Diane Jenkins
Portrayed by:
Alex Donnelley
(1982–1984, 1986, 1996–2001)
Susan Walters
(2001–2004, 2010)
Maura West
(2010–present)
Duration 1982–1984, 1986, 1996–2004, 2010, 2010-present First appearance Spring 1982 Last appearance March 1, 2010 Will return October 8, 2010.
Created by William J. Bell
Occupation:Briefly worked for Drucilla Winters as a consultant at Newman Enterprises
Former decorator/investor in Jabot Cosmetics
Architect
Former Member of the Board of Directors of Newman Enterprises
Former Model for Jabot Cosmetics
Residence Toronto, Canada
Character Background: (From Wikipedia)
Figuring that dating Jack Abbott (Terry Lester) would help her become a top model at Jabot, Diane Jenkins decided to start sleeping with him and she fell in love with him, but was left when he wanted to marry Patty Williams (Lilibet Stern) as a way to show his father that he is a grown man. Diane and Jack continued their affair after the wedding, while Diane pressured Patty into elevating her as the company's top model. Patty miscarried after falling in the company lobby caused by catching Jack and Diane making love, but wanted to spite Diane by continuing her marriage. Their marriage was over after Patty shot Jack after learning the truth about why he really married her.
Diane came to a conclusion that Jack isn't worth her time and focused on a new love, a detective named Andy Richards (Steven Ford). The couple married and led an uneventful life, which led Diane to began another affair with Jack. She was convinced that this time Jack would be able to fully commit to her, so she asked Andy for a divorce and was looking forward to being with Jack, only to learn, once again, that he didn't want to be with her. Disappointed, Diane left to Europe, but even there she couldn't rest. She figured out that she loved Andy, so she returned back in town only to find Andy happy with Farren Connor (Colleen Casey). She left town again.
Ten years later, now working as an architect, Diane returned to Genoa City a free woman. She began working for Jack again, leaving their families worried that they might hook up again. Diane and Jack admitted their feelings for each other and got engaged. Jack's nemesis Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) hatched a plan to steal Diane away from Jack as a way of getting revenge, but he fell for Diane. The couple got married and started living a good life until Diane decided to have a baby. She was bitterly disappointed to learn that Victor had a vasectomy suggested by his former wife, Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). Nikki was shot by her husband's ex-wife Veronica Landers (Candice Daly) and was on her deathbed, so Victor divorced Diane in order to marry Nikki before she died. A twist of fate kept Nikki alive, while Diane was hoping that Victor would be able to remarry her. Victor and Nikki realized they still loved each other and decided to get married (because their quick marriage in the hospital wasn't legal). Diane didn't take this easily and decided to get her revenge. At their divorce settlement in February 2000, Diane got a permanent board seat at Newman.
Diane was taken by surprise when she learned Victor had his sperm frozen at Robertson Labs, so she arranged to get it in order to get artificially inseminated and carry Victor's child. Several people found out about it and the sperm was stolen and transferred various times. When Diane finally got her hands on it again, she rushed to the doctor to get inseminated. Diane gave birth to a boy and named him Christian Victor Newman then told Victor that the baby was his child. A DNA test proved that the baby wasn't Victor's, and Diane left town not long ago after that. What Diane didn't know was that Nikki asked to switch Victor's sample with another, and she was shocked to learn that it was Jack. Keen on finding out if Diane was a good mother, Nikki tracked her down in Milan and went to see her. She decided to keep quiet about the baby's paternity.
Diane returned to town not long after that trying to find out why Nikki went to see her. She renamed the baby Kyle and eventually found out that Jack was the father. Jack, who was at the time involved with Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford), sued for sole custody of the child but didn't get it after Phyllis ruined her testimony on the stand. Diane got custody of the baby but refused to stop there---she wanted Jack back. She moved into the Abbott pool house and started playing games with Phyllis. Jack made an agreement to let Diane stay at the pool house but forbid her to get near the main house. One night, the pool house was burned down with Diane barely surviving. Phyllis was the main suspect for arson, but was able to eventually prove that Diane set it up to look like Phyllis wanted her dead. Jack and Phyllis were able to get custody of Kyle.
Diane's life got a bit better when Andy returned to Genoa City and they started dating again, but he left not long after he arrived. Diane broke any attachment to Jabot and Jack decided to give her Kyle back. She started working on a project for Newman with Drucilla Winters (Victoria Rowell), but the project didn't last long. Diane then left to live in Chicago with her son.
In late February 2010 to early March 2010, Diane made a brief return visit to Jack with their son Kyle Jenkins Abbott as a surprise arranged by Jack's new wife Dr. Emily Peterson as a wedding gift. In the process of her return, Diane had a run-in with her longtime nemesis Phyllis Summers and unbeknownst to Diane as well as everyone, she also came face to face with Jack's first wife Patty Williams who was posing as Emily after causing her to be hospitalized and unconscious. Diane then departed Genoa City for
toronto with Kyle once again.
October 8, 2010 Diane returns to Genoa City. Tune into The Young and the Restless on CBS Daytime to see what the future holds for her.
