Young & Restless’ Sharon Case Unpacks a Backstage Heartache: ‘I Was Devastated’
Thursday, April 6th, 2023
Some stuff, you just don’t get over.
Fans of The Young and the Restless will never forget the harrowing storyline that ushered Sharon and Nick’s beloved daughter Cassie into the hereafter — and neither will Sharon Case. During a visit to The Locher Room, the Emmy winner unpacked the whirlwind of emotions that surrounded the crushing plot twist.
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“I remember where I was standing when I heard the news that she was being killed off,” Case said. “I was in the hair and makeup room.”
So was Camryn Grimes, who had bagged an Emmy of her own for her work as Cassie. “She was devastated. I was devastated. We all were,” said Case. “It was hard.”
And it stayed hard for quite some time. “We probably knew about it for three or four weeks before we shot the final scenes.” So day after day, they all had to go to work, knowing that, sigh, the end of Cassie was growing ever nearer.
Luckily, as Case points out, it was “a sad story with a happy spin” since Grimes eventually was brought back to the soap as Cassie’s surprise twin sister. And “we love Mariah,” exclaimed Case. “Mariah’s fun.”
Video: YouTube/The Locher Room
Rewind through Case’s entire run as Sharon with the below photo gallery that tells Sharon’s whole incredible life story.
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Image: CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1/19
<p>Though Sharon Collins and Nick Newman were dating other people when they met — and his mother strongly disapproved of his holding the hand of a girl from the wrong side of the tracks — they fell so hard for one another, it was a wonder they didn’t bruise.</p>
Image: CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
2/19
<p>A few months after eloping, Sharon and Nick said “I redo” — and then some. “You have already made me happier than I ever dreamed was possible,” the bride told her groom. “Well, hang onto your hat,” he replied. “We’re just getting started!” </p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
3/19
<p>When it looked like the Newmans’ newborn, Noah, might not pull through in 1997, Mom’s old pal/Dad’s sometime lover, Grace Turner, located little Cassie, whom Sharon had given up for adoption. Suddenly, Nick and Sharon went from having one kid to two!</p>
Image: Brian Lowe/JPI
4/19
<p>Cassie’s tragic demise didn’t just break Sharon and Nick’s hearts, it, in essence, broke them up. He went racing down a dead-end path to vengeance that led to an affair with Phyllis Summers, and she leaned on the very broad, very welcoming shoulder of one singularly…</p>
Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
5/19
<p>As much of a playboy as Brad Carlton was — and they don’t come much more incorrigible — his feelings for Sharon were as deep as they were true. The two of them could never quite make a go of a relationship, though, and in the end, he was frozen out. Not by Sharon, mind you. He died saving Noah from an icy lake, an incident which to this day makes us want to put on an extra sweater.</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
6/19
<p>Sharon grieved mightily for her late daughter, Faith, only to discover in 2010 that the baby was alive and well, and being raised by Ashley Abbott. But that good news came with a big dose of bad: Sharon’s own husband — Nick’s half brother, Adam — had stolen her child to replace the one he’d caused his stepmother to miscarry!</p>
Image: Sean Smith (3)
7/19
<p>It would be an understatement to say that Sharon has never gotten along with Nick’s mother, Nikki. Sure, they’ve disposed of the occasional body together, but more often than not, they can be found throwing both shade and punches in one another’s direction.</p>
Image: Brian Lowe/JPI (3)
8/19
<p>When not endeavoring to start her own private fight club with Nikki, Sharon has frequently traded a mix of insults and blows with perennial “other woman” Phyllis. And the two of them didn’t care <em>who</em> got caught in the crossfire. Wouldn’t you agree, Drucilla? (RIP.)</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
9/19
<p>Sharon’s always had a thing for Newmans. So maybe it shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise in 2012 when, after marrying both Nick and Adam, she also tied the knot with their father, Victor. On an unrelated note — or <em>is</em> it? — she was soon after diagnosed as having bipolar disorder.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
10/19
<p>Eager to convince Sharon that she was losing it, Victor hired a Cassie lookalike named Mariah Copeland to spook his former wife. But the joke was on him — he actually did her a favor, by inadvertently reuniting her with the twin sister she’d never known that Cassie had had!</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
11/19
<p>… of your husband, in Sharon’s case. When she revealed in 2016 that Sully — her and newest spouse Dylan McAvoy’s baby — was actually ex-husband Nick’s “late” child with subsequent wife Sage Warner, the detective accepted an undercover assignment that was so dangerous, it resulted in him leaving Sharon and Genoa City to enter Witness Protection.</p>
Image: Jill Johnson/JPI
12/19
<p>Despite his affinity for scarves, Sharon opened her heart and home to Lauren Fenmore’s son, Scott Grainger. Soon, he was ready to propose. If only he could find a moment when he wasn’t cheating on his would-be bride with Nick’s half sister, Abby. As you can see, Sharon did <em>not</em> take the betrayal well.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
13/19
<p>Sharon was all set to remarry Nick in 2018 when — dang it! She learned that he’d strayed with Phyllis again. (What <em>is</em> it about her?!?) So instead of recite vows, she dropped truth bombs, blowing up not only her and Nick’s reunion but, as an added bonus, Phyllis’ relationship with Billy Abbott, too!</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
14/19
<p>After getting past the fact that she was a suspect in the “murder” of J.T. Hellstrom, detective Rey Rosales got serious with Sharon — <em>so</em> serious, in fact, that he married her. “Well, I ain’t going nowhere,” Adam all but said. And truer words were rarely if ever all but said.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
15/19
<p>Despite appearances, everything was <em>not</em> coming up… whatever kind of flower that is for Sharon. If Faith (then Alyvia Alyn Lind) wasn’t scaling new heights of adolescent angst, Mariah was getting abducted while carrying a baby for Abby Newman and her MIA husband.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
16/19
<p>Though Sharon had every intention of remaining true to Rey, the heart wants what the heart wants — and so does the rest of the body. So even when she wasn’t thinking about kissing Adam, she found herself thinking about <em>thinking about</em> kissing him. Which isn’t <em>quite</em> as bad… but almost.</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
17/19
<p>Rey’s sudden and unexpected death left Sharon… Well, see above. <em>That’s</em> how the unfortunate turn of events left the widow. Adam was there to comfort her, and so was Nick. All of her favorite exes stepped up, come to think of it. But rather than hurl herself into a rebound relationship, Sharon bravely endeavored to go it alone.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
18/19
<p>Following Rey’s passing, Sharon became “everybody’s touchstone,” portrayer Sharon Case told <a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/wp-admin/_wp_link_placeholder" target="_blank"><em>Soap Opera Digest</em></a>. “She’s still running the coffeehouse — that’s a top priority for her — but she’s also taking care of her daughter and daughter-in-law during their adoption journey and listening to Noah about his past with Audra and… ” Yeah, Sharon <em>really</em> needed to get her groove back.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
19/19
