In the latest installment of Genoa City Corporate Shuffle, The Young and the Restless’ Jack (Peter Bergman) makes a big move over at Jabot. One that could reignite the Abbott family feud all over again.
Jack’s bold action all takes place in The Young and the Restless episode airing on January 18. After talking to Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) one-on-one and offering to be there for her as she tries to recover in her sobriety, especially with her sponsor Seth (Brian Gaskill) confirming that he too has started drinking again, the Abbott patriarch meets up with Diane (Susan Walters) and Kyle (Michael Mealor) for breakfast.
Shortly after sitting down with his wife and son, the conversation turns to talk about the vacant co-CEO position at Jabot. It has been hinted at for weeks that once the Abbotts thoroughly dealt with Tucker (Trevor St. John), Kyle would be moved from COO of Jabot to co-CEO. An idea that had Kyle foaming at the mouth in excitement and was well-supported by Diane.
However, prior to Jack’s arrival at breakfast in the same episode, Kyle mentions to his mom that he no longer thinks he is best suited for the promotion. He insists that he needs to be in the COO role instead and that the right person for the Co-CEO job is actually Diane. She balks at the notion, but as Jack starts talking about the role with her and Kyle, Kyle repeats his proposal. The suggestion surprises Jack only because he was actually thinking of making his wife co-CEO as well.
Diane may continue to protest that she’s not deserving of the promotion and that Kyle should have it, but she’s likely to accept the job offer. As the new co-CEO, she may have the support of her husband, son and even grandchild, but something tells us that Jack’s siblings are about to go on the warpath in outrage.
For starters, Ashley (Eileen Davidson) and Diane are longtime rivals. Sure they’ve managed to remain cordial in recent months and Diane even saved Ashley from choking, but Ashley has also made it crystal clear that she and her sister-in-law are not friends. Plus, from the very moment Diane and Jack rekindled their relationship, Ashley has been worried that Diane would manipulate her brother into getting a top spot at Jabot.
Now that Diane was just given such a high leadership position at the Abbott family business, Ashley could go on the attack with Jack and spark their sibling feud all over again. Which is bad for business all around. We should also mention that Jack’s timing with this big decision couldn’t be worse for Ashley as she’s currently showing signs that she may be in the beginning stages of a mental health crisis.
Then there’s Billy (Jason Thompson). He’s previously mentioned his suspicions that Diane would weasel her way to the top at Jabot when she started working for the company. He’s been afraid of what she could become capable of if given too much power and authority.
At the moment, there is no inclination that Diane is planning something truly villainous, but we have to take into account the new factor with Nikki.
Before Jack agreed to be there for Nikki, he talked about it with Diane first to make sure she was okay with the idea. Given Diane and Nikki don’t like each other and Nikki and Jack are close friends and exes, Jack wanted his current wife to be comfortable. Diane says she is fine with him helping Nikki, but it’s not hard to imagine her soon becoming jealous of Nikki and Jack’s extra bonding.
Perhaps Nikki and Jack keep things platonic but slowly begin to develop feelings for one another again. If the two get caught up in their emotions and have an affair, one that Diane finds out about, you better believe Diane would make Jack pay the price and attempt to take Jabot away from the Abbotts in a very Tucker-like manner.
We’ll admit, the idea of Jack and Nikki reuniting romantically is a bit of a stretch as far as we’re concerned. We tend to think Nikki and Victor (Eric Braeden) are in it for the long haul nowadays, so while the couple may go through ups and downs, they are finally stuck together after all of these years.
However, in terms of Ashley and Billy becoming upset with Diane’s promotion, that is something that seems very probable.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
