Here Are All The Actresses Who Have Played The Young And The Restless' Abby
Abby Newman Chancellor is a legacy character on "The Young and the Restless" with quite the pedigree. She was born Abby Carlton to Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) and her husband, Brad Carlton (Don Diamont), in the year 2000. And, over the last two decades, she has led quite a life.
As a child, she learned that her father was really Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) and not Brad. As an adult, she has had a series of failed romances and may or may not have found Mr. Right in Chance Chancellor (Conner Floyd), according to Soaps In Depth.
She has lived in the shadow of her father's other children with Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott), but, as Ashley's only child (via Soap Central), the Abbott family doesn't seem to ignore her as much. While some fans think of Abby as a traditional soap heroine, others see her as a whiny brat with very little self-awareness.
Even so, she's a character who has remained front and center ever since she was born.
Darcy Rose Byrnes was the first Abby Newman
In 2003, 5-year-old Darcy Rose Byrnes started playing Abby as a child and stayed in the role until 2008. She was even a crossover character in 2007. When Ashley Abbott moved to Los Angeles and actress Eileen Davidson made the switch to "The Bold and the Beautiful," she took her daughter with her, and that made Byrnes a veteran of two CBS soaps (via IMDb).
It was Byrnes' Abby who also learned at a very young age that Brad Carlton, the man she thought was her father, was not her biological father. Her mother's friend, Victor Newman, was, and that happened because Ashley stole some of Victor's sperm from crazy Diane Jenkins (Susan Walters), who had stolen it from a sperm bank (via Soaps In Depth).
In 2008, Abby contracted a case of Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome (SORAS) and suddenly became a teenager, leaving Byrnes out of a job. Still, that didn't stop her from going on to act into adulthood, last appearing in the series "Big Shot" in 2021.
Hayley Erin played teenage Abby
Although she was born in 2000, Abby Newman was a rebellious teenager by 2008 when actress Hayley Erin took over the role from Darcy Rose Byrnes.
Erin played Abby for two years, and, during that time, she became a very rich young lady in her own right when Brad Carlton and his daughter Colleen Carlton (Tammin Sursok) both died and Brad left his entire estate to the young lady he considered his daughter (via Soaps In Depth).
Erin eventually left the soap in 2010, only to pop up on ABC's "General Hospital" in 2015 as Kiki Jerome. She remained with that show until 2018 when Kiki was killed but made a few appearances as her ghost in 2019 and 2021 (via IMDb).
The actress opted to leave the soap to star in the Freeform series "Pretty Little Liars: Perfectionists." In summer 2021, Erin gave birth to twin girls, Juno and Maude, with her husband, Adam Fergus, and she is enjoying life as a mom, as of this writing.
Marcy Rylan became the first young adult Abby
After Hayley Erin departed "The Young and the Restless," Marcy Rylan became the next Abby after already playing a teenage Lizzie Spaulding on "Guiding Light" (via IMDb).
Rylan's Abby decided to take advantage of her wealth and her famous Newman name to produce a reality series called "The Naked Heiress." She even filmed herself having sex with Daniel Romalotti (Michael Graziadei), but that relationship didn't last.
Abby became an enemy of Diane Jenkins (then played by Maura West), and, when Diane was killed, Abby was a suspect. However, after her name was cleared, she decided to leave town and get her head together in 2013 (via Soaps In Depth).
Marcy Rylan soon changed her name to Emme Rylan and popped up on "General Hospital" as Lulu Spencer Falconeri soon after. She remained on the show until 2020, when Lulu ended up in what is still a very long coma.
While fans would love to see her return to the soap, she is busy raising three children, Jackson, Levi, and Dakota, with partner Don Money (via Soaps In Depth).
Melissa Ordway was cast as the next adult Abby
In 2013, soap opera newcomer Melissa Ordway, who had appeared on shows like "Melrose Place" and "90210," took over the role of Abby Newman from Emme Rylan (via IMDb).
Ordway's Abby has had very little luck with men until recently. She was married to Stitch Rayburn (Sean Carrigan), but his mentally ill child, Max, caused her to miscarry, which ended the marriage.
Then, after a relationship with Scott Grainger (Daniel Hall) and an engagement to Arturo Rosales (Jason Canela) did not work out, Abby went on to marry Chance Chancellor (via Soaps In Depth).
Fertility problems led Abby to enlist the help of friends Mariah Copeland (Camryn Grimes) and Devon Hamilton (Bryton James) to make a baby. Chance was out of town on a secret government mission, but Abby used her egg, Devon's sperm, and Mariah's uterus to create a little boy, Dominic.
Chance is back from his mission now, and things have seemed to settle in Abby's life, with Ordway still in the role in 2022.