Since The Young and the Restless’ Tucker (Trevor St. John) arrived back in Genoa City, he’s not exactly been Mr. Popularity. Devon (Bryton James) attempted to welcome his biological father back into his life, but Tucker’s knack for lying soured that relationship; and most of the Abbotts have declared Tucker as their number one enemy, that is except for Ashley (Eileen Davidson).
Although initially skeptical of her ex-husband's arrival, Tucker managed to win Ashley over and the two again fell madly in love. Then came the infamous Paris fight that tanked their second marriage.
For months Ashley accused Tucker of being inexcusably enraged during that argument, and it wasn’t until the staff at the Parisian cafe confirmed Tucker’s version of events that Ashely finally started to realize she made up the severity of the incident.
Now The Young and the Restless viewers still don’t know why Ashley’s memory of what happened is so far from the reality of what occurred, but all signs are pointing to her being in the middle of a mental health crisis. Especially as of late, she appears to have two distinct personalities: one of which is meek and terrified about what’s happening to her, and the other is cunning and confident and is becoming obsessed with reuniting with Tucker.
Even after Tucker has repeatedly told Ashley recently that he’s done with their merry-go-round romance and he’s moved on with Audra (Zuleyka Silver), the emboldened side of Ashley keeps summoning Tucker to meet.
In fact, in the episode airing on March 7, Ashley arrives at the Genoa City Athletic Club late in the evening and sends Tucker a text from the lobby requesting to meet, claiming it’s urgent. He’s likely to take the bait and meet with her.
With all that being said, could Ashley’s growing obsession wind up proving to be dangerous for Tucker?
In the very same episode, there appears to be some foreshadowing that Tucker may soon come up missing. During an earlier scene, Abby (Melissa Ordway) barges her way into Tucker’s room and inappropriately blasts him for what’s happening with her mother (inappropriate may not even be the word because Abby was very out of line). By the end of their conversation, Abby claims several times she wishes he’d just go away.
Additionally, back at the Abbott Mansion, Jack (Peter Bergman) tells Diane (Susan Walters) that he is fed up with Tucker and wishes he’d just get up and leave for good. When you add these two desires that Tucker abandons Genoa City with the fact that he and Audra have an upcoming trip planned to Paris, there may be some ominous writing on the wall.
Now we don’t think Tucker is being written off the soap, he’s just too entertaining to lose. However, we can imagine a situation where the emboldened version of Ashley convinces Tucker to leave with her for some unknown destination. The duo may enjoy some romance, but after, Ashley could become a bit more unhinged and attempt to keep Tucker prisoner to prevent him from leaving. Or in another scenario, Ashley could attempt to seduce Tucker, but when he pledges allegiance to Audra, upsetting Ashley in the process, she could become provoked and prevent Tucker from walking off.
Before you rule out all of this as an impossibility, allow us to remind you that Ashley is a chemist capable of mixing a compound to keep Tucker sedated, the Abbott family does own a remote cabin in the woods perfect for keeping someone against their will and Ashley isn’t exactly the most mentally stable at the moment.
We’ll also add that if Ashley keeps Tucker hostage in a place like the Abbott Cabin, the others back in Genoa City may think for a while that the exes ran off together. The Abbotts would be infuriated with such an impression but be left to respect Ashley’s decision to reunite with her ex-husband, and Audra would likely feel scorned thinking Tucker ditched her for Ashley. It could be a while before people put the pieces together of what really happened.
While all of this is still speculation at this point, should our theory ring true, it would make for some exciting moments in daytime in a post-Jordan (Colleen Zenk) era.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
