married.</p>
Image: CBS/Everett Collections
4/23
<p>Drucilla arrived in Genoa City as a tough-talking young woman who had been living on the streets after running away from home. Her fortunes began to change when she became a model, and eventually, a wife and mother. She never lost her edge, however, which made her a fan favorite.</p>
Image: CBS/Everett Collection
5/23
<p>Nathan Hastings took the illiterate Drucilla under his wing when she arrived in Genoa City, and although she developed a crush on him, he married Olivia, and they had a son, Nate, together. Nathan worked as a P.I. alongside Paul Williams, but his fortunes changed after going on the run with his young son while on the outs with Liv over an affair. His life ended when he was hit by a car and killed.</p>
Image: CBS/Everett Collection
6/23
<p>Malcolm appeared in Genoa City looking to reconcile with his brother, Neil. Their relationship was in tatters due to past sibling rivalry, which continued to be an issue as the wilder Malcolm often drew disapproval from his more buttoned-up big brother.</p>
Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
7/23
<p>After a difficult start (Neil initially disapproved of Drucilla’s modeling career), Drucilla and Neil got married at the Chancellor Estate. Drucilla got pregnant and Lily was born, but the couple kept splitting up due to disagreements. Finally, Dru took Lily and moved to Paris after filing for divorce. She returned when Lily was 14 and they reconciled.</p>
Image: CBS/Everett Collection
8/23
<p>Malcolm bonded with Little Nate after the death of his father and proposed to Olivia. The union was relatively short-lived, however, and the successful photographer took his show back on the road.</p>
Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
9/23
<p>Neil and Drucilla expanded their family when they adopted Devon Hamilton. Drucilla took an interest in Devon, who she met through Lily, due to their similar difficult backgrounds. Devon, who had grown up in and out of foster care, finally had a stable family to call his own.</p>
Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
10/23
<p>In one particularly scandalous storyline, it was revealed that Malcolm was actually Lily’s biological father. It turned out he and Drucilla had made love one night when she was hopped up on cough syrup and mistook him for Neil. Though Dru and Malcolm had kept the secret over the years, there was drama galore when Lily and Neil found out.</p>
Image: Brian Lowe/JPI
11/23
<p>Drucilla was intervening in a battle with Phyllis Summers, on behalf of her friend Sharon Newman, over photographs, when she went over a cliff and fell to her (presumed) death. Her body was never recovered and fans to this day hope to see <a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/the-young-and-the-restless/news/593730/young-restless-drucilla-winters-death-anniversary-victoria-rowell-returning/" target="_blank">Drucilla return to Genoa City</a>.</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
12/23
<p>The Winters family expanded yet again when Lily and her husband, Cane Ashby, had twins Charlie and Matilda (Mattie). Although she couldn’t conceive after battling ovarian cancer, Lily’s eggs were used when Mackenzie Browning agreed to be her surrogate.</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
13/23
<p>Devon’s biological parents came back into his life after he had gone deaf following a bout of meninigitis. Devon, Yolanda Hamilton, Neil, and Tucker McCall (son of Katherine Chancellor), were overjoyed when a successful treatment was able to restore the young man’s hearing.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
14/23
<p>Sofia Dupre’s pregnancy was fraught with tension given that she didn’t know if Neil or his brother Malcolm was the father of her unborn child. Once Moses was brought into the world, it was revealed that Neil was indeed the father. Neil and Sofia married for a short time but she eventually left for New York with the boy when it didn’t work out.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
15/23
<p>Charlie and Mattie Ashby were rapidly aged to teens and went through a lot of drama in a short time. Charlie beefed with Reed Hellstrom, the son of Victoria Newman, and Mattie fell for the troubled teen. Their mother, Lily, was sentenced to a year in prison, and their parents later split up. Now off at college, the twins are mentioned from time to time.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
16/23
<p>It wasn’t an easy <a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/gallery/young-restless-devon-hamilton-hilary-curtis-love-photos/" target="_blank">road to love for Devon and Hilary</a>, in fact she was married to Neil as well at one point and seeing Devon behind his father’s back. After several tries and some setbacks that could only happen on a soap, they finally seemed to be headed toward their happily ever after — and the Winters family was set to grow again — when Hilary was involved i a car wreck with Lily at the wheel. Devon married her on her deathbed as she, and their unborn child, were both lost to him.</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI
17/23
<p>It was an emotional time when Neil came face-to-face with the mother who had walked out on him. Lucinda Winters explained she left the family because of her alcoholism. Neil, who had also battled the bottle, reconciled the angry feelings he had toward her and they shared a tender moment before she passed away.</p>
Image: Michael Yarish/CBS
18/23
<p>The Winters family was devastated and forever changed by the <a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/gallery/photos-of-neil-winters-funeral/" target="_blank">unexpected death of patriarch, Neil</a> after a cardiac event. Numerous family members returned to the canvas to bid him farewell along with his many beloved friends. He was remembered afterward for his deep love of family… and jazz music.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
19/23
<p>An extension of the Winters family, Ana Hamilton is Devon’s biological half-sister. Known for her beautiful singing voice, which captivated Devon’s grandmother, Katherine Chancellor, Ana came to Genoa City as an adult to help Devon deal with is grief, and ended up joining his music business. Alas, the two butted heads more than once. Ana is currently on tour with her father, Jett Slade.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
20/23
<p>Dr. Nate Hastings Jr arrived in Genoa City after the death of his love, Caroline. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts at romance, Nate found himself embroiled in a love triangle with none other than his cousin, Devon, after falling for his live-in love, Elena Dawson, and having sex with her. Devon injured Nate’s operating hand in the aftermath and their relationship was fractured, although the arrival of Moses forced them to set aside their differences.</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
21/23
<p>A grown up <a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/the-young-and-the-restless/comings-and-goings/595356/young-restless-jacob-aaron-gaines-cast-moses-winters-neil-son/" target="_blank">Moses arrived in Genoa City</a> to live with Devon, while attending Walnut Grove and being mentored by Nate. Moses has worked hard and has big dreams of becoming a doctor to help others after experiencing his father Neil’s death.</p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
22/23
<p>Part of the extended Winters/Barber family, <em>Bold & Beautiful’s</em> Justin Barber is the cousin of Drucilla and Olivia via his father, Wesley, the brother of their father, Walter. Justin’s son, Marcus, with Donna Logan, has a daughter, Rosie, with Amber Moore. Marcus currently lives off the canvas with his daughter and his wife, Dayzee.</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
23/23
