Diane Jenkins
Actor History
Alex Donnelley (1982 to 1986; 1996 to February 14, 2001)
Susan Walters (November 29, 2001 to October 4, 2004; February 26, 2010); March 1, 2010)
Maura West October 8, 2010 to Present
Nicknames
None
Occupation
Former in-house architect for Newman Enterprises
Formerly employed with Kline and Edwin Architects, Toronto, Canada
Worked in South America for a year
Formerly an architect with her own business
Briefly worked for Drucilla Winters as consultant at Newman Enterprises
Former decorator/investor in Jabot Cosmetics
Former Newman Enterprises Board Member
Former Jabot Lead Model
Resides At
Genoa City Athletic Club with Adam Newman
Marital Status
Single
Past Marriages
Andy Richards [Married: 1984; Divorced: 1986]
Victor Newman [Married: 1997; Divorced: 1999]
Victor Newman [Married: Mar 11, 2011; annulled]
Relatives
Kyle Jenkins (father)
Unknown Name Jenkins (mother)
Children
Kyle Jenkins (son born Jan 8, 2001; artificially inseminated with Jack Abbott's sperm)
Flings & Affairs
Jack Abbott
Brad Carlton (deceased)
Andy Richards
Nick Newman
Victor Newman
Maladies and Hospitalizations
Hospitalized with bleeding ulcer 1997
Crimes Committed
Claimed to be Victor's wife to steal Victor Newman's sperm sample from Robertson Labs
All evidence points to her having set the Abbott pool house on fire - was never prosecuted
Brief Character History
During his playboy years, Jack Abbott was known to have a fling with nearly all the Jabot models. Initially, Diane allowed herself to be pursued by Jack because she believed it would increase her chances of becoming Jabot's top model. A night in bed together was always followed by a morning pressuring Jack for the Lead Model job. But Diane fell hopelessly in love with Jack, and began to delude herself that she would end up Mrs. Jack Abbott. But Jack decided to marry young and innocent Patty Williams in an effort to show his father he'd finally "grown up." His sister, Ashley, found Jack was in bed with Diane when he was late for his wedding to Patty.
Diane continued seeing him even after his marriage, then threatened to tell Patty if she didn't get that Lead Model job at Jabot. So Jack gave her the lead for the summer, but in time, Julia Newman was instead appointed spokesperson for Jabot's new line of products. When a pregnant Patty was prompted by the scheming Jill to visit Jack at his office, she found him making love to Diane. She was so traumatized that she tripped over a plant in the lobby, and later miscarried.
After her recovery Patty told Jack she wanted another baby, and to move out of the Abbott Mansion into their own house. When she later overheard Jack making plans for a vasectomy, and telling Jill he only married Patty so John would make him president of Jabot, Patty shot Jack three times. The shooting left Jack temporarily paralyzed, though he eventually recovered. Patty had lost any memory of the shooting or what led to it until Jack and her psychiatrist forced her to remember by reenacting the shooting. Once she remembered, she left Jack and divorced him.
Diane, finally realizing that Jack would never commit to her, became involved with Andy Richards, partner in the Paul Williams Detective Agency. At first, Diane embraced the simple and uncomplicated life Andy offered. But several months into their marriage, Diane was tempted by Jack again and had an affair. Thinking that a gift Jack had for her was an engagement ring, Diane informed Andy that she wanted a divorce. But the gift turned out to be a bracelet and an admission that Jack would never commit to her.
Diane left Genoa City for Europe. While there, Diane realized she actually loved Andy. She returned to Genoa City to tell him, but discovered he was engaged to Faren Connor. Diane considered fighting for Andy but, seeing them together, gave up the idea and left Genoa City. Andy and Faren were married and soon expecting a baby, but their world fell apart after Faren miscarried, and turned out to be an amnesiac named Michelle Sanderson, with a husband, Evan, and child, Betsy, in Pittsburgh. Faren/Michelle regained her memory and returned to her family. But after Evan's lover, Janet, murdered Evan, Andy joined his new family in Pittsburgh.
Ten years later, Diane returned to Genoa City a well-respected architect, admitting her marriage to Andy had ended in divorce. Jack Abbott, who had also gone through several changes in his own personal life, including two marriages, was excited to see Diane again. But Diane's memories made her mistrust Jack. To see Diane on a regular basis, Jack hired her to design a lake home for him. Ashley was livid that Jack and Diane were seeing each other again. She tried to pressure Diane into staying away from Jack, but thanks to Jack's continual persuasion and romantic overtures, Diane admitted to Jack that she still had strong feelings for him. They rekindled their romance and eventually became engaged.
Then Victor Newman decided to begin romancing Diane, originally to get back at Jack, but ended up falling for her. Victor offered Diane a top-secret assignment to design the new Newman Towers, and mesmerized her with lavish gifts. Diane's feelings were once again in a state of confusion. Victor stole Diane away on business, proposed on the jet, and they were married in Nevada, and honeymooned in the Greek Islands.
The marriage was going well, and Diane decided she wanted a baby. Victor countered that notion by having a vasectomy behind her back, at the suggestion of his former wife Nikki, but made a deposit at a sperm bank prior to the procedure. Diane was furious when she found out about the vasectomy. Then Nikki was shot by her new husband Josh's former wife. Victor arranged with Diane for a quickie divorce so he was free to remarry Nikki on her deathbed, so Nikki could die happy.
The plan was for Diane and Victor to remarry after Nikki's death. But Nikki lived. Due to his divorce from Diane being declared illegal, the marriage to Nikki was voided. A legal divorce was gotten from Diane, and a new wedding to Nikki was being planned. Diane was bent on revenge for being used and made a fool. Victor ended up having to give her a board seat at Newman to get her to settle the divorce.
Diane, still living alone in Victor's penthouse at Newman Towers, intercepted Victor's notice from Robertson Labs saying the renewal time was due on his sperm deposit. Diane decided to steal the sample to become pregnant with the baby he had deprived her. Diane, posing as "Mrs. Victor Newman," showed up at the lab with Victor's answer to the notice. She had purchased the appropriate freezer and arranged to have the deposit delivered to the penthouse where she kept it in the closet of a locked room. Both Ashley and Nikki found out that Diane had the deposit, and Michael and Brad knew about it too.
Ashley looked for and found an old key to the penthouse. One day Diane walked in to find Nikki leaving, clutching a large tote bag. Diane later discovered the freezer unplugged and was furious that Nikki had beat her at her own game. About a month later, the sperm was mysteriously returned to Robertson Labs. Diane intercepted another letter stating, to her shock, that the sperm sample was back at the lab. She quickly went to a doctor who had the sample checked out, and she was artificially inseminated. After the baby's birth, she told Victor the boy was his, and he insisted on DNA tests. Diane was shocked to learn the test showed her baby, Christian Victor Newman, was not Victor's child after all. Soon afterward, Diane left town with her baby.
It was later disclosed that Nikki, with the help of Jack, had employed a detective's operative to get into Robertson Labs and switch the sperm samples to thwart Diane. But Nikki's attempt to help Victor resulted in Jack being the father when the man grabbed Jack's deposit as the nearest sample to replace Victor's. Nikki discovered this and was torn over whether to tell Jack he was a father -- especially since he was happily married to Phyllis and they were trying to have a baby of their own. So she decided to track down Diane in Milan to determine if Diane was a good mother. Diane proved to be a great mother, but Nikki was even more torn when she returned to the news that Phyllis could not have children. About that time, Diane, suspicious over Nikki's surprise visit, returned to Genoa City with her baby, renamed Kyle Jenkins after Diane's father, and his nurse, Graziella.
The discovery that Jack's stored sperm had fathered Diane Jenkins' baby, Kyle, was the turning point for the happy couple. Nikki finally told Jack he already had the baby he'd always wanted to raise in Kyle. Phyllis was torn between supporting Jack as he sued for sole custody of his son, and wanting the scheming Diane out of their lives. Phyllis went to friend and former lover, Attorney Michael Baldwin, for help, but refused his suggestion to throw the case by her testimony. Diane also approached Michael to represent her on the case.
Torn between two friends, Michael decided to bow out and let female lawyer Sydney handle the case. Once Phyllis was on the witness stand, though, Michael knew he had to take over the questioning and save both his friends. He badgered Phyllis about her former life and being declared an unfit mother so her own child, Daniel, was taken from her, until she broke down and blew the case. Phyllis was furious with Michael when Jack lost custody, but Diane retained her child, and Phyllis was free from Diane. Or so she thought.
Diane, plotting to get Jack by using Kyle, moved into the Abbott pool house. Phyllis and Diane began playing tricks on each other, Phyllis made sure the pipes broke and flooded the guest room when Diane threatened to move inside the house, and Diane assured her stay in the pool house with a broken leg by jumping behind Phyllis' SUV as she was backing up. Phyllis walked out when Jack wouldn't take her side, but she returned when her alter ego supplied her with a new plan. Jack agreed to her ground rules concerning Diane: Diane must not enter the main house, and Jack and Phyllis would spend time with Kyle together, not with Diane.
Then, the evening of the Newman wedding, the Abbott pool house burned down and the police called it arson. Diane said she was asleep by sleeping pill and barely managed to escape. Phyllis said she had left Jack and Kyle at the wedding because of a call that she was needed at Newman. Diane's friend Isabella saw Phyllis stopping at the Abbott mansion about the time of the fire. Phyllis said she had to change her gown after she sat on an ink pen.
Evidence was gathered against Phyllis, and she was indicted for arson and attempted murder. But Phyllis finally convinced Jack that Diane had set her up so that Diane could have him, and they entrapped Diane -- to such lengths that Jack took Diane to bed. Phyllis was acquitted, then found the note that Diane had written to pay a bum to call Phyllis away from the wedding. Jack and Phyllis used it as blackmail to get Diane to turn over custody of Kyle. Andy returned to Genoa City, divorced from Faren, and still nursing that soft spot he had for Diane, and they rekindled their relationship.
Diane used her Newman millions to help bail out financially strapped Jabot with "no strings" and offices at Jabot. Due to the friction caused by Jack working for Jabot and Phyllis working for Newman, Jack eventually gave his son, Kyle, back to Diane. Financially strapped Jabot had apparently let her go, and she was working as a beauty pageant consultant for Drucilla Winters at Newman Enterprises before that project was scrapped. Diane moved to Chicago.
In February 2010, Jack's new wife, Emily, asked Diane to return to Genoa City, to have Jack's son, Kyle, for a visit. By the time Diane and Kyle arrived, Patty Williams had taken Emily's place after putting Emily in a coma. Diane and Patty clashed immediately once Jack left them alone, with Patty having a hard time maintaining the Emily persona while Diane went on about what a nutcase Patty was back when she knew her -- when Diane was Jack's mistress, and his wife, Patty, a mere child. After a short confrontation with Phyllis, Diane and Kyle returned to Toronto, Canada, where they lived.
In October 2010, just as Jack and Phyllis were celebrating their reuniting, the Abbott manor doorbell rang, and there stood Diane. Diane claimed to want Jack to get to know his son, but Phyllis refused to let history repeat itself and warned her she had better not try. After sparring with Victor, seeing Nikki fallen off the wagon, meeting Tucker McCall, and observing Jack and Phyllis apparently quarrelling and non-exclusive, Diane decided it was time to enroll Kyle in school and give life in Genoa City a try once again.
Mid-October 2010, a storm was brewing with a tornado right behind it. Phyllis and Jack took shelter from the storm with family including Summer, Kyle, Daniel, and Abby. When the power went out, they started a fire in the fireplace to roast wieners, popcorn, and marshmallows.
Diane accepted the job working for Tucker, and they went to his place to seal the deal, and ended up in bed. A tornado blew out the windows in Tucker’s apartment, and after they got dressed, Abby and Daniel arrived at the door looking for Ashley. When Ashley arrived awhile later, she overheard Abby tell Daniel that she was sure that Tucker was cheating on her mother. Abby confronted Tucker and Diane, but Ashley sent them home. When Phyllis heard that Diane was staying in town and accepting a job with McCall Unlimited, Phyllis posted a story on the Restless Style website exposing all the dirt on Diane. Once Tucker saw the story, especially that Diane was not a partner in the company she worked for in Toronto, he rescinded his job offer. Diane threatened to expose their one night stand to Ashley if she did not get the job, but Tucker told her to go ahead – no one would believe Diane. Later Diane attacked Phyllis for the article and Jack for apparently condoning it, and Diane told Jack he would never see his son again. While Diane was away desperately looking for work, Kyle read the article, ditched his baby-sitter and went after Jack and Phyllis, demanding to know if his mother had really done all those things. Jack ended up breaking it off with Phyllis while he mended his relationship with his son and Diane, but they would still meet at her place or for dinner. When Jack found a past-due notice for Diane’s room at the Athletic Club, he paid it for her until the end of the year.
Nick ran into Diane at the Athletic Club, they had dinner together, then he took her back to the ranch where they made love in front of the fireplace. But when Victor returned from his trip unexpectedly, Diane sneaked out the back door. Later Diane accepted a job from Victor as in-house architect for Newman, her first project to be the renovation of the ranch house. She also accepted Victor’s invitation for her and Kyle to move into the carriage house, and carried on with Nick after hours. But after Diane was caught by Victor too often at Nick’s, Nick told Diane he wanted to be just friends. Later the same evening, Diane and Victor became lovers again. But unable to resist Nick, she often returned to his bed as well. Victor spotted Diane necking with Nick, so Victor called her away to the Valentines benefit at Gloworm, where he presented a large donation to the puppy love fund and declared Diane the woman in his life while Nick, Nikki, and Deacon looked on. The next day, Diane apologized to Nick and informed him that she had been asked, but was going to refuse Victor's offer to move in. But Nick had seen Diane's true colors, and told her not to refuse on his account, so Diane accepted Victor's offer and moved in with him. When Jack returned to town and discovered that Diane was now living with Victor, he insisted that Kyle live with him.
After his loss at the arbitration hearing, Victor went home a broken man. Not finding Diane, he went to the stables to go for a ride, and found Nikki there preparing to do the same. They commiserated about the verdict and the destruction of their family, and ended up making love in a pile of hay. Diane came looking for Victor, saw them, and left. Later, Nikki and Victor agreed that it was just a one time thing. To help convince himself, Victor told Diane they were flying to Las Vegas on the Newman jet to be married. Diane balked at his assumption and not even being properly proposed to, Victor attempted to make up for it by charming her and a new dress for the occasion, then told her that he would be awaiting her answer on the jet. After Diane got his blessing from her son Kyle, and ran into Nick, and gave one last attempt to be with him instead, Diane met Victor on the jet. They flew to Las Vegas, and with Michael as their witness, were married on the jet. Victor, Diane, and Michael arrived back in Genoa City for a reception at Gloworm, and were met by Lauren and Katherine, the only remaining friends who Victor could invite. Phyllis and Jack later reluctantly dropped off Kyle for the party, and to return to live at the ranch. Fresh from her breakup with Deacon, Nikki walked in looking to drown her sorrows in a drink and discovered the wedding party. She left after making eye contact with Victor, then drank herself to sleep in her room at the athletic club.
A couple months went by, and Victor and Diane enjoyed a convenient relationship. But as always, a family crisis brought Nikki and Victor together when Victoria's adopted baby was taken from her. Commiseration led to their making love. Diane walked in on them, and took a photo of them in bed with her cell phone. Afterward, Nikki felt guilty, but Victor told her that they belonged together. Later Victor told Diane he was getting an annulment. After Victor walked out to go for a horseback ride, Diane smashed the blue and white plate which had been the center of the décor at the ranch forever. Later Michael brought the annulment papers for Diane to sign, giving her a larger settlement than stated in the pre-nup. Nikki stopped drinking again, and was attending AA meetings where she would run into Deacon. When Victor caught Nikki merely having dinner with Deacon, he threw a fit at her and tore up the annulment papers.
After repeated attempts to talk her mother out of marrying Tucker, the day before their wedding, Abby got drunk and trashed the park which was decorated for the wedding before passing out in a fountain. Awakened by a cop, Abby was arrested for vandalism. Victor and Ashley met Abby at the jail, and vowed to let her sit there as a lesson, but Tucker talked her into behaving herself, and she was released. Later a rehearsal dinner was held at Gloworm, where Abby played nice to Tucker's face, but was hatching a plot to expose him as a philanderer to her mother. She sent a text message to Diane from Tucker's phone to meet him at the Abbott cabin, and one to Tucker from Malcolm's phone to meet him there for his bachelor party. After the dinner, Abby, instead of driving her mother home, drove her toward the Abbott cabin. When Ashley realized how drunk Abby was, she attempted to get her to stop the car, but in their struggle, Abby stepped on the accelerator just as Tucker was walking across the road, and was struck by the car. Diane was behind them in her car and was first on the scene to tell the police what she saw – an apparently drunk driver who appeared to purposely run a man down. After the emergency workers pulled Ashley and Abby from the wreckage, Ashley told them that she was driving to protect Abby.
Tucker's condition was critical. With a fractured skull and subdural hematoma, Kay gave permission for surgery to relieve pressure on the brain. Afterward, the doctor reported that they had found another bruise on the brain which caused a coma from which Tucker might not survive. Meanwhile Diane admitted to the detective that she was meeting Tucker, and that Ashley may have found out, so hitting Tucker may not have been accidental. Victor threatened the detective to take no further action, and confronted Diane, calling her a slut and telling her that there would be an annulment with no big settlement. Tucker's attorney, Nelson McGinnis, was called in to announce that Tucker had a living will stating that no extraordinary measures were to be taken to save his life. Kay refused to allow it, but following his instructions, the doctors took him off the ventilator, expecting him to die. But Katherine made Tucker breathe by shear willpower.
When Victor discovered that Diane had made plans for a liaison with Tucker the night before Tucker was marrying Ashley, Victor called her a tramp and said the annulment would no longer make her a rich woman. In fact, their not having been married for a year, invalidated the pre-nup and Diane would get nothing. Victor took back all the gifts he had given Diane, including her engagement ring, presented her with her packed bags, and threw her out. Diane got Jack to take Kyle, and jobless again with nowhere else to go, Diane took Adam up on his offer to be his roommate, knowing it would further infuriate Victor. Before Adam was even aware, Victor had Michael get a court order to keep Adam and Diane from crossing Victor's property to get to Adam's, so they moved to the Athletic Club.
Diane followed Nick and Adam to New Mexico where they went to prove that Sharon's "death" had not been a suicide. Adam stayed, and Nick and Diane made love in her room after they arrived back in Genoa City. But Nick let her know that it was just sex, he still was not interested in furthering their relationship because he could not trust her.
Adam plotted with Diane to keep Victor busy on the day that Newman stock went public while Adam told the world that Victor was dead, so that he could buy shares when the prices fell. Then when Victor let them know he was alive, the stock would rise and Adam would sell and be rich. At the last minute, Diane let Jack in on the plan, so he was poised to do the same. Diane went to the ranch, told Victor that she was pregnant by him, and he demanded a paternity test. As she was about to leave, she faked severe pains, and begged him to accompany her to the hospital in the ambulance. They left after Diane disabled Victor's cell phone. As Victor held Diane's hand in the ambulance, Adam began to execute the plan. Michael heard the newsflash that Victor had had a stroke and died. He tried to phone Victor, but got no answer. Adam in his hotel room and Jack at Gloworm with his laptop each gave the order to buy as soon as the stock price began to fall. Genevieve Atkinson joined Jack and marveling at his stock market skills, slyly accused him of having insider information. After the market closed, Adam, Jack, and Diane met for a champagne celebration of their profits. Victor showed up and told them they would never get away with it. Later after reviewing the facts with Victor, Gus from the F.C.C. determined that stock manipulation could not be proven against Adam, but possibly could be against Diane. After Adam paid Diane off in cash and revealed the trouble that she was in, Diane prepared to leave town, but was caught by Gus who told her that she would be arrested if she tried. Victor filed a lawsuit charging Jack, Adam, and Diane with stock fraud and personally handed each their grand jury summons. But Victor later made a deal with Diane to change her testimony to say that Ashley did not deliberately running down Tucker in exchange for the S.E.C. focusing on Jack and Adam. Diane carried out her part of the bargain, but Victor was unable to keep his. Furious with Adam and Victor for taking advantage of her again, Diane made deal with the D.A. to tell all she knew on Adam and Jack in exchange for immunity, then teamed up with Deacon to bring Adam down. Jack responded to the summons by informing Adam that he was shutting down the Newman Fund, so Adam just convinced their clients to move their investments to his new company, Oak Alley Partners.
