If you tuned into the last couple of minutes of “The Young and the Restless” on Wednesday, March 23, you would have either been shocked or questioning the relevance of the scene as “Taylor Jensen” walked in, appearing as the potential buyer of Allie’s (Kelsey Wang) house. Depending on how long you’ve been watching the daytime drama series your eyes probably popped out seeing someone that looked very familiar or you didn’t think too much of what was happening. Either way, the entrance will have rippling effects on what’s to come in Genoa City in the weeks and months ahead.
First things first: “Taylor Jensen” is really Diane Jenkins in disguise. The character last appeared on the soap in 2011 as played by Maura West (now appearing as Ava Jerome on “General Hospital”). Ironically, at the time Diane was embroiled in the center of a murder mystery arc for which she was the victim, making her return to the canvas with Susan Walters reprising the role very mysterious. When Walters was asked about that in an interview with TV Insider she said, “‘Yeah. Wasn’t me who died.” So does that mean the show will be ignoring that story altogether? We’ll soon find out as the story progresses.
Note: Walters played the part from 2001-2004 and briefly returned in early 2010 before West took over later that year.
Leading up to the big reveal, the soap shared a promo last week that told viewers to “brace yourself” as a woman is shown texting Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman). Now revealed to be Diane, Walters says her return to the soap was a surprise. “You know how voice texts can mispronounce words? I got one that said, ‘Hey, this is Tony Morina from ‘Wine Art’—not ‘Y&R.’ I didn’t pay much attention to it as Tony [‘Y&R’s executive producer] wasn’t there 20 years ago when I joined, but we had met since,” recalls Walters to TV Insider of the initial call she received asking her to reprise the role. “At first I ignored it, but then I listened to the message. I told Tony later, ‘What if I hadn’t listened to that message?!’ He said, ‘Well, we would have reached out to you again.’”
Thankfully that didn’t happen and now Diane is here to stay!
Check out the promo below as the soap briefly recaps Diane’s bad girl history, particularly in her dealings with Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford).