What Happened to Colleen on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS
Characters on soaps may be gone, but they are never forgotten, especially when it’s Colleen Carlton from THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS. Brad and Traci’s daughter was a beloved young woman who met a tragic fate. After a series of child actors, Lyndsy Fonseca portrayed a SORASed Colleen starting in 2001. In 2006, Adrianne León stepped into the role, and then Tammin Sursok took over in 2007 until the character’s death in 2009.
Colleen’s birth brought her parents back together, but ultimately Brad Carlton and Traci Abbott’s marriage fell apart again. Traci eventually married her publisher, Steve Connelly, and they moved to New York with the little girl. But after that marriage ended in divorce, Colleen became a rebellious teen and started hanging out with the wrong crowd. Traci wanted to send her to boarding school, but John Abbott brought her to Genoa City to attend Walnut Grove Academy. She was secretly smoking marijuana, but after saving baby Abby’s life when she was choking, Colleen had a change of heart and gave up drugs.
Colleen’s family wasn’t thrilled when she started a relationship with J.T. Hellstrom, but surprisingly, he declined her sexual overtures because of their age difference. Unfortunately, when he had an affair with an older woman, Colleen was heartbroken and broke up with him. They soon reconciled, and Colleen was concerned about her friend, Lily Winters, who was involved with Kevin Fisher. Kevin trapped Colleen in Gina Roma’s restaurant and set fire to it, but thankfully J.T. rescued her. Eventually, she left town for New York because she felt like she was getting in the way of his future as a musician.
Colleen returned to Genoa City only to find that J.T. had moved on with Mackenzie Browning, and also to learn that Kevin was reformed and accepted by the town! After J.T. slept with Victoria, Mac dumped him so Colleen snatched the guy back up. She began studying art history under professor Adrian Korbel, and they soon developed a relationship beyond student and teacher. Colleen and Kevin were kidnapped by Jana Hawkes as part of the reliquary mystery, but J.T. and Adrian managed to rescue them.
After breaking up with J.T., Colleen started a relationship with Adrian, but her family did not approve. When they split up, she had a brief relationship with Daniel Romalotti, but he soon went back to Amber. Colleen was devastated when her father died saving Noah Newman from drowning and took Brad’s seat on the Newman Enterprises board of directors. She hated Victor, blaming him for her father’s death. Patty Williams kidnapped Colleen, who managed to escape by canoe but fell into the lake and drowned. At the hospital, she was declared brain dead, and Traci made the decision to take her off life support and donate her heart to an ailing Victor.
Colleen’s family and friends will always remember the lovely young woman and hope that Victor will honor her memory by using her heart for good. Unfortunately, that hasn’t always been the case!
