It’s not often that you see pranks on The Young and the Restless, so when they happen, we tend to make note. Upon Nick’s (Joshua Morrow) return to Genoa City in the episode that airs on May 6, the Newman heir decides to pull quite the joke on his big sister.
In the episode, Nick meets up with Victoria (Amelia Heinle) to catch up with her and see what he’s missed while he was away in London with Sharon (Sharon Case), Faith (Reylynn Caster), Noah and Christian. Victoria brings him up to speed on Cole’s (J. Eddie Peck) sudden mystery illness before eventually prying into Nick’s love life, and this affords him the opportunity to pull one over on her.
Viewers will recall that before Nick and Sharon went on their trip, Victoria made inquiries with Nick about whether or not he had plans on reuniting with his ex. He brushed off her comments then, suggesting his trip was about spending time with his family and not rekindling things with his high school sweetheart. Well, in the new episode, she again pries into Nick and Sharon’s dynamic these days, and he takes the opportunity to tell her that he and Sharon got married while away. Nick even goes so far as to say Faith was Sharon’s maid of honor, Noah was his best man and Christian was the photographer.
Hearing the news, Victoria’s head starts spinning. She can’t believe her brother would make such a rash decision. She also suspects that their parents would freak out and not be happy about the nuptials. But she ultimately would rather see him with Sharon than the alternative… Phyllis (Michelle Stafford).
Nick doesn’t keep up the ruse too long, as he eventually tells his sister that he didn’t get married. Perhaps being too relieved, she doesn’t get angry with him for messing with her. However, she interestingly notes she just doesn’t want to see Nick remain single, and suggests that while being single works for some, it doesn’t work for him.
With all that being said, we’re not convinced that Nick’s joke was just a joke. It’s not hard to imagine that Nick and Sharon really did get married while away, and are slowly waiting for the right time to reveal the truth. Although some may argue that it’s too soon for the duo to hitched, we’d argue that given Sharon’s rough year thanks to Cameron Kirsten (Linden Ashby), Jordan (Colleen Zenk), Ian (Ray Wise) and Martin (Christopher Cousins), she and Nick could have easily come to the conclusion that life is too short. Plus, they have been in love with each other since high school, so it’s not like they are complete strangers.
Even if Nick and Sharon aren’t secretly hitched, we can picture them actually being a real couple again, but waiting to tell his family, trying to keep their romance safe from the meddling hands of Victor (Eric Braeden). Nick knows all too well the lengths his dad will go to in order to stop a romance he doesn’t approve of, so Nick could be wisely trying to find the right time to reveal all.
Again, because pranks are rare in daytime soaps, we can’t help but think that Nick’s comical banter is alluding to something dramatically soapy to come.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.