Fri Jan 26, 2024: Today on Young and Restless, Traci takes a leap of faith for Ashley, Victoria leans on Nate, and Diane pushes Nikki’s buttons.
Thursday’s recap: Devon learns that Daniel is cheating on Lily with Heather
(This day ahead recap episode airs in the USA on Jan 26. Expect spoilers! Recaps go live by 4:15 PM EST daily.)
Crimson Lights
At Crimson Lights, Esther congratulates Diane on her new co-CEO role.
Diane thanks her and says now, she has to prove herself.
Esther thinks she’s doing it with a lovely smile.
They agree doing what you like is important.
Nikki arrives and tells Esther it’s good to see her. “Diane,” she says, unsmiling.
Esther goes off to get some cupcakes for Diane’s big day and Diane asks how Nikki is.
Nikki assumes Jack told her everything but calls it none of her business. She gets tea and goes outside.
Diane follows and tells the blonde that Jack cares about her very much and never said anything to her.
Just that she went through a terrible ordeal that made her go places she thought she’d escaped.
Nikki tells her that her sobriety was compromised.
Diane thinks it sounds complicated.
Nikki reminds her of the night she pretended to die and Diane laughs, reminding Nikki she wasn’t so innocent, either.
“You hit me with a rock hard enough to think you’d killed me!”
Nikki says look at them now. She assumes Diane is judging her.
Diane knows Jack’s helping her and though they’re not friends, she’s fine with it.
Esther swings by to see if they’re okay.
They reassure her and she leaves.
Diane sits at Nikki’s table and says things don’t need to be contentious.
Diane is sorry if she’s struggling and can’t imagine how painful it is.
Jack will be in her corner but she can’t imagine Victor will like it.
Nikki was waiting for the real Diane to show up and thins she’ll hold it over her head.
Diane says no, she just wanted to tell her she hopes she gets to the other side of this.
Nikki reluctantly thanks the brunette and says that’s kind of her to say.
She won’t betray her trust or Jack’s. She boasts about being co-CEO and Nikki congratulates her. She wasted no time.
Diane says she was surprised Jack didn’t choose Kyle.
Nikki says yeah, even though Kyle’s been with the company for years and knows it inside out.
Diane sighs. She’d have been happy if father and son ran the company side by side.
Nikki thinks Diane manipulated Jack into the job. She mocks the woman. Diane’s incensed. “I just wished you well and you couldn’t wait to insult me.”
Nikki says she’s right. “I shouldn’t have said it.” Diane thinks she’ll have to embrace herself for more backlash.
She’s glad Jack’s supportive and asks them to keep the common ground. Nikki wishes her well on her endeavor and excuses herself.
CBS
Audra’s room, Athletic Club
In her room at the Athletic Club, Nate assumes she thinks they have potential.
She leans in and touches his tie and tells him she’s rarely wrong about it.
Someone arrives and she tells him not to move.
They’re not finished. She gets the door to Tucker.
He questions what they’re doing and she tells him to mind his business.
She reluctantly gives him five minutes, so Nate takes off, agreeing to meet later for a drink.
Tucker grins, knowing what he walked in on. She’s up to something.
She brushes him off and he says he’s done with Ashley and wants to put his energy into Glissade and Audra.
Audra thinks it sounds convincing but she’s been around addicts before.
Tucker says Ashley will never change and he doesn’t want to lose Audra.
This is it for him. “It’s all there and ours for the taking,” he says.
Audra claims it’s too late but Tucker wants to be with her.
She says what she wants doesn’t seem to be an issue.
He’s sure that she wants him. They belong together.
It’s always been there. “In your dreams,” she says.
He asks her not to pull away and to just say yes but Audra knows he doesn’t want her.
He’s looking for a win but she won’t be a woman someone settles for.
Tucker insists that’s not who she is to him.
He always gets a spring in his step and a smile on his face when he sees her. His heart races and he’s taken it for granted.
Audra says what he needs or wants isn’t in her and she needs to look out for herself. She tells him to leave.
Once he goes, she heads to the door, about to open it. She second-guesses herself and grabs her bag and goes.
The Abbott mansion
Jack finds Ashley at home. She tells him she’s taking the jet to Paris to get some answers.
He asks if it’s about Tucker and she doesn’t want to answer his questions.
He says it’s been months of this mess. Why is she dignifying his insinuations?
He calls Tucker a liar but she worries she’s one.
She needs to prove to herself she isn’t lying by taking her power back.
Jack reminds her that she said she was done with him.
She knows but she needs to follow through.
Jack claims this is a weakness but she feels she’s being proactive.
She thinks it’s what she needs to get him out of her system.
She needs to go back to that restaurant and find out if anyone else saw him berating her.
Jack tries to talk her out of it but she vows not to disappear in Paris.
She’ll get what she needs and return stronger than ever.
She loves him.
She grabs the luggage and goes, leaving Jack more worried.
Traci appears with tea and frustration fills his voice as he tells her their sister left on a wild goose chase for Paris.
“That was quick,” Traci says, causing Jack to be upset that she knew.
Traci thinks this is a good thing — a rational decision but Jack is worried about their sister.
She’s spinning and has been obsessing over this for months.
They argue and he asks his sister not to let Ashley do anything she’ll regret.
Athletic Club dining room
Nate finds Victoria in the dining room at the Athletic Club.
They talk about how Nikki’s been doing and her struggle.
She wants to help her but doesn’t know how.
Nate’s sure she’s a comfort anyway.
He offers to listen if she needs him.
She smiles widely in thanks. He asks how Claire is.
She smiles and he says he’d love to hear more about her. She talks about the new discoveries.
They’re sure Claire will find her way.
Victoria thanks him for listening to her the last time they spoke.
Cole drops by and the men are introduced.
Each man has heard a lot about the other. They shake hands.
Once Nate’s gone, Cole asks how long they dated.
She’s surprised he knew. He says it was written on their faces.
She reveals what happened and calls Nate a good man.
They discuss Claire and Cole’s good news.
She’s allowed to walk around the grounds and he says it was wonderful to see her smile when she spoke about pediatrics.
They agree it’ll take baby steps for her to get to good things.
Neil Winters Lounge
Audra finds Nate waiting for her. They call Tucker a big talker, a dreamer.
Nate thinks she’s the only one he counts on, which can be a burden and a compliment. She scoffs. He asks if it happens a lot.
She asks if he wants a partnership and if he’ll leave Chancellor-Winters once she takes control of Glissade.
Nate lets out a short laugh, thinking she’s dreaming.
Tucker’s board members are a bunch of lapdogs. She can’t undermine that. She calls Nate a beautiful genius. She needs a page from his playbook.
Related Links:
Let SoapsSpoilers notify you of new posts
Mishael Morgan (Amanda) returns
Jabot
Jack storms into Jabot and starts to rant to Diane about Ashley’s trip to Paris.
He explains how she wants to question the waitstaff at the cafe about the scene Tucker made.
Diane sides with Ashley but Jack worries the man is controlling her.
Taking advantage of her. Why can’t she see this? She’s a brilliant woman. “Why can’t she stop herself?”
Diane says she pulled herself out from under Tucker and is gathering the facts so she can “shove them down his throat.”
Jack’s shocked his wife is defending Ashley. Diane laughs.
Abbott jet
Ashley puts on her seatbelt on the Abbott jet.
She flashes back to Tucker blowing up at the cafe and then to talking to him about how Tucker claims she doesn’t like to commit.
She recalls him suggesting that she head over to Paris and talk to them about what really happened.
Ashley’s surprised when Traci sits in the seat next to hers.
Ashley asks if she’s trying to stop her but no, Traci loves her sister as does Jack and she’ll be with her every step of the way.
They clutch hands and grin at one another.
Newman Media
Nikki arrives at work and sits at her desk before Audra comes in with numbers from the Asian market.
Nikki’s distracted so Audra offers to take whatever she needs off her plate.
Nikki barks that she can take care of it herself.
Audra’s about to go when Nikki tells her not to “scurry off.”
Nikki says she’s not going to break. Audra knows.
Nikki wishes she didn’t tell her about her problem.
Next week on Y&R!
Nikki says, “My whole life is spiraling out of control and I have no idea how to fix this.”
Jack says, “Woah, woah, woah. We’ll fix this. As a matter of fact, I have an idea.”
Summer and Chance are on their first date. Summer says, “Something has lifted with me. I feel…lighter.”
Chance lifts his tea cup. “Cheers to that.”
Nate and Audra sit at Society. Her arms are crossed over her chest.
Nate says, “You didn’t quit, did you? Nikki fired you.”
In Victor’s office, Victor says, “My security team called me last night and told me that there was a huge fire at the institution where Jordan’s incarcerated.”
Nick looks from his dad to Victoria.
Victoria says, “Meaning that Jordan could be dead or she could be out there again, ready to do God knows what.”
Have you joined SoapsSpoilers in our Facebook groups yet? Chat with other like-minded soap fans in our groups, dedicated to recaps, spoilers, rumors, gossip and comings and goings. Check out Official Bold and Beautiful Lovers, as well as Official Days of our Lives Lovers, our Official General Hospital Soaps Spoilers group in addition to our Young and Restless Canadian Day Ahead Recaps Facebook group.