Thursday, March 27, 2008

Battle of the Hottest Y&R Men

I've been a fan of the Young & the Restless off and on for about 15 years now. As a kid, I tuned in mainly to see Joshua Morrow, who plays Nick Newman. I had a little school-girl crush on him, and followed his dramatic relationship with his on-screen wife, Sharon, faithfully, through all their ups and downs.

But as I got older, a new guy came on the scene - Thad Luckinbill, in the role of JT Hellstrom, a hot bad-boy with a good heart who played guitar. As Nick & Sharon's marriage was falling apart, JT was heating things up with Colleen Carleton. I lived for the episodes to watch JT & Colleen sneaking around behind her father's back, when he'd write her love songs and play them for her. They were an electric couple that caught the hearts of the Y&R faithful.

But then, Colleen left Genoa City, and JT started to change. He was no longer the brooding bad boy. He dropped his music career and got a job working for Paul Williams as a private investigator, and he was beginning to mature and grow as a man. I was so excited when I heard the character of Colleen was returning to Genoa City a few years later, but there was an initial disappointment when it was learned that it would be a different actress playing the role. At first, I didn't really care, I just couldn't wait for the JT & Colleen romance to pick up where it left off. And at first, they did throw them back together. But things weren't working out - JT had no chemistry with the new Colleen, and before long, she was cheating on JT with her college professor. I didn't like those weeks of watching JT pine after her as he watched their relationship dissolve before his own eyes. The pathetic, sappy, lost-puppy thing didn't suit him well.

So of course, JT couldn't be alone for long - they introduced a new flame for him in actress Amelia Heinle, who played Victoria Newman. There had been sparks between them while Colleen was away, and it seemed the best fit for both of them. And so began the dramatic transformation of JT's character. Long gone were those days of the spiky blonde hair, leather jackets and guitars. In the past year or so, JT has begun working for Newman Enterprises as Victor's own PI, he wears a suit daily and his hair has all been slicked back, he & Victoria had a baby together, and then they got married. JT kind of lost his lustre with me - the whole working, family-man thing kind of diminished his sex appeal even more for some reason.

(However, I did find out recently that Amelia Heinle is actually Thad's wife off-screen, and they really did have a baby together, which is very sweet and wonderful for them. It made me appreciate their television relationship more.)
But in the wake of losing JT as my Y&R hot young stud, I've been struggling to find a new man to replace him. At first, I thought it was going to be Cane (played by Daniel Goddard), Jill Abbott's long-lost son who returned last season. Cane's got the whole tall-dark-n-handsome thing going on, and his Australian accent is delicious. But they've sent Cane down the road as a corporate suit as well, which isn't my cup of tea when it comes to the Y&R evidently.
There's also Kevin Fisher (Greg Rikaart), who plays Michael Baldwin's younger brother. He's easy on the eyes as well, but he's got this crazy girlfriend Janna who could go off her rocker at any time, and he's always in cahoots with his loony-tunes mother, Gloria. Kind of a turn-off.
So for the past two weeks, I've had my eye on Daniel Romalotti (Michael Graziadei), Phyllis' son. I'm not sure why, but up until recently, he didn't impress me much. In fact, I found him kind of annoying. He had the teenage marriage to Lily Winters, and then he had the storyline where he became obsessed with porn, which eventually ended his & Lily's relationship. Then, last month, he had this terrible blonde, fluffy hair-do that made him look like a baby chick or something.
But in the past few weeks, he's back to short, dark hair and his smoky, sexy gaze has attracted me. They've sort of got him working towards becoming a photographer, which is pretty hot, and he's started this racy relationship with his best friend, the tantalizingly dangerous Amber Moore. It was in one of his love scenes with Amber that I realized the boy has a pretty nice body to boot.
So that's it: I'm officially declaring Daniel my new Y&R crush! And for the first time in a long time, I can actually say I'm looking forward to watching the show again to see what's going to happen with Daniel. Who knows, maybe he'll take his shirt off tonight.
And it also doesn't hurt that Nick, JT, Cane, and Kevin are all still hanging out in Genoa City too. At least I know if Daniel doesn't work out for me, I have lots of hot stuff to fall back on. ;)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow Jill, that was a steamy blog with all the hotness picures plastered up.

It seems that you are back in the spirit... just in time for the Turf Farm to get busy...

I don't watch the Y & R. Just Coronation Street... have yet to see a Blog on it.

PK don't you wish Eileen would just go for the Kebob guy! That Pat guy is gross... like he makes me want to hurl!

And I feel bad for Hailey at the factory. Hopefully that dope Liam will come back.

And I am hoping for the best for Leanne.

Jill said...

haha...Well, I knew if people didn't like the Y&R they could at least look at the pictures!!

Hoping to keep the blog going a little more regularly...With playoffs coming up, I should have plenty to write about!!

Anonymous said...

Lets hope it's plenty of good to blog about.

Anonymous said...

Out of those guys you mentioned Cane is my favourite. He used to be on a show called Beastmaster, Jeremy used to watch it years ago. He would run through the forest wearing nothing but a skimpy little -umm skirt? I don't know what you would call it, loincloth maybe? It was kind of a stupid show, he could talk to the animals and there was magic and stuff. I knew he looked familiar when he first came on the show, so I read his bio and it mentioned Beastmaster. Now for the important stuff - Coronation Street! And I am also waiting for a blog about the street. I agree with you Sharon that Eileen should be with the other guy. Pat talks funny and he has really bad teeth. And as if she would sleep with him on their what 2nd date? She doesn't even know the guy, he could be a weirdo. Liam does come back sometime and end up with Maria, but who knows if the factory will continue. I think the restaurant won't work out for Leanne. And the employees didn't look too impressed with her last night.

Anonymous said...

Yeah the employees are giving her a hard time because they are jealous that she has all the responsibility.

Yeah I know, that's the first thing I thought of when I saw him was UGH look at the teeth on him... and then she was all googoo gaa gaa over him! BARF!

I guess it's different on Coronation Street... Men aren't so hot and teeth aren't a priority.

Oh and I think it would be so neat if Violet and Sean have a baby together. Obviously it will be an immculate conception, I can't see them getting in the sack together... but it will be IVF for sure. But the baby would be so cute.

Speaking of cute babies, I just saw Luc's on facebook. What a doll! Shout out to the new parents on the block!

Anonymous said...

Obviously after watching last night's show you know Violet and Sean are going to sleep together. Have you been reading any of the updates? Apparently she sleeps with Jamie too and there's a mix-up with who the father is, but it turns out to be Sean. Then I think Jamie and Violet run off together and Sean is stuck with the baby or something.

Anonymous said...

I loved your take on the men of Y&R! I personally love Michael G. and will miss him while he's off filming his new movie!