What Happened Between Summer And Billy On The Young And The Restless?
Phyllis Summers has been a much-loved character on "The Young and the Restless" since she popped up in Genoa City in 1994 and tried to get pregnant with the child of rockstar Daniel Romalotti, according to Soaps in Depth. Over the following 28 years, the scheming businesswoman caused never-ending drama and became well-known for her ongoing relationships with prominent "Y&R" men Jack Abbott, Nick Newman, and Billy Abbott. All of these relationships were ill-fated and suffered from infidelity on all sides. They caused heartache not only to those directly involved, but spiraled out to affect many others, too. In fact, it is Phyllis' ongoing drama with all three men that led her daughter Summer Newman to a heartbreak of her own with Billy. But how exactly did that happen?
In 2016, Phyllis' (then Gina Tognoni) second marriage to Jack (Peter Bergman) began to suffer as she and his brother Billy (Jason Thompson) found themselves drawn together after bonding over their desire to take down Victor Newman (via Soap Central). Their attraction soon grew into a full-blown affair and Phyllis was overcome with guilt over her indiscretion as she struggled to choose between the two men. Eventually she decided to recommit to her husband, but it was too late. Jack had discovered the affair and promptly divorced her. After they were both free, Phyllis and Billy tried to make a go of it. Though they grappled with business disagreements in the beginning, eventually the couple made their relationship official. Of course, their happiness was short-lived — we're talking about a soap, after all.
Billy's gambling sent Phyllis into Nick's arms
Billy Abbott has openly dealt with a gambling addiction on "The Young and the Restless" many times (via Soap Central). Most recently, it came back to haunt him during his relationship with Phyllis Summers in 2018. Phyllis' daughter Summer Newman (then Hunter King) had just returned to Genoa City having gambled away her trust fund. She turned to her mother's boyfriend for help. Afterward, Billy began gambling on his own more and more, though he was honest about it with Phyllis. At first, Phyllis went with him to gamble so she could keep an eye on him, but after he started embezzling money, she realized he was in over his head.
Struggling in her relationship, Phyllis turned to her ex-husband and Summer's father Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) to commiserate with, since he was also having problems with his fiancée Sharon (via Michael Fairman TV). Phyllis and Nick ended up sleeping together, before agreeing that it was a one-time mistake and deciding to keep it a secret.
However, Summer learned of her parents tryst and used the information to her advantage. She blackmailed her father for money and told her soon-to-be step-mom what she discovered in hopes that her mother's relationship would blow up and she could have Billy to herself (via Soap Opera Spy). Sharon waited until her and Nick's wedding day to admit that she knew his secret and revealed it to all of their guests before leaving him at the altar. Infuriated at Phyllis' actions, Billy immediately dumped her — despite the fact that the two of them had done the exact same thing to his brother Jack.
Billy used Summer to get revenge
It was no secret that Summer Newman had been interested in Billy Abbott; not only had she hit on him relentlessly, but she also made a bet with Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) that she could get her mother's boyfriend into bed. She even attempted to seduce Billy on a business trip (via Soap Central). Following Phyllis Summers' betrayal, Billy knew Summer would not turn him down if he finally gave in to her advances.
After the wedding-that-wasn't, Billy met up with Summer at a bar and told her that he had ended his relationship with her mother and that they were finally free to be together, according to Michael Fairman TV. The two went back to Summer's place and slept together, though it would soon become clear that they each had a very different understanding of the night.
The following day, Billy left town to attend rehab for his gambling addiction, and Summer assumed that they would be together upon his return. However, when Billy did come back and Summer poured her heart out to him, he did not reply in kind, (via Soaps). In fact, he told her that he had no romantic interest in her whatsoever and had only slept with her to get revenge against her parents. The worst part? He made a point to reject Summer in front of her mother, so that Phyllis would know exactly what he had done.
Billy attempted to turn over a new leaf
Surprisingly, in the four years since Billy and Summer slept together, only a handful of people have found out about it, and there have been no massive drama-filled revelations. In fact, the last time that night was brought up was in 2021 by Billy himself. While trapped together on a plane, Billy took the opportunity to apologize to Summer about the way he acted toward her and seemed to express genuine remorse (via Daily Soap Dish).
By this point Billy had begun dating fan-favorite character Lily Winters. Lily is notably more mature and wise than Billy and it was clear to viewers that she was having a positive impact on the notorious bad boy. This was proven when Billy made the decision to come clean to Lily about what he had done to Summer and took full responsibility for the situation, to boot (via Geeks). Despite Summer's manipulative advances toward Billy, including walking around the house in lingerie, he acknowledged that taking advantage of her feelings to enact revenge against her parents was a terrible thing to do. Many viewers believe that Billy's sudden change of heart is part a redemption-arc that the show is using to make him seem more worthy of Lily.
Though the couple enjoyed a year together mostly drama-free, that never lasts long on a soap opera. Recently, Billy has been paying much more attention to his ex-wife Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle) after she was burned by her most recent beau. Lily hasn't been too pleased with this development, and some fans fear they are headed toward splitsville (via SoapDirt).