Some more recent viewers of THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS might not be aware of Jill Abbott’s illustrious past in Genoa City because she doesn’t appear on the show as frequently as she formerly did. And even some devoted followers may benefit from a little refresher! Brenda Dickson initially portrayed the role when the soap opera debuted in 1973. Deborah Adair filled in for her for three years when she left in 1980 until Dickson came back in 1983. Jess Walton was replaced for the part in 1987, and she has played Jill ever since. (Well, except for a brief period in 1994 when Judith Chapman replaced her and later joined Y&R as Gloria Bardwell!) Walton deserves the rest even though she only occasionally appears these days.
Jill, who was working as a manicurist to support her family, accepted a position as Katherine Chancellor’s personal assistant and ultimately began an affair with Phillip Chancellor II, Kay’s husband. After Jill became pregnant and Phillip and Kay got divorced, their car crashed off a cliff, and Phillip passed away. Phillip Chancellor III was born after Jill rejected Katherine’s $1 million promise to give birth to her kid. Later, she dated Stuart Brooks, Derek Thurston, and David Mallory. Stuart agreed to marry Jill, but after she faked a pregnancy and miscarriage, he broke up with her.
When Jill eventually found herself working for Jabot, she started dating John Abbott, the CEO of the cosmetics company. John dumped her when she cheated on him with his son Jack Abbott, and she then filed a sexual harassment claim against Jack. When Jill and John were reconciled, they got married, but she was still having an affair with Jack. When Katherine revealed the proof to John, he suffered a stroke. Jill received 20% of Jabot as part of the divorce settlement from John. The primary suspects in Jill’s shooting were John, Jack, and Katherine, but Sven, a masseuse Jill had turned down, was actually responsible.
Phillip was eventually killed while driving under the influence despite Jill and Katherine’s efforts to get him to stop drinking. Rex Sterling was hired by Jill as a con artist to woo Kay, but she later changed her mind and wanted him for herself. She had an affair with Victor Newman, but when she realized he would never wed her, she went back to John, and the two of them got married once more. Before he had his vasectomy, Jill became pregnant as soon as he decided he was too old to have another kid, eventually giving birth to Billy Abbott. After she had an affair with Jed Sanders, Jill and John got a divorce.
Jill kicked Katherine out of the Chancellor Estate after learning she was the owner, but a legal snag allowed her to stay. Later, Jill had relationships with Sean Bridges and Larry Warton. Jill learned she was adopted and that she was Katherine’s daughter in 2003, which surprised her. Then, Jill was made to believe that Cane Ashby was her biological child and not Phillip. Jill briefly dated William Bardwell before moving on to Ji Min Kim, whose death saddened her.
The truth about Jill not actually being Katherine’s daughter finally came to light in 2008, and Charlotte Ramsey’s plot to exact revenge was all that it was. She also discovered that Phillip had simply pretended to die because he was gay and that Cane wasn’t actually her son. Then, in 2010, Jill discovered that Lauren Fenmore was her sister and that Neil Fenmore was actually her biological father. Though they clashed, the two women eventually came to terms. Jill was going through a difficult period.
When Jill originally became acquainted with Colin Atkinson, she had no idea that he was the real father of Cane and the leader of a criminal organization in Australia. Jill was perplexed by the mysterious notes Katherine had left behind after her death. Jill received the Chancellor Estate as an inheritance but was unable to maintain it. Later, she found pricey jewelry worth a fortune concealed inside a chandelier Katherine had given her. When they discovered a key in a hidden compartment that unlocked a safe deposit box holding a note from Katherine and a ring from Phillip, the music box Kay had left her, however, no longer remained a mystery.
After Colin and Jill made up during this period, Jill had a heart attack, and they departed Genoa City to travel together. She has, however, made a few independent trips back to take care of Chancellor business. She came back in 2018, where she briefly became involved in the hunt for Phillip Chancellor, who was thought to be Jack Abbott’s biological father. She then came back once more to assist Billy with his gambling issue.
When Jill returned home the following time, she said that she and Colin were “on a break” and she immediately started giving Cane and Billy advice while also keeping up with all the latest Genoa City rumors. Additionally, Jill assisted in locating Colin in order to determine that he was responsible for Chance Chancellor’s challenge of Katherine’s will. She then sought for divorce after her spouse was eventually brought to justice. Additionally, Jill started spending more time with Jack. Occasionally, their casual banter evolved into flirting, but nothing came of it.
Billy and Lily Winters were given control of ChanceComm by Jill, but Billy’s attempt to seize control of Cyaxares was not given funding approval. Later that year, she was required to go back to Genoa City to fix the problems caused by Billy’s plot against Adam. Lily was appointed CEO of ChanceComm when Jill made the decision to leave the company. Jill later proposed uniting Chancellor and Hamilton Winters after being convinced to sell ChanceComm to Newman-Locke.
In June 2022, she went back to Genoa City to attend the Chancellor-Winters launch party, when she ran across the recently revived Diane Jenkins. She accused Diane of wanting Jack back and praised her for making up her own death. Jill recommended afterwards that they go public and recruited Audra Charles to handle the IPO as she continued to be active with the firm via video conferencing. Devon objected, but Jill went ahead with the scheme. Jill, however, encountered surprises when she came to Genoa City to address matters in person. She didn’t mind Esther Valentine being employed as a receptionist, but she advised Lily that she could date someone more reliable than Billy after learning of his resignation as COO.
When Devon opposed and wanted to take Hamilton-Winters back, Jill continued to advocate for bringing the business public, and she and Lily proposed buying him out after the IPO so he could start over. However, Devon was not keen on their arrangement and threatened to sue them! Nick convinced Jill to give Sally Spectra and Chloe Mitchell another chance after Victor ruined their meeting, and Jill was pleased with the designers’ pitch. She also made the decision to cancel the IPO, but that was insufficient to reconcile Devon and Lily.
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