‘The Young &the Restless’ star talks decades of love, battling Victor and blowing up Abbott Thanksgivings
Many The Young and the Restless viewers thought there was something fishy about the sudden tension between Jack and Diane, and portrayer Peter Bergman is not surprised. The soap star celebrating 35 years in Genoa City today has learned it’s a “big mistake” to underestimate the audience. As onscreen son Kyle fumes over his parents’ recent scheme and the Abbott family comes together for an enlightening Thanksgiving dinner, Bergman feels ever grateful for his decades of playing Jack Abbott on The Young and the Restless.
Here, the three-time Daytime Emmy-winner who has also been nominated too many times to count gets candid with Woman’s World about falling in love on The Young and the Restless, battling with Eric Braeden’s Victor Newman, and how he almost walked away from the role of a lifetime after his decade on All My Children.
Peter Bergman thanks Debbi Morgan for Jack Abbott: ‘One of the great roles in daytime’ Having joined the soap world in 1979, Peter Bergman’s most famous line may just be, “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV” and he’s still remembered for playing half of All My Children’s first super couple, Cliff and Nina—but the veteran soap star is best known for his run as The Young and the Restless Jack Abbott, an opportunity he initially turned down. “They were asking if I was interested in auditioning to replace an actor, and replacements didn’t do terribly well on All My Children,” Bergman explains. “And I wasn’t sure I wanted to move to Los Angeles. “I was also a bit of a student of daytime television,” he adds. “I watched a lot of the other shows, but The Young sand the Restless aired opposite All My Children. Back then, we couldn’t watch more than one show. So why would I watch that? I wasn’t interested.” Thankfully, the third time The Young and the Restless called, his costar Debbi Morgan—an icon in her own right—was on hand and, Bergman recounts, “She said, ‘Peter, run. Don’t walk. Run! I’ve been watching that show for years and years. Jack Abbott is one of the great roles in all of daytime television.’”
Taking on the ‘daunting task’ of playing Jack Abbott
Ultimately, Bergman and his very pregnant wife, Mariellen, left New York City behind so he could assume the role created by Terry Lester and on November 27, 1989, a new Jack showed up on The Young and the Restless.
“At first, it was pretty daunting,” Bergman admits. “The cast, the crew, everyone on set knew more about this guy I was playing than I did. But I was there about six months when I realized, ‘Oh my god, Debbi Morgan was right! Jack is such a rich character. This is the greatest thing that ever happened to me.’ And yes, I have thanked her a half a dozen times.”He has also thanks Nikki’s portrayer, Melody Thomas Scott—who put Bergman in the running for the role by pointing him out to her husband and executive producer Edward J. Scott. Nikki would go on to be the first of Bergman’s many love interests on the show. All these decades later, Scott was his partner in the epic standalone intervention episode he recently told Women’s World was one of his most rewarding.
Peter Bergman says Jack’s ladies turned him from a ‘reckless cad’ into a ‘Y&R’ patriarch. Jack has come a long way since Bergman’s first storylines, and the actor credits the women in his life—including his family—for turning him into the man he is today. “Every one of them has changed him,” he insists. “Jack has learned acceptance, tolerance, and eventually, empathy for other people. And I’ve gotten to play each of these changes, step by step —froma reckless cad to a patriarch and central figure in town. It’s been a long arc that I have really enjoyed and am privileged to play.” Another thing he’s been privileged to play? Many, many, many love stories! While Jack’s surprising pairing with Phyllis is a favorite, Bergman admits he’s loved them all.“I love falling in love,” he says with a dramatic sigh. “And I’m not talking about making out. I’m talking, ‘Oh crap, I’m in love!’ I’m talking, you wake up thinking about that person, go to sleep thinking about that person, everything you see reminds you of that person. That happens how many times in life? Once if you’re lucky… but Jack falls for them all! And like it or not, he falls face first. Man, he does not hold back. It’s fantastic.”
Jack Abbott and Diane Jenkins: A love story for the ages
Currently, Jack is all in with his wife, Diane Jenkins—who has not only been at the heart of some insane love triangles since the ‘80s, but also let everyone, including their son Kyle, believe she was dead for over a decade. When Susan Walters brought her back in 2022, viewers and Genoa City locals were stunned to see Jack fall for the schemer.
“About eight months ago, there was a montage of Jack and Diane’s relationship—from him saying, ‘I don’t want to see you again. I don’t want you anywhere near my son!’ to them getting married at the justice of the peace, and I was very proud of it,” Bergman says. “That was a real relationship, against all odds. We thought the audience would never accept this. And that’s a feather in Susan Walter’s cap. She is just terrific. We laugh so much.”Not only did the audience accept this re-pairing, but when Jack and Diane recently started spewing venom at each other and split up, many viewers refused to believe what they were seeing. “Some of them were saying, ‘We haven’t seen them without people around…’” Bergman chuckles. “Yes, what a curiosity that was! I think we make a big mistake ever underestimating the audience”. As many suspected, this faux breakup was all about Victor.
“Jack and Victor are oil and water,” Bergman says. “It’s the oldest enmity that I can think of on television, and Eric Braeden and I have great fun playing it.”
This Thanksgiving, will the Abbotts forgive Jack’s latest machinations?
The Young and the Restless audience may not have been fooled by Jack and Diane, but Kyle was so offended by their scheme to “save” him from Victor that it’s only deepened the tension in the Abbott manse. “We’re back in it again,” Bergman tells Woman’s World. “And Jack measures himself by that. If there is trouble in the Abbott family, Jack isn’t doing his job. If there is turmoil and tumult, Jack isn’t being a very good head of the family. It’s very painful for Jack… but for me to play, it’s as exciting as can be.”
While Jack may hope for some understanding when the rest of the Abbott clan learns about his latest scheme over Thanksgiving dinner, Bergman is just thrilled that after 35 years on The Young and the Restless, he’s still in the center of the action, still falling in love, and still battling Victor Newman.“I have to say how genuinely grateful I am for what The Young and the Restless has done for my life, for my family’s life, and my place in the world,” Bergman marvels. “It has been a seminal experience in my life. When I die, this is what I will be remembered for. And I’m very, very grateful for that.”
Need more of a Jack Abbott nostalgia hit on Bergman’s 35th anniversary? In this The Young and the Restless reaction video, Bergman watches some of his most memorable moments with the ladies – not to mention his father and Victor Newman.
