“The Young and the Restless’” Hunter King (Summer Newman) didn’t win this year’s Emmy for Outstanding Younger Actress for nothing: Her storyline has been chock full of exciting ups and downs — and according to the actress, it’s only going to get crazier as the summer continues!
Fans may be a bit hesitant about Summer’s decision to loose her virginity to Austin (Matthew Atkinson) of all people, and they may be even more surprised by the youngster’s decision to marry Paul’s shooter, but King says it’s all pretty natural, where her alter ego is concerned. “I think she’s just been feeling really lonely and Austin is the one person that understands 100 percent what she’s going through, so she finds a lot of comfort in that,” the actress explains. “And she might not want to admit that she’s doing this because she’s lonely and she’s scared and doesn’t have her mom, [but she’s also] really in love with him, and I think it’s a little bit of that mixed in with the rest as well.”
As for choosing to finally lose her V-card, King blames Phyllis’ absence! “Girls, when they like someone, they think that they’re going to marry them, and they’re in love with them, like, ‘This is the guy!’” she says. “So I think she’s being a little immature about it, but at the same time, she’s 19 — and she doesn’t have her mom to ask her questions, so it’s going to happen!”
However, with Phyllis (Gina Tognoni) set to wake from her coma and return to the screen on Monday, August 11, Summer will be able to ask her mom questions — and the other way around! “I am really excited for the scenes coming up,” King enthuses. “As a fan of the show and as Summer, we’ve been waiting so long for Summer to have a mom, so I’m so excited to play the emotions that come with those scenes coming up.”
Especially because, as the actress teases, it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out about Nick (Joshua Morrow) being Summer’s real father, as opposed to Jack (Peter Bergman), whom everyone assumes is her dad. “Phyllis is the only one, besides Sharon (Sharon Case), who knows that Nick is her real father,” King reminds. “But Sharon is going through the whole, ‘I don’t remember anything’ phase, so either Sharon is going to say it, or Phyllis is going to say it. I’m assuming that Phyllis will remember that. And hopefully, it won’t be a year or two from now!”
Also on the horizon is Phyllis’ reaction to her little girl marrying a guy like Austin, a situation which King says will most likely lead to trouble. “Hopefully it’s not a mistake [that she married him], but you never know,” she teases. “It’s a soap opera, so I’m assuming something will be coming up… Things can’t always be perfect in la la land, so I assume something will come along and bulldoze their relationship. We’ll see!”