Sharon Newman is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless, an American soap opera on the CBS network, currently portrayed by Sharon Case. Created by William J. Bell as a love interest for Nicholas Newman, the character debuted on June 27, 1994. Before Case took over in September 1994, the character was portrayed briefly by Monica Potter and then by Heidi Mark. When first introduced, Sharon was a young girl from the poor side of town; her early storylines included being raped by Matt Clark and the revelation that she had given up a child for adoption. Nick and Sharon married, had a son named Noah, and later won custody of Cassie, the daughter she had as a teenager. Their marriage faced a number of problems, including infidelity on both sides. Following Cassie's death in an automobile accident, Nick cheated on Sharon with Phyllis Summers, resulting in a pregnancy which ended their 11-year marriage. Despite her second marriage to Jack Abbott, Nick and Sharon had an affair and conceived another child: Faith. During the pregnancy, Sharon experienced kleptomania. Faith was kidnapped by Adam Newman, Nick's half-brother, who married Sharon after leading her to believe Faith had died. When Adam's crimes were revealed, Sharon remained in love with him; SoapNet considered the relationship "dark". Since 2009, former showrunner Maria Arena Bell and subsequent head writers that followed have significantly changed the character's direction, receiving negative backlash from critics and audiences. In 2012, Sharon controversially marries her former father-in-law Victor Newman twice, gains control of his company and burns down his ranch — a sequence of events which resulted in her being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Sharon then altered DNA test results to make Nick believe his daughter Summer was fathered by Jack. Her subsequent storylines have included being reunited with her other daughter (and Cassie's twin) Mariah Copeland; marrying Nick's other half-brother Dylan McAvoy; experiencing a phantom pregnancy after miscarrying their child, which led her to keep a child that wasn't hers for months; and battling breast cancer before marrying Rey Rosales. Sharon has been characterized as "insecure" and "a survivor" by Case, who recognized the character's history of "weird" behavior prior to her bipolar diagnosis. Despite her crimes and faults, Sharon is described as an "ever-suffering heroine" by Canyon News, and has been called soap opera's "hottest mess" by Daytime Confidential. The supercouple pairing of Nick and Sharon attracted a large fan following. Case has become popular with viewers and her performance has received praise from critics (particularly for overcoming heavily panned writing), while also earning her several award nominations, including winning a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1999.