Who is Cole Howard on The Young and the Restless? That’s the question some Y&R fans are asking after the blast from the past popped up this week.
Cole (J. Eddie Peck) showed up at the lake house where Aunt Jordan (Colleen Zenk) and Claire (Hayley Erin) are holding Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) captive.
The last time Cole was on the CBS soap was in 1999 when he left Genoa City for England.
To prepare fans for Cole’s return, Y&R is airing an episode with him front and center from 1993 on Thanksgiving.
However, the episode may raise more questions about Cole than answers.
Let’s take a look at what we know about Cole Howard.
Who is Cole Howard on The Young and the Restless?
Years ago, Victor (Eric Braeden) had an affair with his secretary, Eve Howard (Margaret Mason). Later, she gave birth to baby Charles, whom Victor thought was his, but neither Eve nor Charles were seen for 10 years.
Victor initially wanted nothing to do with Charles, only to eventually change his mind and ask Eve to bring him to town. By the time Eve and Charles, now going by Cole, arrived in Genoa City, Victor was presumed dead and had kept Cole a secret from his family.
Meanwhile, Nikki hired Cole as a stable hand and allowed him to live in the tack house. After Ryan (Scott Reeves) dumped Victoria (then Heather Tom), she set her sights on Cole, only to have him reject her.
Cole had a brief thing for Nikki until Victoria confessed her love for him, and he fell for her, too. Eve tried to stop their Las Vegas wedding because she believed they were half-siblings. Unfortunately, she had a stroke and ended up in a coma.
Later, a not-so-dead Victor returned from Kansas to reveal Cole was his son. Before their marriage was dissolved, Eve died, and a DNA letter was found that determined Victor was not Cole’s father.
Victoria and Cole’s marriage hit a rough patch when he began working with Nikki, and they fell for each other. This prompted Victoria to flirt with Ryan and Victor to meddle to convince his daughter to work on her marriage.
Despite Cole fighting for their marriage, Victoria was rarely home, causing Cole to fall for Ashley (Eileen Davidson) because he was writing a book based on Ashley’s life. Victoria caught Ashley and Cole kissing.
Baby Eve and goodbye Cole
Once Victoria found out about Cole and Ashley, he left her and proposed to Ashley. Then, in true soap opera fashion, Victoria got pregnant and tried to pass the baby off as Neil’s (Kristoff St. John).
Cole didn’t buy it for a minute and stood by Victoria’s side throughout her pregnancy, even though she was with Neil then. Sadly, baby Eve had to be delivered prematurely and died. They named the little girl Eve in honor of Cole’s mother.
Baby Eve’s death led to Cole marrying Ashley, but Victoria couldn’t get over Cole. Victoria tried to seduce him when Ashley was out of town, leading Cole to follow Ashley to Europe and Victoria to follow him.
Once they were all back in Genoa City, Ashley announced she wanted Cole’s baby. The pressure was too much for Cole, who divorced her and left town to be a professor at Oxford.
Yes, Cole has quite the history with the Newman and Abbott families. As for what brings Cole back to the show, The Young and the Restless rumor mill is buzzing that Claire is baby Eve.
Be sure to tune in to find out if that’s true.
The Yong and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS.