When did Nikki and Victor Newman get married on The Young and the Restless? Everything to know as the iconic couple marks 40 years

Nikki and Victor Newman got married for the first time on April 13, 1984, and it was a massive moment for The Young and the Restless because it was the soap’s highest-rated episode ever. Today marks 40 years since they first got married.

The marriage sealed what was already one of the most dramatic love stories in daytime TV. Before they tied the knot, Victor had rescued Nikki from being kidnapped by Rick Daros and nearly died doing it; he was shot in the groin with a harpoon.

That injury almost stopped the wedding. Victor believed he couldn’t be a husband if he couldn’t be a man to her. He nearly left town, convinced the wedding was off for good. But after a quiet moment flipping through old pictures of Nikki’s stripping days, something stirred. Realizing he wasn’t impotent, he rushed back and told Nikki the wedding was on.

Before becoming a power couple, Nikki was a stripper from the wrong side of Genoa City. Victor was a ruthless businessman who made her over into a polished society woman. They had already had a daughter, Victoria, two years before the wedding. Their relationship was messy, intense, and built on control, longing, and pure obsession.

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Here's a detailed timeline of Nikki and Victor Newman's relationship in The Young and the Restless

The Young and the Restless (Image via CBS)

After their wedding in 1984, Nikki and Victor stayed together for four years. Then, Ashley Abbott came between them. Victor fell in love with Ashley and left Nikki. Nikki found out Ashley had secretly ended a pregnancy and leaked it to the press. Victor saw this as a betrayal, and they divorced. He married Ashley, and Nikki married Jack Abbott. Victor later convinced Jack to divorce Nikki by offering him control of Jabot.

In the years that followed, Nikki and Victor got back together and had another child, Nick. But their issues never stopped. Nikki shared information with a biographer that caused more trouble. Victor married Diane Jenkins, and Nikki ended up with David Chow. They eventually reconnected in 2002 and married again. That second marriage lasted until 2008, when Nikki had an affair with David.

In 2011, things got worse. Victor married Sharon, and Nikki married Deacon. Both were short-term decisions. Nikki kept relapsing into drinking, and Victor’s control over everyone around him didn’t help. Around this time, Victor faked his death and married Hope Wilson. They had a son, Adam Newman, but later split. Nikki tried to move on, but kept returning to Victor whenever he needed her or something major happened.

In 2013, they married for a third time. It lined up with the show’s 40th anniversary. Things went back to the usual cycle—fighting, separating, and getting pulled back together. In 2017, they stayed married but agreed to see other people. Victor went after Ashley again, and Nikki dated Arturo. They dropped the arrangement after Victor was attacked and hospitalized.

Recently, in The Young and the Restless, things got even more chaotic. Nikki was kidnapped by Claire Grace, the secret daughter of Victoria and Cole. Claire and her aunt Jordan drugged Nikki with vodka. Nikki relapsed and struggled to stay sober.

The Young and the Restless (Image via CBS)

Victor and the kids found and rescued her. Afterward, Nikki turned to Jack as her AA sponsor. He couldn’t get through to her, so he risked his own sobriety to shock her into going to rehab. Victor didn’t thank him. Instead, he gave Adam a job to compete against Jack.

Through all of this in The Young and the Restless, Nikki and Victor stayed tied to each other. Not because things were peaceful or easy, but because they never let go for long.

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Watch The Young and the Restless on CBS.