What Happened to Sharon on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS

Over the years, Sharon Newman has been through quite a lot on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS. So while fans of the soap might be wondering if her latest crisis could mean the end for her, a look back at the beleaguered heroine’s history proves that she’s nothing if not resilient! The character was introduced in March of 1994, and was played by Monica Potter. She only lasted two months in the role, as did her recast, Heidi Mark. But then Sharon Case took over in September and Sharon became a Y&R fan favorite!

Sharon Collins moved to Genoa City with her mother, Doris, and Nicholas Newman instantly fell for her, managing to steal her away from Matt Clark. However, after Matt got into a fight with Nick, he took revenge by raping Sharon. Nikki Newman felt Sharon was a gold-digger, but after Victor helped pay for an operation Doris couldn’t afford, Sharon insisted on paying back the money, which earned Victor’s respect. Matt tried to split Nick and Sharon up by telling him she’d given up a baby for adoption when she was 16, and while it did cause a rift, they soon reconciled.

When Sharon was about to marry Nick, she confessed that Matt had raped her, and he rushed to confront his rival only to find him dead! Nick was arrested and convicted of murder, but it was soon revealed that he’d been killed by another woman he’d raped. Finally, Nick and Sharon were wed. When she got pregnant, Nick wasn’t ready, but Sharon didn’t want to get an abortion. Noah was born premature and wasn’t expected to survive. Grace Turner and Tony tracked down Sharon’s first child, Cassie, to try and ease the pain from losing Noah, but when the little boy survived, Grace decided to keep Cassie for herself for a while.

Once Cassie’s true identity was revealed, she moved in with Sharon, Nick, and Noah. But Sharon was furious when she caught Nick with Grace, and moved out. However, when Cassie’s adoptive mother, Alice Johnson, returned for the kid, Sharon reunited with Nick to present a united front and retain custody. Matt Clark returned disguised with plastic surgery and calling himself Carter Mills, but thankfully Nick was able to put a stop to his evil schemes. Sharon discovered she was pregnant, and Nick wasn’t sure it was his because Matt had claimed to have raped Sharon. After a fight, Nick stormed off and when Sharon rushed after him, she fell and miscarried the baby, who was revealed to have been Nick’s after all.

Sharon found herself drawn to Diego Guttierez, and when she thought Nick was having an affair, she slept with the guy. Feeling guilty, she confessed, and Nick split up with her. After calming down, Nick was ready to reconcile with Sharon only to catch her kissing his father, Victor Newman! Devastated, Sharon decided to leave town for a while.

When Sharon returned, it was revealed she’d gotten mixed up with Cameron Kirsten, who continued to stalk her and force himself on her. She killed him in self-defense and hid the body, which later vanished! It turned out that Cameron was really alive and seeking revenge. But Nick intervened and managed to rescue Sharon from the villain. 

Tragically, Cassie was killed in a car accident when she attempted to drive a drunk Daniel home without having a license or even a learner’s permit. The grief tore Sharon and Nick apart, and she found comfort in the arms of Brad Carlton. And after that, she began dating Jack Abbott. After surviving the fall off a cliff that killed Drucilla Winters, Sharon married Jack in a secret ceremony. But they had a rocky marriage and eventually separated. Brad made another play for Sharon, but she still loved Nick, and they made love.

Sharon began having blackouts and stealing things and ended up in the psych ward for treatment. She was pregnant but wasn’t sure if Jack, Brad, or Nick was the father. After she gave birth in the mental hospital, Adam Newman stole her baby to give to Ashley Abbott after she had miscarried. After getting out of the hospital, Sharon began dating Adam, ignoring everyone’s warnings about the guy. But then the truth came out and Ashley gave the baby back to Sharon, who named her Faith.

Eventually, Sharon returned to Nick and agreed to marry him, but couldn’t resist her feelings for Adam. Surprisingly, though, Sharon later ended up marrying Victor so she could retain custody of Faith! Of course, that didn’t last very long, and Sharon burned down the Newman Ranch. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and despite being involved with Adam, still found herself drawn back to Nick. 

Once reunited with Nick, Sharon was terrified that he would learn that she’d tampered with the paternity test that named Jack, not him, as Summer’s father. Increasing her medication, Sharon began seeing visions of Cassie, and was horrified when she realized the young woman was real! It turned out that Victor had hired a look-alike, Mariah Copeland, to impersonate Cassie. But it was later revealed that Mariah was actually Cassie’s twin that Sharon never knew she had!

Nick and Sharon were about to get married again when Phyllis interrupted the ceremony! Fearful that Nick would learn the truth about her switching the test results, Sharon eventually confessed herself. Furious, Nick dumped her and even fought for custody of Faith. Heartbroken over losing her daughter, Sharon found comfort with Dylan McAvoy. 

As their relationship developed, Dylan was thrilled to learn he was going to become a dad, and after Sharon miscarried, she didn’t have the heart to tell him, hoping to get pregnant again quickly. But when that didn’t happen, she became more and more unstable and was ultimately hospitalized. There, her doctor presented her with “her baby” which she brought home to Dylan. They named him Sullivan “Sully” McAvoy, but soon Sharon realized something wasn’t adding up and discovered that Sully was really Sage’s son, Christian. After Sage confronted Sharon, they were in a car accident and Sage died. Sharon continued trying to live the lie, but in the end had no choice but to confess the truth.

Nick took Christian away, and then Dylan went into witness protection alone, urging her to stay in Genoa City for her children. Sharon struggled to put the pieces of her life back together by running the coffee house and even dated Scott Grainger for a while. But that fell apart when she found out he’d had a fling with Abby. She also got mixed up in the sex ring drama when she befriended a prostitute named Crystal. But it was getting wrapped up in Phyllis’ investigation into Chelsea’s schemes that led to Sharon being conked over the head by a coffeepot! Chelsea’s attempts to silence her failed, and Sharon told Nick the truth about Christian. 

Although Nick and Sharon reunited and he moved back in with her, their attempt to remarry hit a major snag when she found out that he’d cheated on her with Phyllis and dumped him at the altar! Also, Sharon was caught up in J.T. Hellstrom‘s murder, witnessing the crime and then helping Nikki, Victoria, and Phyllis cover it up. When the murder was exposed and the women went on trial, Sharon enlisted Brittany Hodges to represent her separately from the others (minus Phyllis, who struck a deal with Christine). The judge declared them guilty, but it turned out the guy was really still alive and out for revenge!

During the J.T. mess, Sharon had started working for the GCPD as a victim liaison and began a relationship with detective Rey Rosales, which was pretty awkward until she was cleared of the murder and conspiracy charges! Although she and Rey tried to make a go of it, Adam’s return from the dead put the kibosh on their romance as she found herself drawn back to her ex. After Rey dumped her, Sharon ended up falling into bed with Adam! Immediately regretting her actions, Sharon pushed Adam away and decided she would need to take some time away from Genoa City to get her head together and promised to return with new purpose.

Sharon was able to get herself together and began repairing her relationship with Rey while doing some counseling work with Adam and Chelsea’s troubled son, Connor. However, her life was turned upside down when she found a lump in her breast and the biopsy confirmed it was cancerous. Sharon opened up to her family and loved ones who all promised to support her as she battled cancer. Unfortunately, after undergoing chemotherapy, she experienced a major setback when the doctor reported the tumor hadn’t shrunk as they’d hoped and she had to undergo a lumpectomy.

While dealing with her cancer, Sharon also found herself mixed up with Adam, who wanted her help recovering and dealing with memories he’d repressed from his childhood about murdering a man. Unfortunately, after the first surgery, Sharon was crushed to learn that it had spread to her lymph nodes. She told Adam she could no longer help him so she could focus on herself. Thankfully, following a second surgery, Sharon. was on her way to being cancer-free.

Sharon assured Rey she loved him, not Adam, and the couple married on New Year’s Eve as they rang in 2021 with their friends and family. However, Rey remained jealous as Sharon agreed to help Adam get through to Chelsea, who remained paralyzed after her aneurysm burst. She was also dealing with Faith, who continued acting out and drinking with her new friend.

Rey continued to suspect Sharon was still in love with Adam, but they tried to focus on helping Faith. When Rey fell ill, it was discovered he had been poisoned and Adam was the prime suspect. After Faith was in a terrible car crash, Adam saved her life by rushing her to the hospital. Grateful, Sharon also believed Adam’s claims that Chelsea had frame him, though she had trouble convincing Rey, who moved out. Sharon was again grateful to Adam when he agreed to donate a kidney to save Faith’s life. Sharon and Rey reconciled and he moved home, and the couple celebrated a second honeymoon in Miami.

Unfortunately, though Sharon wanted a good guy like Rey, she still found herself drawn to Adam. And as she counseled his son, Connor, and advised Billy to let go of his anger towards Adam, Rey again grew jealous. Then, when Noah returned to Genoa City, Rey felt like an outsider as he, Sharon, and Nick spent time together. However, it was Sharon who began feeling uncomfortable about Rey’s growing friendship with Chelsea. Tragically, Rey was killed in a car accident and Sharon reluctantly agreed to let his funeral be held in Miami, though she held a memorial service in Genoa City first.

Sharon joined Nick to walk Tessa and Mariah down the aisle at their wedding and Nick kept trying to boost his ex’s spirits, also helping her through the anniversary of Cassie’s death that year. Eventually, it was Sharon who began counseling others again, helping Nick through his involvement in Ashland’s death and Chelsea when Billy shared her suicide attempt. Sharon offered Chelsea the apartment above Crimson Lights and continued helping her through the difficult time. Then she found herself helping Chance Chancellor get over his breakup with Abby as they enjoyed hanging out together.

Sharon continued to offer up advice along with the coffee and cakes at Crimson Lights, helping Sally wrestle with being with Nick while carrying Adam’s baby, warning Billy not to let Chelsea become dependent on him, and urging Adam to find a sense of purpose in his life. But it was Sharon herself who soon needed help when she began receiving mysterious gifts and came to realize that Cameron Kirsten had returned!

When Cameron confronted Sharon at Crimson Lights, Nick intervened, but the psycho escalated his torture and abducted Faith, strapping a bomb to her! Chance joined Nick and Sharon in the rescue mission and after Sharon stabbed Cameron to death, Chance was able to defuse the bomb. Later, Sharon was surprised to learn that Cameron had left his company, Kirsten Incorporated, to her in his will but she decided to keep it and try to use it to do some good. She proposed a merger between Kirsten Inc. and McCall Unlimited so she, Adam, and Nick could all work together.

Sharon hired Esther Valentine to run Crimson Lights while she focused on her new company, but when Adam made a power grab, Sharon pulled out of the merger and invited Nick to join her in running Kirsten Inc. When Chance was shot in the line of duty, Sharon rushed to the hospital and noticed that Summer did, too. While suspicious of Summer’s feelings for Chance, she supported her beau as he decided to quit the police force and work for Chancellor-Winters.

Ultimately, Sharon found herself questioning her relationship with Chance and told him she didn’t want to get too serious but he wasn’t on the same page. After a dream gave her a new perspective, Sharon decided to end things with him. And although Nick returned to work at Newman, Sharon continued with her own company and when she held her launch party revealed she’d renamed it Cassidy First Technology after her late daughter, Cassie.

Stay tuned to see how Sharon’s storyline continues to unfold!