Phyllis Summers' Dirtiest Deeds On The Young And The Restless
Few characters on "The Young and the Restless" have found themselves entangled in as many messy situations as Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford). She may have gathered her fair share of enemies, but it's undeniable that she's often her worst enemy, succumbing to her penchant for dirty deeds. Known as "Red" during her better days with Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman), Phyllis made her dramatic debut on "The Young and the Restless" with a classic soap opera plot — paternity fraud.
At age 20, Phyllis fell head over heels for pop star and "The Young And The Restless" icon Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian) and concocted a plan to deceive him. She drugged Danny, making him believe they had slept together, and then cunningly pinned her pregnancy, a result of her affair with Brian Hamilton (Steven Culp), on him. This storyline dragged on for years, with Phyllis going to great lengths to hide her deceit. Danny was already in a relationship with Christine Blair (Lauralee Bell), and their marriage was going through a rough patch when Phyllis entered the scene.
She managed to wedge between Danny and Christine, ultimately leading to their divorce, even though doubts about Daniel's paternity arose. To deceive him further, Phyllis bribed someone to alter the paternity test results. Despite Christine's persistent snooping into Phyllis' web of lies and manipulation, Phyllis clung onto Danny, using "their" son to keep him close.
Attempted murder of Christine and Paul
As tensions escalated between Phyllis and Christine, fondly known as "Cricket" by Danny, Phyllis developed a dangerous obsession. She fantasized about eliminating the "bug" (Christine) from Danny's life to reclaim him for herself. The problem with her delusion was that Christine didn't want Danny had moved on to Paul Williams (Doug Davidson). In fact, Christine and Paul were living a classic romance and even had plans to get hitched.
Determined to carry out her sinister plan, Phyllis hatched a scheme during Paul and Christine's wedding in 1994. She rented a car intending to run over Christine, but Paul heroically stepped in front of her, saving her life. Phyllis's actions left Paul severely injured, though they narrowly escaped death, much to her dismay. In a twisted attempt to sabotage their happiness further, Phyllis secretly placed a dead and repulsive octopus in their bed during their honeymoon.
Despite her devious deeds, Phyllis kept her involvement hidden until 2012, when incriminating documents came to light. Evidence revealed that she had rented the hit-and-run car on the day of the accident. The revelation led to Christine accusing Phyllis, but Phyllis vehemently denied any wrongdoing. Thanks to her web of lies and the passage of time, Christine couldn't build a case against Phyllis for the attempted murder of a federal agent, and justice eluded them.
Sasha Green's death
After Phyllis's failed attempt to murder Christine, her son Daniel fell seriously ill. Still believing Daniel was his own, Danny stood by Phyllis's side, providing support and financial assistance during the trying time. As they faced the challenge together, Danny began to see a possible change in Phyllis. With Daniel's recovery, Danny's love for Phyllis rekindled, leading to a proposal and their marriage. Phyllis boldly declared she was a new person, but this illusion shattered when Sasha Green (Tina Arning) resurfaced in Genoa City.
Sasha was the lab attendant Phyllis had paid to manipulate the paternity results. After Phyllis bribed Sasha to disappear from Genoa City, Sasha returned, seeking more money after a failed relationship. Despite Phyllis's desperate efforts, she couldn't raise the funds Sasha demanded. As Sasha grew impatient and threatened to expose Phyllis's misdeeds, Phyllis took drastic action. She confronted Sasha, demanding to know who she had told, and even slapped her in the heat of the moment.
Tragically, Sasha's building went up in flames, with her trapped inside. "Y & R" fans saw Phyllis exclaim, "I can't believe what I just did!" However, since Sasha was known for drinking and smoking carelessly, authorities ruled the incident accidental. Although viewers can't be sure that Phyllis started the fire, we know that she could have saved Sasha and didn't.
Faking her death to frame Diane
The long-standing famous feud between Diane Jenkis (Susan Walters) and Phyllis dates back to Diane's first divorce from Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) in 1998, where Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc) represented Diane. Phyllis, who was dating Michael at the time, grew jealous of Diane, so she arranged for Michael's kidnapping to teach him a lesson. Despite the divorce being settled in 1999, tensions between Phyllis and Diane remained high, especially when Diane returned to Genoa City with her and Jack's baby, Kyle.
Phyllis was married to Jack then, but their marriage was crumbling and Diane's connection to Jack's son only fueled the fire, leading to constant clashes between the two women. Diane even attempted to frame Phyllis for trying to murder her during their ongoing feud. Ultimately, Phyllis's affair with Nicholas Newman resulted in her marriage with Jack ending in divorce. But their young and restless feud was far from over. In 2023, when Diane and Jack seemed to be making progress, she encouraged Phyllis to move on, further fueling her anger.
With her then-husband Jeremy Stark's assistance, Phyllis hatched a devious plan to frame Diane for her murder, a significant escalation from their previous clashes. Jeremy planted poison in Diane's room, and given their toxic history, the police quickly pointed fingers at her, leading to her arrest. However, as Phyllis's relationship with Jeremy soured, she was forced to kill him in self-defense.
Using Dr. Tim Reid till his death
Phyllis had an affair with Dr. Tim Reid (Aaron Lustig), an awkward, short, and bald man, during her divorce from Danny in 1996. She manipulated and blackmailed him to testify that their marriage could be saved, but he later changed his testimony, leading to the divorce being finalized. Secretly, Phyllis continued her relationship with Tim, but when Danny showed renewed interest in her after "their" son fell ill, Phyllis abruptly ended things with Tim.
Later, she overheard a conversation that made her fear being exposed for the hit-and-run incident, and in her panic, she sought refuge with Tim, asking him to run away with her. But when she realized she wasn't in danger of being caught, she discarded Tim and returned to Danny. When Sasha reappeared demanding money, Phyllis borrowed from Tim to pay her off, but ended up paying him to leave town as he knew too much.
In 2012, when Christine was close to the truth, she arranged a meeting with him. She spiked his wine, but he managed to spit it out, only to take a new glass of wine and several tablets of Viagra. Phyllis stepped out in lingerie just as Tim had a heart attack. Panicked, Phyllis got Kevin Fisher's (Greg Rikaart) help to move Tim's body to avoid suspicion. Tim gave up a lot for her, but was always a backup that never made it to the list of Phyllis' husbands on "The Young and The Restless."
Phyllis's impact on Summer's life
Phyllis has a knack for involving her children in her messy life, despite their deep affection for her. One early instance was when Phyllis dipped into Summer Newman's (Allison Lanier) trust fund to pay off a blackmailer. She never paid back the money, but Nick stepped in to cover the debt. Phyllis stole Summer's password to hack into Jabot in another callous act, which could have led to significant trouble for Summer.
Her actions took an emotionally tolling turn when she staged her death, subjecting her children to the pain of mourning her. At her memorial, Summer was devastated and inconsolable, with Kyle offering support as she wept over losing her mother. Little did she know, Phyllis attended her funeral disguised, witnessing her children's grief without revealing her presence. Despite her deceit, she conveniently came clean to Summer about murdering Jeremy when she got into trouble.
She urged Summer to keep her secret, leading to a heartbreaking situation for her husband Kyle Abbot (Michael Mealor), Diane's son, as Summer said nothing even though Diane was arrested. When Summer eventually confessed, Kyle was furious, which drove a wedge between him and Summer. Kyle found comfort in a relationship with Audra, leaving Summer heartbroken. She desperately and tearfully tried to reason with Kyle and even sought Diane's help, but he refused to listen and told her there was no hope for them anymore.