Exclusive: The Young and the Restless' Joshua Morrow Talks About Nick's Shocking Daddy Issues

He did whaat? Fans of CBS's The Young and the Restlessjust found out that good guy Nick Newman — played by longtime fan fave Joshua Morrow — is capable of heartless deceit. Yes, it seems our Nick has known for years that he might not be the biological father of his beloved teen daughter Summer (Hunter King), and he's kept that knowledge from the kid, her mother, Phyllis (Michelle Stafford), and Jack (Peter Bergman), the other possible dad. TV Guide Magazine spoke with Morrow about this messy development. Has his character been trashed forever? Or is there a sly way out of this?

TV Guide Magazine: Great story twist, but this is so not Nick. How can he justify what he's done?
Morrow: It really worried me when I heard they were taking my character in a direction that was potentially evil. Nick takes being a father very seriously. It means the world to him. How could he deny another man the right to parent his own child? All those lost years! I expressed my concern about that but [head writer] Josh Griffith and [exec producer] Jill Phelps said, "We have a way of telling this story that won't make it as dastardly as it seems."

TV Guide Magazine: Which is?
Morrow: By making it clear that, in Nick's heart, he didn't do anything wrong. He was so distraught about the death of his daughter Cassie that when the paternity test for Summer came back corrupted and inconclusive — something he shared with no one — he just couldn't bear the thought of losing Summer, too. He refused to do another test. He was that sure she was his, and that much in denial. He's lived with it for so long it became the truth. But there is definitely deception happening and that's so out of character for Nick. Hopefully, the audience will understand that he really needed Phyllis' little girl to be his. He needed to raise another daughter to replace the one he lost. He needed it for his sanity.

TV Guide Magazine: Did you have much warning about this?
Morrow: Not really, but that's the way I like it. [Laughs] I'm not Michael Muhney [Adam] who needs to know his story six months in advance! I firmly believe that knowing too much too soon can color your performance in a not good way. I just don't want to know until I need to know. And then you just roll with it. There have been other times over the years where they handed me a story and I was like, "Really?" But you just strap it on like a football helmet and go.

TV Guide Magazine: So Nick would have gone on forever with this secret if Summer hadn't developed the hots for Kyle?
Morrow: Yeah, probably. But now he's freaking out because there's a good likelihood that Summer and Kyle are brother and sister. He's gone flippin' crazy over it, beating his chest, threatening Kyle, grounding Summer. People don't know what to think. Even our producer, Tony Morina, came out of the booth and said, "It's nice seeing Nick a little unhinged but he's like, weird, man!" [Laughs] He feels weird to me, too!

TV Guide Magazine: How bad will this get? The truth's gotta come out, right?
Morrow: Finally the guilt is too much and Nick, unbeknownst to anyone, does another paternity test using hair from Summer's hairbrush, and that comes back 99.9 percent conclusive. There's big trouble if the baby is Jack's. Obviously it would affect so many people — Summer, Kyle, Faith, Sharon. It would be very far-reaching. [Laughs] It'll probably send Nikki back to the booze but that's the way we like her — a little sauced. But no matter how it turns out, Phyllis will be furious. Hell hath no fury like the Red Tornado in an uproar. [Laughs] I think there may be carnage. 

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