Life After Young & Restless’ ‘Phick’: The Surprising Upside to the Couple’s Breakup
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021
We really thought those crazy kids were gonna make it in the end. But if not…
If the crossroads to which The Young and the Restless has brought Nick and Phyllis really does lead them permanently in different directions — or as permanent as anything ever is on a soap! — that is, on one hand, very sad. They’re a supercouple, after all. (Revisit their tumultuous relationship here.) They’re a pairing so hot that it took some of the sting out of the end of “Shick.”
On the other hand, if Nick and Phyllis are really done done, it also opens up an exciting world of possibilities. Yes, she could decide to reunite with her other favorite sometime husband, Jack. As Michelle Stafford recently told Soaps.com, “She loves both of these very different men in very different ways.”
But that relationship has a been there, done that quality to it. We’re more intrigued by the possibility of Phyllis with someone new. Imagine if she were to hook up on the rebound with Rey, whose marriage to Sharon has been, let’s be real, doomed from the start. Or contemplate the possibility — teased, we thought, when Stafford returned to the show in 2019 — of Phyllis getting involved with Adam. In both cases, we’d get something new and fresh — and as an added bonus, the affairs would make Sharon’s head explode.
On the flipside, we’ve been eager for some time now to see more sparks fly between Nick and Phyllis’ nemesis, Sally. The soap chemistry-tested Joshua Morrow and Courtney Hope a while back — whether deliberately or not — and they passed with flying colors. A Nick/Sally pairing would not only be smokin’, it would keep the redheads at odds.
What do you think, Young & Restless fans? Are you bummed that it looks like the end of the road for Nick and Phyllis — or, like us, tantalized by the possibilities? On your way to the comments, stop off at the below photo gallery, which revisits highlights of Nick’s life and times. Or let’s call it like it is — his life and (many!) loves.
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Image: Monty Brinton/CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1/19
<p>When a 19-year-old Joshua Morrow was cast as <em>The Young and the Restless</em>’ Nicholas Newman in 1994 — opposite Heather Tom (now Katie, <em>The Bold and the Beautiful</em>) as big sister Victoria — he embraced the opportunity that presented itself as enthusiastically as viewers did him. “I can’t wait for the weekend to be over,” he told <a href="https://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/tbt-joshua-morrow-3/" target="_blank"><em>Soap Opera Digest</em></a> at the time, “so I can get back to work. This is my dream… my absolute passion in life.”</p>
Image: Cliff Lipson/CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
2/19
<p>The son of former stripper Nikki Reed and megabucks Victor Newman wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth, honey, that [bleep] was 24k <em>gold</em>! But there were definite downsides to being a part of the filthiest-rich — filthy-richest? — family in Genoa City. For starters, Mom and Dad were so affluent that they never waited a nanosecond for Nick to offer them a penny for their thoughts; rather, they shared their opinions, especially the disapproving ones, eagerly, loudly and often. (Also, this was the way that they all dressed for a casual brunch.)</p>
Image: Cliff Lipson/CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
3/19
<p>Obstacle courses don’t have as many hurdles to jump as Nick had to get over in order to be with Sharon Collins, the high-school sweetheart that he imported from the wrong side of the tracks. But neither the machinations of her nefarious ex-boyfriend Matt Clark nor the efforts of his nouveau-snooty mother could keep the couple apart.</p>
Image: Cliff Lipson/CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
4/19
<p>And after that? Whoa. No sooner had Nick and Sharon become husband and wife than they began their own mom-and-pop operation, adding to the family newborn Noah as well as Cassie, the daughter the bride had given away years earlier. One of <em>two</em> daughters, actually, but that’s another story… </p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
5/19
<p>… trouble, it turned out. Though Nick and his missus’ marriage survived the kind of sleepless nights that went along with so quickly winding up with not one but two kids, it couldn’t pull through the sort that went along with him being seduced by Sharon’s vixenish gal pal, Grace Turner (Jennifer Gareis, whom <em>The Bold and the Beautiful</em> fans will recognize as Donna).</p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
6/19
<p>By 2005, Cassie was 14 and experiencing the type of growing pains that result in questionable decision-making. One such poor choice — to ignore the fact that she didn’t have a license to drive home drunken crush Daniel Romalotti — resulted in a car accident that tragically removed her from all future Christmas pictures with Nick, Sharon and Noah. Well, all future pictures, period, really, not just the Christmas ones.</p>
Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
7/19
<p>Cassie’s death, in effect, killed Nick’s marriage to Sharon. While she gravitated toward Brad Carlton, Nick connected with, of all people, Daniel’s mother, Phyllis Summers, with whom he made hay (metaphorically and literally), had a daughter (hi, Summer!) and climbed back on the marry-go-’round.</p>
Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
8/19
<p>Whether the fire in front of which Nick and Sharon passionately reunited in 2009 was actually roaring, viewers sure were. They were elated that the supercouple had gotten together again — however briefly. Phyllis’ continued hold on Nick, as well as Sharon’s attraction to his half brother Adam — you know, daughter Faith’s abductor — ensured that the Newmans’ “return engagement” would be a brief one.</p>
Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI, Howard Wise/JPI, John Paschal/JPI
9/19
<p>Did we mention that, whether Adam was being played by Michael Muhney, Justin Hartley or Mark Grossman, Nick didn’t much care for his sibling rival? Did we have to? No? Great. Moving on…</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
10/19
<p>Having discarded daughter Summer’s original paternity test, lest he dislike the results, Nick stared sharper daggers than most dads whenever he saw his grownup little girl getting touchy-feely with Kyle Abbott (then Blake Hood). Only Nick knew that that the two of them just might share the same father — his own ex-stepdad, Jack Abbott. Nick had a second test run, but wouldn’t ya know it? The results came in right around the time that Sharon stopped taking her bipolar medication, which put her in a unique position (and mental state) to pull a Sheila Carter with the results.</p>
Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI, Sean Smith/JPI (2)
11/19
<p>By and large, all roads for Nick lead to the bedroom of Sharon or Phyllis. (Or a convenient cabin or barn.) But in between their relationships… whoo, boy! The Genoa City Casanova made out and/or hooked up with everyone from stepmother du jour Diane Jenkins (Maura West, now <em>General Hospital</em> vamp Ava) to Phyllis’ sister, Avery Clark to even Christine Williams — Cricket, for crying out loud! <em>Cricket</em>!</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
12/19
<p>Following Adam’s “death,” Nick lent suddenly-single sister-in-law Chelsea “a shoulder to lean on.” But as you can guess from all those air quotes, his shoulder was just the beginning. The lovers were making plans to marry when Chelsea’s habit of pulling cons cheated her out of what could have been a perfectly happy ever after.</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI
13/19
<p>Throughout his life, Nick has resisted the pull to become a part of Daddy Warbucks’ empire. And as if Victor hadn’t given his son enough reasons to want to blaze his own trail, when he was finally lured onto the payroll at Newman Enterprises, he discovered that Pops had hired him to replace his beloved sister, Victoria (now Amelia Heinle). An epic feud resulted. Between Victor and Nick, that is, not Victoria and Nick; they remained as thick as thieves.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
14/19
<p>Intent on living up to his ruthless reputation, Victor sued Nick for custody of son Christian — knowing that the boy was actually the offspring of Nick’s wife, Sage Warner, who was dead, and Adam, who was only temporarily dead. (You know how <em>that</em> goes… ) Nick emerged victorious in arbitration but was going to such extremes to out-Victor Victor that it cost him his 274th engagement to Sharon. Luckily, Phyllis (then Gina Tognoni) was, as always, handy for a <span style="text-decoration: line-through">smooch over of a bowl of apples</span> rebound.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
15/19
<p>Following Adam’s second (or was it third?) resurrection, he signed over custody of Christian officially to Nick. But the bad seed wasn’t ready, willing or able to do the same with Chelsea. Which was odd, because later, it would seem like the only woman over whom he couldn’t get was Sharon. But we digress. And anyway, this is about Nick, not Adam. Even though Adam <em>did</em> get Chelsea back, to disastrous results. More digressing. Our bad.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
16/19
<p>… Nick and Phyllis (Michelle Stafford again) were drawn back into one another’s arms, the inevitable burns be damned. Would it last this time around? Well, <em>heck</em>, yeah… at least until the next occasion that he and Sharon found themselves in the proximity of one another and a fire, whether the roaring kind or not. “I believe they’re star-crossed lovers, the Romeo and Juliet story,” his portrayer told <a href="https://www.tvinsider.com/801262/joshua-morrow-young-and-the-restless-nick-newman-25th-anniversary/" target="_blank"><em>TV Insider</em></a> in 2019. “There’s zero chance they don’t end up together multiple times as long as these characters are on the show.”</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
17/19
<p>After Phyllis pulled the plug on her relationship with Nick and Sharon’s sixth husband conveniently kicked the bucket, the exes raced to embrace. It wasn’t romantic, though; Nick was just being there for Sharon in her latest hour of need. Then again, neither of them had ever flown solo for more than a few months at a time. So it did kinda feel like they were just a starry night away from appearing in a remake of <em>Seems Like Old Times.</em></p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
18/19
<p>After Adam broke up with girlfriend Sally Spectra in hopes of saving her job at Newman Media — didn’t work, by the way — Nick started taking clothing-optional meetings with his half brother’s latest ex. As you can see, the lovers rarely exercised their option to remain dressed. But since she still had feelings for Adam, and Adam still had feelings for her, Nick would have to pull out all the stops to keep his new affair from being a non-starter.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
19/19
