The supervillain era ended (for now) on The Young and the Restless in January 2025. Jordan kidnapped Sharon while Ian attempted to get on Tessa’s good side. But Claire ultimately devised the plan to take down her aunt. And the Newman family took on Ian. Victor handled him well, but he will no doubt be surprised there was a major loose end. Who from this umbrella story earned Performer of the Month honors?
January 2025 Performer of the Month
The Nominees
In January, Ian Ward tried to make the Newmans, Mariah (Camryn Grimes), and Tessa (Cait Fairbanks) believe he had changed. And that he wanted to make amends. In the end, he was as dastardly as they come. His quest to get out of the viper’s nest, which was the Newman ranch, was unsuccessful. That is until the gunshot victim suddenly woke up in the ambulance. Wise played Ian so deliciously, especially when he stood up to Victor (Eric Braeden) and slammed his entire family one by one.
Next, Hayley Erin was awesome when Claire was forced to go on the offense with Jordan (Colleen Zenk). She temporarily bagged the nice girl persona in favor of the person that she would have become had her aunt had her way. Erin gave her character an edge in her scenes with Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott). It was great when she told her mom and grandmother that they needed to murder Jordan. The look on their faces was worth the price of admission.
Camryn Grimes more than earned the runner-up spot. In fact, only 70 votes separated her from the winner of Performer of the Month. Mariah spiraled as she worried about her mom and then faced Ian, her tormentor. Arguably, Grimes’s best performance was when they all thought Ian was dead and his body lay there on a gurney. Mariah needed closure, so she talked to Ward and unloaded her thoughts and feelings.
READ THIS: Here’s who won Y&R’s Performer of the Month in December 2024.
The Top Spot
This was the closest Performer of the Month poll — not many votes separated Erin, Grimes, and the person who took the top spot: Colleen Zenk. In January, Crazy Aunt Jordan’s spying days came to an end as she came face-to-face with Claire.
Subsequently, she tried to believe that Claire was telling her the truth, but trusting her was difficult. She wanted to believe her so badly, which would be her undoing. And then her last stand with the Newmans ended with her drinking poison yet again. This time, she’s dead. (Or is she?) If this was Jordan’s last stand, we are super happy Zenk got this Y&R opportunity. The As the World Turns alum rose to the occasion in every single scene.
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