Nikki Newman
Nikki Newman | |||||||||||
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The Young and the Restless character | |||||||||||
Portrayed by |
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Duration | 1978–present | ||||||||||
First appearance | July 1978 | ||||||||||
Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||
Created by | William J. Bell | ||||||||||
Introduced by |
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Crossover appearances | |||||||||||
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Nikki Newman is a fictional character from the American
Casting
The role of Nikki Reed was originally portrayed by actress Erica Hope from July 1978 to early 1979.[2] The role was recast with Scott, who began appearing on February 20, 1979.[3][4][5] Scott recalled in 1989 that she was surprised to have received the role, as she hadn't acted in a few years.[6][7][8] In 1984, Robin Eisenman temporarily portrayed the role.[5]
In May 2001, Scott and the show's producers entered contract negotiations following rumors that she was unhappy because of Nikki's lack of airtime. Soap Opera Digest speculated that she was possibly joining General Hospital as Heather Webber.[9] Three months later, controversy arose when Scott was seen moving personal belongings from her dressing room.[10] However, speculation ended in August 2001, when it was announced that Scott had signed a contract to further extend her portrayal of Nikki.[11]
In May 2009, Nelson Branco of
In September 2022, a crossover event between The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful was announced involving Scott’s character along with the B&B character of Deacon Sharpe. Scott’s appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful was September 26, 2022.
Development
Characterization
According to the soap opera's website, the character "has matured from the girl from the wrong side of the tracks to the serial’s luminous and resourceful heroine."[16] The Observer–Reporter described Nikki as "oft-married".[17] Of playing the character's ongoing tragic life, Scott stated: "Ever since I have been an actress, which is 56 years now, I have always preferred high drama, angst, and catastrophes. I find it more interesting to play. I guess it’s no accident that I found my way into soap operas."[18] In 1988, Scott stated in an interview that in her first nine years on the soap opera, she thought that Nikki had "grown up".[19] In 1995, Scott said that she was "quite bored" with her character, stating: "We seem to be in a bit of a slump — all Nikki seems to do is have coffee and do needlepoint. She has beautiful clothes and her makeup is perfect and she never leaves her house. She used to sit here and drink — that was actually more fun. But needlepoint — I'm sorry."[20] Speaking about Nikki's "desperation housewife" problems with Michael Logan of TV Guide, Scott stated, "Nikki should never have a job! She would never want a job. She's not capable of doing anything, and she wouldn't want to be trained to do anything. It's so much better when she stays home. I'm looking forward to playing her as a crazy old lady."[21]
Relationships
For over three decades, Nikki has been romantically linked with
"Nikki and Victor have played this cycle over and over again and it’s very successful because people care about them. I would imagine just because I’ve watched the show for 33 years as well as played it – they’ve got to get back together! There’s nothing else they could do! They have to get back together, as for how, I don’t know."[25]
—Scott, on Nikki and Victor's "formula" (2012)
Nikki and Victor are recognized as one of daytime television's most prominent couples.
Aside from Victor, Nikki is known for her relationships with
Illnesses
Over the course of her duration on the soap opera, the character has battled alcoholism, breast cancer and most recently, multiple sclerosis. Scott has stated in multiple interviews that she enjoys portraying Nikki's struggle with alcohol.[18] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2011, Scott said that she "loves Nikki drinking" and enjoys the material as an actress, stating: "It’s much more fun, and everybody seems to prefer a drunk Nikki."[39] During the character's battle with alcoholism, she also developed an addiction for prescription pills. To the dismay of Scott, the storyline concluded abruptly. The actress said, "It never really finished properly. Nikki just woke up one day and decided that she's fine now. I felt that was unrealistic. I would like to follow Nikki through rehab and detox. I want to find a good conclusion. Maybe this new story line will address that. It's looking like it might."[40] Scott has previously voiced her admiration for playing Nikki's alcoholism because "it's so much fun to play" a "drunk or insane or flawed".[41]
In February 2013, it was revealed that Nikki would be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Jillian Bowe of Zap2it said viewers got "a bit of shock when they saw the socialite’s hands shake after she tickled the ivories in her new deluxe apartment."[42] Scott discussed the storyline with TV Guide. She said she wants the story to "educate people" that it's "controllable with the proper treatment". Not all people can easily "control" their MS. MS is a highly variable and often disabling disease, and effects each person very differently. Scott met a worker on the set of the show who was diagnosed with MS, and said it was "very encouraging" to know about her for the storyline. She further said, "I did have a sit-down meeting, a little three-way with [head writer] Josh Griffith and [executive producer] Jill Farren Phelps. They wanted to know how I felt about the idea, and I told them I thought it was great. Josh didn't know I used to play piano on Y&R way back when, so he decided to revive that and use it to show the beginnings of Nikki's symptoms — the shaky hands, the cramping, the feeling you've got arthritis."[43]
Rivalries and friendships
Nikki is known for her rivalries with
Amid her rivalries with most women in Genoa City, she is close with the show's matriarch Katherine Chancellor (Jeanne Cooper), Scott said that "Katherine and Nikki have a very special relationship, and they have a very special heartbeat".[18] However, off-screen, there was a period of time in which Scott experienced a "rocky" relationship with Cooper. Cooper explained: "It was just some silly thing, I guess [...] You think it’s strange. You should have been me! I mean, here is someone who is like a daughter to me. I really was very protective of her".[48]
Storylines
Nikki was introduced with her sister
While still a stripper, she had a fling with rich business tycoon
Once Victor learned the truth of Leanna's book, he tried to win back Nikki through a business deal with Jack (now
While Victor returned to Kansas, Nikki married her doctor
Shortly into Victor and Nikki's remarriage, Nikki was
When Victor and Nikki returned in 2010, they were engaged. Meggie McClaine, a friend of Victor, had moved in for her own protection. Meggie sabotaged Nikki, getting her drunk so that she could marry Victor instead of Nikki. Meggie recruited Deacon Sharpe to help get Nikki off the wagon. Nikki went to rehab. When she learned of Victor and Meggie's marriage (which was just a scam to have Meggie caught) she had an affair with Deacon, ending her relationship with Victor. Nikki continued her romance with Deacon, without knowing the truth. Nikki and Victor slept together after he lost a lawsuit against his children; however, he was involved with Diane Jenkins at the time. Upon learning the truth about Deacon's role in her drinking, Nikki left him but it was too late for her to return to Victor, who had married Diane. Alone, she began drinking once again. After several attempts at trying to get back together, Victor and Nikki parted ways, and she returned to rehab. Diane was killed months after, and Victor was jailed for her murder.
After being missing from rehab for several months, Nikki returned home. She confesses that she escaped rehab to help her family in the aftermath of the Diane Jenkin's murder investigation. Deacon threatened to confess that he saw Victor, Victoria and Nicholas in the park the night of Diane's murder unless Nikki would marry him; she agreed. Nikki began having memory lapses of her night in the park with Diane; realizing that she had killed her, not Victor. She confessed to this at Victor's trial. Detective Ronan Malloy arrested Nikki for the murder; however, footage from the night, shot by Deacon, revealed that while Nikki did kill Diane at the park, it was in self-defense. Additional footage showed that Deacon finished her off, serving the last fatal blow to Diane's head. Deacon was jailed and his marriage to Nikki ended. Nikki's brief relationship with Victor failed; she began to reconnect with Jack who was suffering from a gunshot wound from Patty Williams that had left him paralyzed. Their relationship heated up, much to the dismay of Kyle, yet he came to accept the relationship, and Nikki and Jack remarried. Yet, the day of her marriage, Victor remarried Sharon Newman, but then went suddenly missing. Nikki ended up leaving Genoa City to try to find Victor, but to no avail. When she returned, Jack decided they should divorce. Victor later returned, having lived in Los Angeles with amnesia. He reunited with Nikki and set out to destroy Sharon and Tucker McCall who took control of Newman during his absence. After Victor lost control of Newman to Jack through a hostile takeover, Victor suffered a heart attack, and later Sharon burned down the Newman Ranch during a mental breakdown. Once Victor escaped the hospital to visit the ruins, he and Nikki finally got engaged. However, their wedding was delayed because Nikki was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Victor and Nikki finally remarried on March 20, 2013, in a ceremony that ended with Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) taking an assassin's bullet meant for Victor. Adam survived, and he and Victor began to rebuild their relationship. Nikki continued with her MS treatments, and held fundraisers for research. Katherine Chancellor died in August after a three-month vacation around the world. Katherine left Nikki and Jill in charge of her memorial service, and left Nikki a letter encouraging her to look into the child she had following her stay at the New World Commune. The child is later revealed to be Dylan McAvoy (Steve Burton), the son of Nikki and Paul.
Reception
"Nikki has done some outrageous things, from sleeping with Victor's worst enemy, Jack Abbott, to hitting the bottle and blacking out. Victor gets disgusted with Nikki's actions, yet he always find his way right back to her bed. No matter how many men Nikki sleeps with, she finds her way back to Victor as well."[27]
—Jae Jones of Yahoo! on Nikki's storylines over the years (2011)
The character and actress are considered icons in American
In 2006, when Scott celebrated 27 years on the soap opera, the
Sara Bibel of Xfinity wrote that she had hoped Nikki's relationship with Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan) would blossom into a "real romance". She also wrote about Nikki and Victor's union, stating: "Nikki and Victor’s (Eric Braeden) romance has lasted three decades because they were separated for years at a time, involved in fully developed, longterm relationships with other characters, while continuing to be drawn into each other’s orbit. It’s a shame that the current regime has not realized the story potential of keeping these characters apart."[64] Bibel criticized Nikki's reunion with Jack in 2012, blaming it on the soap opera's "creative trouble". She wrote: "They were a great couple the first time they got together. There seemed like a parallel between the back problems that Nikki was struggling with when they were married and Jack’s paralysis. It seemed like the recipe for a beautiful love story, as Nikki helped Jack realize that he was still desirable despite his injury and help him adjust to the changes in his life until, being that this is a soap, he miraculously regains the ability to walk again. Instead of watching a friendship bloom into romance, Jack and Nikki hooked up one night in Vegas and, bam, instant relationship."[65] The following year, she predicted Nikki could be potentially diagnosed with either multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease. Bibel wrote that she usually finds soap opera medical storylines "tedious because I know going in that the character will inevitably be cured. But giving a character a chronic but manageable illness is a fresh spin."[66]
Scott's portrayal has garnered numerous accolades throughout the years, including nominations for the
In 2022, Charlie Mason from
See also
References
Citations
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