What Happened to Olivia Winters on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS
Olivia Winters on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS hasn’t been seen in years, so let us fill in some of the blanks for you. The character was first introduced when Tonya Lee Williams began playing the doctor in 1990. She exited in 2005 but returned in 2007 for sporadic appearances. The last Olivia was seen on Y&R was back in 2012, but she could always come home again!
Olivia’s sibling rivalry with sister Drucilla stemmed back to childhood due to the way parents Lillie Belle and Walter Barber raised them, always favoring older daughter Olivia. The sisters were reunited as adults when Drucilla developed a crush on detective Nathan Hastings, who was already dating Olivia. Dru tried to steal him away from her sister, but failed.
Dru enlisted Neil Winters to play her fake boyfriend but he became smitten with her sister. Olivia married Nate as Dru and Neil eventually fell in love with each other, but both pairs were mismatched. When Olivia was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, the expectant mother refused to abort her baby, and Nate Hastings Jr. was born early to save her life.
As Nathan and Olivia’s marriage continued to crumble, he had an affair with Keesha Monroe, which had serious repercussions when she was diagnosed with HIV. Although Nate, Olivia, and their son were all found to be HIV-negative, she was still furious with her husband for endangering their family, and split up with him. Forbidden to have contact with his son, Nathan snapped and kidnapped Nate. But when life on the run proved too difficult, Nathan returned the child, tragically dying when he was hit by a car.
Neil’s brother, Malcolm Winters, had bonded with Nate after his father’s death, and soon fell in love with and married Olivia. However, she began to be suspicious of him over nothing, even accusing him of having an affair. After Malcolm divorced her, Olivia made a play for Neil, but he turned her down. She then landed on her deathbed with aplastic anemia, and nearly died before Dru could donate the bone marrow to save her life.
Olivia then found herself drawn to Brad Carlton, the husband of her best friend, Ashley Abbott. Although she landed him briefly when he split up with Ashley, he soon returned to his wife upon learning she was pregnant. Olivia was stunned when Malcolm turned up alive when everyone thought he’d died shooting on location in Kenya, and later moved to Africa herself to work with Doctors Without Borders.
Since then, Olivia has returned to Genoa City occasionally for big events, including the funeral of her sister, Dru. She also treated Lily Winters when she was battling ovarian cancer. Liv has also popped in to attend weddings, like when Malcolm and Neil both married Sofia Dupre (separately, of course!), and joining the Winters family in France for Lilly and Cane’s nuptials.
Might Olivia make another return appearance in Genoa City? You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out!
