Home » 4 Shocking New Romances on the Rise Rock The Young and the Restless—Who Are You Shipping?

4 Shocking New Romances on the Rise Rock The Young and the Restless—Who Are You Shipping?

Four new Y&R romances are heating up Genoa City. But are you shipping Kyle and Victoria, Nick and Marie, Phyllis and Matt, or Nate and Stephanie?

Michael Thomas

September 5, 2026

4–6 minutes

Kyle Abbott, Marie Kirkland, Nate Hastings, Nick Newman, Stephanie Simmons, Victoria Newman

Soap operas over the years have served us up quite the “love in the afternoon” to remember. We’ve had supercouples, just-okay couples, “let’s try this” couples, and plenty of pairings that left us wondering what the heck the writers were thinking. The Young and the Restless—which has been on the air for just a little over 53 years—is no stranger to this.

In fact, in recent months, the CBS daytime drama has been teasing us with chemistry tests and some new couples on the rise.

Just take a look at Kyle Abbott and Victoria Newman.

Or maybe Nick Newman and Marie Kirkland.

If not them, there’s Phyllis Summers and Matt Clark.

And the most recent pairing of them all is Nate Hastings and Dr. Stephanie Simmons.

So, let’s talk about all four.

Key Takeaways

Phyllis and Matt have taken their chemistry behind closed doors.
Kyle and Victoria are having a secret affair.
Nick and Marie have become dangerously attached.
Nate and Stephanie have crossed the line with a kiss.
But which couple actually works?

Let’s Talk About the Matt of It All on Young and the Restless

young and the restless couple matt and phyllis — Michelle Stafford, Roger Howarth – “The Young and the Restless” by © Howard Wise/jpistudios

Phyllis Summers and Matt Clark first connected at the Genoa City Athletic Club, where they shared drinks and bonded over being lonely outsiders.

Matt was dealing with amnesia and didn’t fully recognize his own dangerous past. During their meeting, he played a flirty little game and indirectly asked Phyllis out by telling her a story about a man with no memory asking a woman on a date.

Phyllis was initially confused and hesitant, especially given Matt’s history with the Newmans.

But the two quickly found common ground as town pariahs and soon gave in to their chemistry.

Now, Phyllis has made quite a number of questionable choices—and she’s certainly had her share of questionable romances over the years.

But is Matt Clark the most questionable of them all?

Because Phyllis and Matt have upgraded from kissing to hitting the sheets and secretly meeting at motels.

That’s a pretty big step.

Now Let’s Talk About the New-Man of It All

young and restless kyle and victoria — Amelia Heinle as Victoria and Michael Mealor as Kyle on Young and the Restless.

A Newman and an Abbott having a rendezvous? That’s not exactly strange territory in Genoa City.

We could roll out a whole list of other people who’ve done it, but today we’re focusing on Kyle and Victoria.

These two have crossed the line from unexpected allies into a passionate, secret affair.

Just like Matt and Phyllis, Kyle and Victoria were not exactly on our bingo card romantically. Not until we saw the show putting them in plenty of scenes together.

That’s when our soap intelligence kicked in. We knew something was coming. We just didn’t know exactly when. What we did know was that it was probably going to happen sooner rather than later.

And it did.

Just like Matt and Phyllis, Kyle and Victoria have upgraded from kissing to having sex to meeting secretly at a motel.

Imagine when this comes to light. It should take a number of people by surprise.

After all, Victoria almost became Kyle’s stepmother when he asked Claire to marry him (and she said no)—but that’s another story for another day!

Now Let’s Talk About the Other New-Man of It All

Nick and Marie on young and restless — Joshua Morrow as Nick and Jade Harlow as Marie on Y&R.

Nick Newman has been long overdue for some romance.

He’s also been long overdue for some bedtime—with a woman. But we did not think it was going to be some woman we’d never met and never heard of.

Enter Marie Kirkland. Nick broke out of a luxury rehab facility and went to a cheap motel to use drugs alone. That’s where he encountered Marie Kirkland. The two shared fentanyl, became intimate, and have been inseparable ever since.

So much so that Nick tried to take the fall for Marie when she accidentally killed her own husband, Logan Kirkland.

That’s quite the foundation for a romance.

But this is Genoa City, so apparently we’re just going with it.

And Now Let’s Talk About the Haste-ings of It All

Sean Dominic as Nate and Vivica A. Fox as Stephanie on Y&R.

Stephanie, played by Vivica A. Fox, has actually known Nate Hastings since he was a child because she’s a longtime friend of his mother, Olivia Winters.

So we have another older-woman-younger-man pairing on the list.

After Stephanie returned to Genoa City, she and Nate connected at the GCAC, where they discovered their mutual connection through Olivia and their shared love of medicine.

That connection kept them constantly in each other’s orbit.

Nate even recommended Stephanie for the position of Chief of Staff at Genoa City Memorial—and she got it.

Fast-forward a bit, and Stephanie has become one of Nate’s strongest supporters as he tries to get back into the medical field.

That growing connection recently left us with the two of them sharing a kiss right there in Nate’s apartment. On the couch. Ouch.

Oh no, not “ouch”—it’s officially heating up!