Young and the Restless: Victor & Diane’s Twisted Revenge Leads to Couple Swap on Y&R?
You’re listening to Soap Dirt, the latest in television entertainment news. Hey Y&R fans! I’ve been hoping that Diane Jenkins wouldn’t actually conspire with Victor Newman, but it’s looking more and more like it’s the real deal. Will this revenge plan turn into a twisted sort of rebound for these exes? Are there couple swaps ahead on The Young and the Restless? It’s Belinda from Soap Dirt, and I want to talk about what bizarre things might come out of this payback plan on the CBS soap. Please subscribe if you’re not following us!
Given all the public spats we’ve seen between Diane and Jack Abbott, I was holding out hope that these arguments were staged to convince Victor, Kyle, and the public that they were really splitting up—to trick them, find out what they were doing, and try to undermine them. But after last week’s scenes where Jack talked to Tracy Abbott, and Diane had scenes with Tracy as well, it seems less likely. Not totally impossible, but improbable.
I initially thought this might be a setup when Diane flounced into the GCAC dining room, sat down with Victor and Nikki Newman, and announced her marriage was over. She claimed Jack had kicked her out, fired her from Jabot, and that she wanted revenge on both Jack and Kyle. At first, I thought maybe Diane was running some kind of tricky plan. But now, I’m leaning towards this being the real deal. So, for the purposes of this video, I’m going with the assumption that the Jack and Diane split is legit.
If their split is real, there’s a slim chance Diane is conning Victor to prove her loyalty to Jack and that she’s getting retribution on his behalf. But right now, it definitely looks like Victor and Diane are conspiring.
On Monday’s episode, Tracy and Diane discussed how ambitious women are often judged more harshly than men. Diane specifically compared herself to Victor, saying that despite his ambition, he still has family loyalty, while she feels judged by Jack and Kyle for wanting the same. Diane thinks she did the right thing by firing Kyle from Jabot to give him a reality check after he went behind her back, taking meetings and undermining her. She warned him, but he kept escalating instead of backing down. Any other boss would have done the same.
But of course, Jack disagrees and felt Diane should’ve made more allowances for Kyle because he’s their son, even though Kyle wasn’t showing Diane any allowance as his mom. Jack still blames Diane, even knowing that Kyle stole from Jabot to give to Victor.
So yes, I can see why Diane might want payback on both of them: Jack for firing her and blaming her for everything, and Kyle for disrespecting her and stealing from the family business. Diane sounds more like her former self—the version of Diane that Victor Newman once fell in love with.
Do you remember? Diane came back to Genoa City as an architect, having first been an aspiring Jabot model. She and Jack got engaged, but Victor decided to steal her from Jack in a revenge move, and they ended up falling for each other. Victor married Diane, and things were great until she wanted a baby. There was this whole mess with a vasectomy, and Victor divorced Diane to marry Nikki on her “deathbed” after she’d been shot, but she didn’t die. Diane wanted revenge, stole some of Victor’s frozen sperm, and through a bizarre twist, ended up with Jack’s sperm instead, leading to Kyle’s birth.
Meanwhile, Nikki and Jack have been married a couple of times and remain close friends despite Victor’s dislike of their connection. Nikki was upset when Victor told her to stop talking to Jack, which led to an argument where Victor yelled, “Why don’t you go live with him!” So who knows—maybe she will! It’s happened before.
When Diane sat down with Victor and Nikki at the GCAC, it was clear she wanted payback. On Tuesday’s episode, she meets with Victor in his office and tells him her plan: she wants Kyle fired from Jabot and to be made CEO herself, infuriating both Jack and Kyle. Victor seems willing but wants Diane to prove her loyalty first, much like he challenged Audra and Kyle.
While Victor and Diane plot, they could rekindle old feelings, especially with Victor angry at Nikki over her loyalty to Jack. Nikki and Jack might console each other and even rekindle their romance. Could a couple swap be on the horizon? Diane and Victor would make a wicked pair with their shared ambition and vengefulness, while Nikki and Jack together would certainly ruffle some feathers—especially Diane’s and Victor’s!
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