Young & Restless Sends an Upsetting Message to ‘Ashtoria’ Fans
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022
In a word: Psych!
We knew all along that The Young and the Restless’ Ashland was no saint. You don’t get a nickname like the Locke Ness Monster by playing fair and square. But we — along with a legion of “Ashtoria” fans — bought hook, line and sinker his love for Victoria. So the bombshell that was dropped in the February 23 episode gave us pause.
How could he lie to her about having terminal cancer?!?
It felt like a slap in the face. Like we’d been misled right along with Victoria. And we don’t get it. With one fell swoop, the CBS soap totally undermined one of the few romances with which it had really struck gold over the last year. It, in essence, told viewers, “Gotcha!” as if we believed in something that had never been real.
It’s wholly unnecessary, too. If ever there was a couple that had enough going on that it didn’t need for its foundation to crack beneath them, it was “Ashtoria.” They’ve got [bleep] coming at them from all sides at all times. To reveal that all along Ashland has been playing Victoria… well…
It means that they are no longer husband and wife but con artist and patsy.
More: A ‘new’ Summer and Kyle?!?
Maybe this is the show’s precursor to breaking them up rather than continue the love story with Robert Newman in Richard Burgi’s place. Maybe the powers that be want to chemistry-test their new Ashland with different leading ladies before doubling down on “Ashtoria.” Or maybe there’s a reasonable explanation for why he would allow the woman about whom he cares so deeply to spend months worried that he as well as their relationship has an expiration date.
What do you think, Young & Restless fans? Can “Ashtoria” be saved? Or is this the deal-breaker of all deal-breakers? On your way to the comments, stop off at the below photo gallery, which recounts highlights of their romantic “merger.”
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
1/19
<p>Sparks flew from Victoria and Ashland’s first meeting, even though it was all business. She didn’t seal the deal, but the “prettiest” Newman certainly got the Locke Ness Monster’s attention.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
2/19
<p>That same electricity was in the air when Ashland ran into Victoria at Society. Everything was about to change as Locke’s marriage would hit the rocks and he struck a deal with Adam and Victor.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
3/19
<p>Ashland and Victoria got to know each other better when she agreed to go to New York with him. The pair connected over fine wine and the anticipation of what was to come between them.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
4/19
<p>Victoria didn’t sleep with Ashland right away, but when she did there were fireworks. It only added another layer to their deepening connection.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
5/19
<p>The new relationship took a sobering turn after Ashland broke the news that he’d received a terminal cancer diagnosis. Not long after, Victoria suggested they merge their companies so as to preserve his legacy. Ashland agreed to the proposition. Victoria repeatedly urged her new love to seek treatments to prolong his life but he initially resisted, wanting to ‘go out’ as he’d lived… on his own terms.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
6/19
<p>Another relationship milestone was marked when Ashland met Victoria’s children, Johnny and Katie. The tough mogul endeared himself to all by playing dolls, but when Ashland moved in, Victoria decided to have the kids go stay with Billy and Lily.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
7/19
<p>Overcome with emotion about his life-changing condition and his newfound love for such a beautiful and intelligent woman, Ashland spontaneously proposed. He later proposed again when he had a giant sparkler for her finger. She accepted and it was time to tell the parents!</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
8/19
<p>Happily engaged and living together, Ashland decided to begin undergoing chemo treatments that would extend his life, even if they weren’t a miracle cure. Victoria was both relieved and hopeful at this development.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
9/19
<p>Although Victoria’s ex-husband had moved on and insisted he wasn’t jealous of her new relationship, he was taken aback by the news of her fast engagement. Billy, who had already unearthed Ashland’s medical condition, continued to keep digging into his past.</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
10/19
<p>Victoria and Ashland set a wedding date and it was no time at all before she was meeting with her mother to plan a fabulous ceremony in Italy. Though her family was nervous about what she would face when Ashland died, Victoria was determined they would wed in the ‘wedding of the century’.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
11/19
<p>As Billy, Victor, and Nick continued to question Ashland’s past, he eventually came clean about the abusive history he had run from as a young man. Victoria was broken hearted to hear of his terrible childhood, but wished he’d been up front with her from the beginning.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
12/19
<p>When Nate helped an ailing Ashland in Crimson Lights one day, an unlikely friendship was struck. After their spouses bonded over cooking podcasts, Ashland asked a stunned Nate to be his best man. He accepted, but noticed tension between his new friend and Victoria when they ran into each other at Society ahead of the wedding.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
13/19
<p>With Phyllis’ help, Nick kept digging into the past of the man his sister was about to marry. It all led him to New Jersey where he learned of the death of a man named Bobby DeFranco. Ashland later confessed that he was DeFranco, and that he took his friend Ashland’s identity on after he perished in a fiery car crash. Victoria was disappointed that Ashland hadn’t volunteered the information but it was Nick she accuses of betraying her by not respecting her wishes and leaving the past alone.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
14/19
<p>Ashland and Victoria were married at the Tuscan palazzo gifted to them by her parents. Tension swirled between Victoria and her brother, Nick, who disapproved of the match, and her ex, Billy, brought a man from Ashland’s past to Italy to try and put the kibosh on the wedding. Despite the obstacles put in their path, Victor Newman delivered on his promise that nothing would interfere with the merger, er, nuptials. Victoria, wearing a gown by Sally Spectra, married the man she loved, Ashland Locke.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
15/19
<p>Ashland had Victoria convinced to make him co-CEO of Newman-Locke when Victor and Michael exposed his heinous lie — he had faked his cancer to dupe Victoria and take control of Newman Enterprises. Despite his protests that he’d truly fallen in love with her, a devastated Victoria told him it was over.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
16/19
<p>Ashland followed Victoria to make sure she was okay after their split and it turned out to be a good thing he did. It was a foggy night and Victoria was run off the road by Rey Rosales car when he took a heart attack and died at the wheel. Ashland also ended up in the bushes, but was able to fight his way out of his crashed car to save Victoria from hers just as it went up in flames. This let her see that he truly cared about her, but did not get him the reconcilation he was hoping for. Soon after, he signed Adam and Victor’s contract agreeing to an annulment and to walk away from the company in return for $500 million dollars.</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
17/19
<p>Ashland spent his post-breakup time mooning around Genoa City telling anyone he crossed paths with that he genuinely loved Victoria, who had changed him and made him a better man. To prove it, he donated half of the money he got from Victor to Nick’s New Hope charity in memory of Rey Rosales. Victoria was moved by this and admitted she still had feelings, but stopped short of a reunion. But when even a trip to an exclusive Swiss spa couldn’t wash that man out of her hair, Victoria showed up on the day he was planning to leave town and the two shared a teary reunion, agreeing to take it slow.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
18/19
<p>It turns out, the reunion was just a ploy on Victoria’s end. The Newman, who learned everything she knows at the knee of TGVN, convinced Ashland to invest his money in a new venture and stole is fortune right out from under him. She then dumped him. Ashland had lost everything and Victoria had her revenge. But that wasn’t the end of their story…</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
19/19
