Sharon Newman

Sharon McAvoy (previously Collins, Newman, and Abbott) is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless, an American soap opera on the CBS network, and is portrayed by Sharon Case. Created by William J. Bell as a love interest for Nicholas "Nick" Newman, the character made her debut on March 24, 1994. Before Case took over the role in September 1994, the character was portrayed briefly by Monica Potter and then Heidi Mark. When first introduced, Sharon was a young girl from the poor side of town. Nick and Sharon married, had a son named Noah, and later won custody of Cassie, the baby Sharon had as a teenager and gave up for adoption. Their marriage faced a number of problems, including infidelity on both sides. Following Cassie's death in an automobile accident, Nick cheated on Sharon with Phyllis Summers, resulting in a pregnancy which ended their 11-year marriage.

Despite her second marriage to (and divorce from) Jack Abbott, Nick and Sharon had an affair and conceived a third child: Faith. During the pregnancy, Sharon experienced kleptomania. Faith was kidnapped by Adam Newman, Nick's brother, leading Sharon to believe she had died. When Adam's crimes were revealed and Faith was returned to Sharon, she remained in love with him; SoapNet considered the relationship "dark". Since 2011, former showrunner Maria Arena Bell and subsequent head writers that followed have significantly changed the character's direction, receiving negative backlash from critics and audiences. Sharon married her ex-father-in-law Victor Newman, gained control of his company (Newman Enterprises) and burned down his ranch—a sequence of events which resulted in her being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The character was then involved in a DNA test alteration storyline regarding Summer, which was also heavily criticized by critics.