Ashley Abbott went Out with A Bang on Y&R!

What Happened to Ashley

on THE YOUNG &THE RESTLESS

The Abbott family has been a major part of THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS for years, and Ashley Abbott has been a front burner character that proved so popular, she even journeyed over to sister soap THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL for a while. Eileen Davidson originated the role in June of 1982 and when she left in December of 1988, Brenda Epperson and Shari Shattuck both took over for a while before Davidson returned in 1999. Unfortunately, this era has come to an end with the actress announcing her decision to leave Y&R again. Could this be the last viewers see of Ashley?

In 1982, John Abbott and Dina Mergeron’s daughter, Ashley, came home to Genoa City as an adult to work as a chemist at Jabot Cosmetics. She didn’t have much luck in love, though — her first beau, Eric Garrison, slept with her mom and Marc Mergeron turned out to be her former stepbrother! Then Ashley learned that her real father was Brent Davis, and the trauma caused her to flee Genoa City with amnesia. Victor Newman found her and brought her home where they had an affair while he was married to Nikki. Ashley got pregnant but Victor left her for Nikki, who was diagnosed with cancer. Ashley secretly had an abortion and suffered a mental breakdown, later marrying her shrink, Steven Lassiter.

Ashley would always think of John as her father.

After Steven was shot and killed by an unstable patient, Ashley had a brief affair with Brad Carlton before finally becoming Mrs. Victor Newman. After their marriage fell apart, she fell for Jabot photographer Blade Bladeson, but their union suffered when his evil twin, Rick, tormented them. Ashley next married Cole Howard, who was on the rebound from Victoria, so naturally that one didn’t last long, either.

When Diane Jenkins attempted to steal Victor’s sperm in 2000, Ashley switched it with Jack’s sample and used Victor’s sperm to get herself pregnant. She then married Brad and gave birth to her daughter, Abby. But when Ashley was diagnosed with breast cancer, she confessed the truth about Abby’s paternity. The couple split, but were drawn back together when Ashley learned she was pregnant with Brad’s baby. Sadly, she lost the child in a car accident, and their marriage ultimately collapsed. 

When John shot and killed his wife, Gloria’s, dangerous ex, Tom Fisher, Ashley tried to protect her father by confessing, but John was sentenced to prison. After Gloria tampered with Ashley’s new line of beauty cream leading to a woman’s death and John passed away after suffering a heart attack, Ashley left town to escape all the drama.

Ashley had chemistry even with men on other shows!

But Ashley found plenty more drama when she had an affair with Rick Forrester while overseas on business, and then went to Los Angeles to work for Forrester Creations. She started a relationship with Ridge Forrester and they became engaged, but he was clearly still in love with Brooke Logan. She then had a fling with Ridge’s brother, Thorne, and when Forrester ended the fragrance line, Ashley moved to Europe with Abby.

Ashley reunited with Victor in France and they returned to Genoa City as a couple. They married and she became pregnant, but Adam Newman gaslighted her and caused her to fall down the stairs and miscarry. However, he convinced her that was all a dream and Ashley suffered a hysterical pregnancy, “giving birth” to a baby that Adam had stolen from Sharon Newman. The truth eventually came out and Ashley returned Faith to Sharon.
Her next relationship, with businessman Tucker McCall, also ended in divorce, and Ashley was forced out as CEO of Jabot by Jack. She moved to New York City to live with sister Traci Abbott, and returned to visit for events like Victor and Nikki’s wedding, Delia Abbott’s funeral, and Abby and Tyler’s engagement party.

"Honey, I know you're engaged, but are you sure you don't want to share him?"

In 2014, Ashley returned to Genoa City and got mixed up in a love triangle with her daughter’s boyfriend, Dr. Stitch Rayburn. Moving on, she fell for doctor Simon Neville, who found a cure for her brain tumor, but they split when he left town. An unlikely romance started between Ashley and Ravi Shapur, but nothing ever really came of it.

The return of Ashley’s mother, Dina, threw the Abbotts into chaos as they learned she was suffering from Alzheimer’s and tried to get her away from the scheming Graham Bloodworth. Ashley quit Jabot and Victor invited her to come work at Newman Enterprises. But working with the Newmans was a constant struggle, and she approached Billy Abbott about returning to Jabot as COO. He agreed, but she then began to realize that Billy was stealing from the company to fund his gambling habit so she and Kyle worked together to oust him as CEO. She’s also started up a new relationship with Neil Winters, but seems to be more focused on business than pleasure.

Ashley had some big surprises for

 the Abbott family!

After Ashley wrangled herself into the CEO position at Jabot she revealed to Jack that John Abbott was always his father and she had faked the DNA tests in order to take revenge on her brother! Jack was furious, and the Abbott family quickly rallied to remove Ashley as the head of the company. Then Kyle and Jack discovered that Dina had drafted a contract giving Ashley ownership over the patents she created while at Jabot and tried to shred it.

But Traci learned the truth and forced them to come clean about it to Ashley. Feeling betrayed and hurt, Ashley decided to take the patents and move to Paris to start her own company called "My Beauty," which is what John used to call her.