Victoria Newman

Victoria Newman
The Young and the Restless character
Amelia Heinle as Victoria Newman
Portrayed by	Ashley Nicole Millan (1982–1990) Heather Tom (1990–2003) Sarah Aldrich (1997) Amelia Heinle (2005–present)
Duration	1982–2003 2005–present
First appearance	November 17, 1982
Classification	Present; regular
Created by	William J. Bell
Introduced by	H. Wesley Kenney (1982) Edward J. Scott (1990) John F. Smith (2005)
In-universe information Other names Victoria Nicole Newman Victoria McNeil Victoria Howard Victoria Carlton Victoria Hellstrom Victoria Abbott Victoria Locke Occupation Businesswoman (1992–present) Artist (2003–2005) Socialite Family Newman Father Victor Newman Mother Nikki Newman Brothers Nicholas Newman Half-brothers Dylan McAvoy John Abbott III Adam Newman Half-sisters Abby Newman Husband Ryan McNeil (1992–1993) Cole Howard (1993–1994, 1994–1998)[a] Brad Carlton (2006–2007) J.T. Hellstrom (2008–2010) Billy Abbott (2010–2014)[b] Ashland Locke (2021–2022) Sons Reed Hellstrom Daughters Claire Grace Katie Abbott Adoptive sons Johnny Abbott Grandfathers Albert Miller Nicholas Reed Grandmothers Cora Miller Barbara Reed[1] Uncles Casey Reed Nephews Noah Newman Connor Newman Christian Newman Dominic Abbott Newman Winters Chancellor Nieces Cassie Newman (adoptive) Summer Newman Faith Newman

Victoria Newman is a fictional character from

. Tom portrayed the character into her early adult years and remained in the role for thirteen years. Due to creative differences, Tom left the soap opera in 2003 and Heinle, who debuted as Victoria on March 21, 2005, was cast in the role.

The daughter of businessman

Katie Abbott

.

Tom won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series twice for her portrayal of Victoria, and received nominations for eight other Emmy awards. Critics praised Tom's portrayal of the character, though her marriages at an early age were criticized. Heinle's portrayal later won her the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2014 and 2015.

Casting

Between 1982 and 1990, Victoria was portrayed by child actress Ashley Nicole Millan.^[2] After Millan left the series, Victoria was rapidly aged to become a teenager, and Heather Tom assumed the role on December 12, 1990.^[3][4][5] In 1997, Tom took a nearly eight-month leave of absence from the role, departing on February 21 and returning on October 2.^[6] During Tom's absence, Sarah Aldrich was cast as her temporary replacement, appearing from April 2 to July 17, 1997.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

In 1999, Carrie Genzel was in talks to replace Tom, who was experiencing "touch-and-go" contract negotiations. However, Tom signed another three-year deal with the soap opera and said she was "very excited" about her continuation.^[12] In September 2003, Tom's spokesman announced that she would leave the show because of "creative differences" with executive producer David Shaughnessy.^[13][14] Speaking of her departure, Shaughnessy said that it was "tough" to see her go and that "they would miss her tremendously".^[15] Tom made her final appearance as Victoria on December 17, 2003,^[16] and she later said that she left the role because "things weren't going in her best interests".^[17]

The soap opera's producers intended Victoria to return in January 2004 but auditions failed to find a suitable replacement for Tom.^[18] Amelia Heinle was later cast in the role and made her first appearance on March 21, 2005.^[18] Rachel Kimsey also auditioned for the role and Heinle had auditioned for Mackenzie Browning; Kimsey was given Mackenzie and Heinle was given Victoria.^[19] Heinle has stated on many occasions that she had "serious doubts" about taking over Tom's role. In 2013, she recalled on what intimidated her about Tom, saying: "Heather is pure backbone, and that's probably what intimidated me about following in her footsteps because that's not me naturally."^[19] In 2008, she took maternity leave and was off-screen for weeks.^[20] In March 2011, Heinle announced that she had signed a new contract which would secure her in the role for an unspecified period.^[21][22] In November 2013, it was announced that Heinle had signed another contract to continue her portrayal of Victoria for an additional two years.^[23][24]

Development

Characterization and portrayal

"Victoria is such a rich character, so I have found the way that I want to play her and a way that the fans seem to be okay with. What I've been trying to do over the years is a mix of heroine and humor, but someone who could run a business. Sometimes, I felt I failed miserably and sometimes, it's been okay. If you're smart, you remember that somebody better can always come along, so it keeps you on your toes."^[19]

—Heinle, describing the way she portrays Victoria (2013)

According to

In 2017, J. T. returns to Genoa City to investigate Victor's personal bank accounts, following some "sizable" transfers to off-shore accounts. He finds out that Nikki was stealing money from Victor but does not turn her in. J. T. tells her that his marriage to Mackenzie is over, and they get back together. She hires him as head of security at Newman while he is secretly working as a spy for Paul Williams (Doug Davidson) and Christine Blair (Lauralee Bell) to dig up information on Victor and Newman Enterprises. J. T. becomes abusive towards Victoria, and they end up having a horrible fight where Victoria was able to escape through the bathroom. It turns out Victor had been spying on them, and he sees what J. T. did to Victoria and finds out J. T. is spying on him. A fight ensues, causing J. T. to push Victor down the stairs, leaving him unconscious. J. T. leaves, and Victor's condition is blamed on Jack. While he is in the hospital. J. T. tried to kill Victor by turning off his ventilator, but the problem was resolved by the staff. J.T. apologizes to Victoria and proposes to her. While they are on vacation in Hawaii with the kids, Victoria finds his phone and finds out that Paul and Christine hired him to investigate Victor. She confronts him, and he tells her he did it in exchange for the fact she and Nikki wouldn't go to jail. She breaks up with him. During a girl's night with her mother, Sharon, Mariah (Camryn Grimes), and Phyllis (Gina Tognoni), Victoria tells them everything about her relationship with J. T. Later that night, J. T. sneaks into her bedroom in an attempt to win her back. She tells him no and finds out that he was the one who put Victor in the hospital and tired to kill him while he was there. As she tries to call the police, he slaps her. Hearing what's going on, Sharon, Nikki, and Phyllis rush upstairs to see J. T. assaulting her. Nikki grabs a fire poker and hits him on the head. When they feel no pulse, assuming he is dead, they bury him. In March 2019, J. T. is revealed to be alive and watching the Newman women at the Abbott cabin.

In 2021, Victoria meets with Ashland Locke (Richard Burgi) in an attempt to buy his company, Cyaxares. He ends up selling it to her father and Adam (Mark Grossman). When Ashland has to go to New York to finalize his divorce from his wife, Tara (Elizabeth Leiner), he invites Victoria to tag along. She turns him down initially but changes her mind. He tells her that he has been diagnosed with Stage six Small-cell carcinoma, and the two get closer. When Ashland goes public with his diagnosis, Victoria suggests merging Locke Communications Group with Newman Enterprises. Victoria and Ashland get engaged and marry in Tuscany. Ashland tells Victoria his backstory and that his real name is Robert DeFranco, and it is later revealed Ashland lied about his cancer diagnosis, and Victoria realizes he was playing her. Victoria pretends to still be in love with him while the Newman's plots revenge against him. Adam offers Ashland five million dollars to leave town. He initially refuses, but Victoria convinces him to take it, saying they can leave town and start over. He takes the money, Victoria reveals she was playing him, and Ashland admits he truly loves her. Following a car accident that resulted in Ashland saving Victoria's life and the death of Sharon's husband, Rey Rosales (Jordi Vilasuso), Victoria gets back together with Ashland. She turns her back on her family and resigns as co-CEO of the company. The two try to start a new company but struggle to fund it, and Victoria convinces him to put the $5 million in their joint account. Victoria transfers the funds and books a flight back home. She tells Ashland that she was manipulating him all along and that she was saying goodbye. Ashland also returns to Genoa City and is arrested when he violates his restraining order against his son Harrison, who is actually Kyle Abbott's (Michael Mealor) biological son. He gets out on bail and follows Victoria home. There, he tells her that she is no better than him; she laughs at him, provoking him to hurt her. As she defends herself, Nick arrives. She tells Nick what just happened, so Nick punches Ashland, causing him to hit his head on the hearth. They try to save him, but they feel no pulse. They walk outside, but when they return, Ashland is not there. Michael tells Victor that Ashland's body was found dead in a car after crashing into a ravine. It turns out Victor's security team went inside, took the body, put it in a rental car, and staged the accident. Victor tells Victoria and Nick that Ashland died the moment he was punched.

Victoria later begins an affair with Nate Hastings, (Sean Dominic) who was in a relationship with Elena Dawson (Brytni Sarpy). A suspicious Elena travels to Los Angeles, where Nate is on a business trip, and catches him having dinner with Victoria. He confesses sleeping with Victoria, and she breaks up with him. Victoria and Nate briefly become a couple afterwards. During a hostage situation in Oregon between Victoria, her parents, Nick, and Cole Howard, Nikki's assistant, Claire Grace (Hayley Erin), claims to be Victoria and Cole's daughter Eve, who supposedly died after childbirth. Claire's aunt Jordan (Colleen Zenk) told her she was their child and brainwashed her into thinking Victoria and Cole abandoned her. They don't believe that Claire is their daughter. They tell her Jordan is lying; they didn't abandon their baby; she died after birth, and they loved her. Jordan is Cole's aunt, who had an estranged relationship with her sister, Eve. Jordan, who was a nurse at Memorial stole baby Eve and switched her with a dead baby. She did this in revenge for how the Newman's treated Eve and not having the chance to make up with her before she died. Hearing this revelation, Claire turns her back on her aunt and tries to process everything. A DNA test confirms that Claire is in fact baby Eve. Later, Victoria and Cole decide to try to get to know their newfound daughter, while Claire was sent to the psych ward at Genoa Memorial. Claire, at first decides to push them away out of guilt, but slowly starts to develop a bond with both of them. Claire later asked them, if she could visit Jordan in Prison in order to get closure. They agreed, with Claire taking Victoria and Cole with them. After, her confrontation with Jordan, Claire cuts ties with her and later follows her parents out of prison. After Jordan escapes prison after setting the place on fire, Cole and Victoria visit Claire in hospital to inform her of her aunt's escape from Prison. Victor had ordered Michael to release Claire out to the hospital and into the custody of her parents, in order to plan a trip for Jordan, who began a revenge plot against the family. After Jordan kills Nikki's friend and her AA sponsor, Seth Morgan (Brian Gaskill) by pushing him into an upcoming speeding car, Jordan calls Claire, who informs her that she is staying with her mother, unaware that Victoria and Claire are staying at the Newman Ranch. Later, Victoria receives a phone call from authorities to inform her that Jordan set her house is on fire. When Victoria and Victor arrive at her house, the entire house is permanently damaged. As a result, Victoria moves into the tack house at the ranch with Claire and Victoria and Cole start bonding about their past together at the same very house. Soon after Cole kisses Victoria.

Reception

Connie Passalacqua of the

Dan J. Kroll of the website SoapCentral wrote that the process to find a replacement for Tom was an "exhaustive search".^[24] Amelia Heinle, who critics praised for her portrayal of Victoria, has been listed on the "Top 5 Actresses" poll of CBS Soaps in Depth for over eight consecutive weeks.^{[45][46][47][48]} Her relationship with Billy has garnered a significant fan following, allowing them to lead CBS Soaps in Depth's "Top 10 Couples" poll for over six consecutive weeks.^{[49][50][51][52]} Elinor Donahue, who portrayed the judge that marries Victoria and Billy, said she thought their "retro wedding" was "adorable" and "extremely well written and not overdone".^[53] Zap2it placed Victoria and Billy at number four of their "10 Best Soap Couples of 2011".^[54] Jamey Giddens of Zap2it said Victoria and Billy are "so scrumptious together",^[55] and that "it's so nice to have some reason to say something kind about The Young and the Restless for a change".^[55] Giddens also said that he "adores this pairing that he was so prepared to hate".^[56] Sara Bibel of Xfinity wrote of their relationship: "Billy (Billy Miller) and Victoria (Amelia Heinle), who have already had three weddings in the year and a half that they have been together, actually seem rational. They should change the wedding vows in the G.C. from "until death to us part," to "until one of us changes our mind."^[57] However, Bibel was later unfavorable of the couple attempting to have a child less than six months after marrying.^[58]

In 2011, during a storyline that saw Victoria and her siblings sue their father for control of a cosmetics line, Bibel wrote: "Victoria, whose true motivation was to get her hands on Beauty of Nature so she could become its CEO, got a rude awakening when Nick told her in no uncertain terms that he had no interest in trading the settlement money for the company. I think the second stage of the battle will be the Newman siblings squabbling over the money a la King Lear, assuming the show actually allows Victor to lose for more than a few episodes."^[59] Soon after, Bibel said that Victoria had been "whiny" and found the character's mother Nikki's storyline "far more interesting".^[60] That same year, Giddens wrote that a blogger from The Washington Post compared Victoria to Rupert Murdoch, saying: "[a] partial nod must go to the soap opera The Young and the Restless, whose character Victoria Newman was arrested on her wedding day for allegedly bribing a foreign dignitary. Television and Murdoch and ’round-the-clock FCPA conjecture—it's a welcome publicity storm for the FCPA bar."^[61]

In 2013, Bibel criticized the soap opera when Victoria "decided to give up a corporate career to become a children’s book author", writing: "From the time she was SORASED into a teen, Victoria’s ambition was to run Newman Enterprises. She was the child who inherited Victor’s (Eric Braeden) business acumen. He, being a male chauvinist, always viewed the more family oriented Nick as his heir apparent. Her struggle to get her father’s recognition is what fueled her." She also stated that while watching the series, there was "the sense that women could, if that was what interested them, be power players".^[62] Of Victoria's choice to leave Newman Enterprises, Bibel wrote: "For Victoria, it came across as giving up Peggy Olsen’s life for Betty Draper’s. I was also peeved by her telling her mother that she didn't have the first idea of how to become an author. She ran a major cosmetics company. She should have a hundred contacts in publishing, and the confidence and skills to figure out what she doesn't know. I got to thinking about all of the ways that, over the past few months, the women of Genoa City have been, to use the lingo of Leaning In, the most popular non-fiction book in the country right now, leaning out."^[62] Tommy Garrett of Highlight Hollywood blamed head writer Josh Griffith for turning the character into a "hard-nosed unforgiving socialite".^[63]

Heather Tom won two