Sam Gibson is a fictional character from the American soap opera The Young and the Restless, portrayed by Sean Patrick Flanery. He made his first on-screen appearance on April 18, 2011. Introduced by head writer Maria Arena Bell, Sam was created as a love interest for long-running Sharon Newman while she was a fugitive. A rural veterinarian, Sam takes Sharon, posing under the alias Sheri Coleman, into his barn. They eventually fall in love; but she is located and arrested. Although they remained friends, the relationship ended when she returned to Genoa City. Flanery was let go after a few months, last airing on November 4, 2011.