page_title: Paul Williams (The Young and the Restless)
section_title: Relationships
hierarchical_section_title: Paul Williams (The Young and the Restless) / Character development / Relationships
caption_attribution_description: English: Lauralee Bell arrives at the Opening of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum on February 9, 2008 in Los Angeles, CA.
context_page_description: Paul Williams is a fictional character on the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Paul was introduced to the show on May 23, 1978, and has been portrayed by Doug Davidson ever since. Initially Paul was a "bad boy", who had a romance with Nikki Newman, giving her an STD. The relationship ultimately ended, but the two have remained friends since. After a year on the series, Bell gave the character a proper backstory, surname and family. This included his notoriously unstable sister Patty Williams. After a failed marriage to April Stevens —who gave birth to his daughter Heather Stevens —focus turned towards Paul's career as a private investigator, as well as his relationship and eventual marriage to and later divorce from Lauren Fenmore. Paul's string of unsuccessful romances with women—including his ill-fated bride Cindy Lake, and Cassandra Rawlins, the wife of one of his clients—continued. Over the years, Paul continued to become heavily involved in various storylines as a private investigator.
  The character's most prominent love story occurred when he married attorney Christine Blair.
context_section_description: Paul has had several unsuccessful relationships, and has been described as "often luckless in love". His main love interest during the 1980s was Lauren Fenmore (Tracey Bregman). Davidson described the relationship as Paul's "first non-drama fling" and said that Bell decided to pair the characters on the "spur of the moment", uncertain of the outcome. He enjoys the dynamics between Lauren and Paul: "I always am excited whenever I get to work with her. We’ve played friends, husband and wife, enemies, you name it. She is a dynamic actress and a wonderful friend and person". The couple have faced a number of challenges, including Lauren's crazed stalker Shawn Garrett (Grant Cramer) and disapproval from Paul's mother, Mary Williams (Carolyn Conwell). Lauren and Paul divorced: Lynda Hirsch of the Sun Sentinel wrote, "The marriage didn't work out, since Lauren desperately wanted a career in music and Paul wanted her to be a stay-at-home wife and eventually a mom".
  Paul had a "strong interest" in Cindy Lake (DeAnna Robbins), a prostitute with whom he fell in love. Before their scheduled marriage, Cindy took a bullet for Paul and died. He later fell for a "mysterious" woman, Cassandra Rawlins (Nina Arvesen), the wife of Paul's client George Rawlins (Jonathan Farwell). George was shot through the heart and killed, and Paul was a suspect in his death;  The actor credited the Cassandra-and-George storyline with significantly changing Paul's character, telling the Orlando Sentinel: "It was a tremendous story. Until then I was the younger leading man, and this was really a departure for me." He previously described it as his "first adult storyline", in which Bell transformed Paul "from a juvenile lead into a lead male". The actor told BuddyTV it is his favorite storyline: "I usually claim that the most exciting story for me was Cassandra’s storyline, simply because it was the transition from Paul as a young man to an adult."
  For years Paul has been romantically involved with Christine Blair, played by Lauralee Bell (daughter of the show's creator, William J. Bell). In 2013, the couple were married for a second time during the memorial service for their friend Katherine Chancellor (Jeanne Cooper). Davidson felt that the couple never fell out of love, although they were driven apart by characters such as Isabella Braña (Eva Longoria) and Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc). The actor said, "The fact that they have such a strong foundation and relationship beyond husband and wife, is the reason it’s probably going to last forever."
  As a teenager Paul dated Nikki Reed (Melody Thomas Scott), and they remained friends for thirty years. In November 2008, Paul and Nikki slept together. Davidson described their reunion as "love in the purest sense": "They've been friends for 30 years and are supporting each other in the most intimate way possible. They do not judge the rightness or wrongness of their actions, nor do they want to tell anyone about it. They know their kids probably won't understand." He also said, "It was the other end of the trail and I don’t think for Paul, at this juncture, was the love of Nikki’s life, nor was Nikki the love of Paul’s." In 2010 the show explored a romance between Paul and Christine's best friend, Nina Webster (Tricia Cast). Cast has praised the couple's storyline for not being "overly dramatic" and more "normal": "Paul and Nina are less exciting—and I like that. There are no shenanigans ...it’s kind of like a real relationship." However, it yielded to Paul and Christine's ongoing affinity.
caption: Lauralee Bell plays Christine Blair, one of Paul's main love interests.
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