Jack’s Not An Abbott And Other The Young And The Restless Paternity Puzzles

The Young and the Restless threw its viewers for a loop when it revealed that Jack is not a blood Abbott, but this isn’t the first time that the show has played a switcheroo with a character’s paternity!

Here’s a look back at some surprise instances when viewers discovered that family trees can have some unexpected branches!

Lorie Brooks: Lorie (Jaime Lyn Bauer) fell for Dr. Mark Henderson (Steve Carlson) who was working at Genoa Citys Memorial Hospital, but the couple’s engagement hit a roadblock when Jennifer Brooks (Dorothy Green), Lorie’s  mother, told Mark that his father Bruce (Paul Stevens) had fathered Lorie!

Ashley Abbott: Ashley (Eileen Davidson) loved being the daughter of John Abbott (Jerry Douglas) and was devastated to learn that her mother had cheated on him with golfer Brent Davis (Bert Kramer).

Cricket Blair: The Jabot teen model had fallen in love with Dr. Scott Grainger (Peter Barton) following breakups with both Phillip Chancellor III (Thom Bierdz) and Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian).

Alas, she got her heart broken again after learning that Scott’s dad, Jim (John O’Hurley), was also her long lost dad.

Daniel Romalotti: Phyllis (then Michelle Stafford, now Gina Tognoni) switched paternity tests so that everyone would believe Danny had fathered her son. It helped that mom worked in a DNA lab at the time!

Cole Howard: It appeared as if a love match between Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck) and Victoria (then Heather Tom; now Amelia Heinle) was not going to happen as Cole’s wicked mama Eve (Margaret Mason) led Victor (Eric Braeden) to believe that he was Cole’s dad. Fortunately, it turned out to be a big lie.

Jill Foster Abbott: Jill (Jess Walton) learned not only that Liz Foster (Julianna McCarthy) wasn’t her mother, but that her longtime friend/rival Katherine Chancellor (Jeanne Cooper) was–until a new writing regime undid it all; there was never a clear answer as to why the first DNA results were wrong.

So while there are lots of paternity twists in Y&R’s history there are also some later twists that undo things. Will Jack (Peter Bergman) turn out to be a true Abbott or not? Stay tuned!

The Young and the Restless (Y&R) airs weekdays on CBS. Check local listings for airtimes.