Who was Victoria Rowell on The Young and the Restless? Everything you need to know

American actor, director, and writer Victoria Rowell played Drucilla Winters on The Young and the Restless for about 15 years. She joined the soap in 1990 and continued intermittently till 2007 before exiting permanently. While her character was killed off in the soap, the fans hoping for Drucilla's return have remained disappointed so far.

The Young and the Restless is one of the long-running American daily soaps on CBS. The soap premiered in 1973 and presented the fictional Genoa City and its residents, who associate, compete, and interact with each other, unfolding the drama.

One such character was Rowell's Drucilla Winters, model-turned-executive, Neil Winters' wife and Mamie's niece. The other characters closely connected to Drucilla's story arc on the soap are Neil's brother Malcolm, her rivals, Ashley and Phyllis, and her friends, Sharon, Victor, Brad, and Jack.

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The Young and the Restless: A quick look at Drucilla actor Victoria Rowell

Born Victoria Lynn Rowell in 1959 in Maine, The Young and the Restless star has had an extensive career that goes beyond acting. Her role as Drucilla in the soap has been her longest stint on television and earned her three Daytime Emmy nominations. She has also received the NAACP Image Awards 11 times for her role.

Some of Victoria's other television works include As The World Turns, Diagnosis: Murder, Single Ladies, The Bay, The Rich and the Ruthless, Good Sam, and many more. She created, directed and executive produced The Rich and the Ruthless, besides Jacqueline and Jilly. The former even earned four Indie Series Awards.

Victoria has worked in almost 44 movies, short films, and television films, of which she has directed, produced, and written many. Some of the notable titles under her belt include The Distinguished Gentlemen, Dumb and Dumber, Barb Wire, Eve's Bayou, Black listed, Motives, A Perfect Fit, Home of the Brave, A Rich Christmas, and many more.

She was last seen in the May 2024 movie, Summer Camp.

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Drucilla Winters's journey on The Young and the Restless

While introducing Drucilla on The Young and the Restless, Victoria was intermittently replaced by Dawn McMillan and Kent Masters King. An unloved and delinquent Drucilla Barber arrived on the soap's storyline as she came to stay with her aunt Mamie Johnson. While she gave up her dream to be a ballerina, she learned to read and write and started modeling in Genoa City.

Her tense relationship with her sister, Olivia, also improved over time. After her marriage with Neil Winters in 1993, Drucilla confronted her mother for ill-treating her for years and brought closure to this painful chapter of her life. While being married to Neil, she was r*ped by Neil's brother Malcolm leading to her daughter, Lily Winters' birth in 1995.

Although deciding to keep Lily's paternity a secret, her marriage collapsed due to the couple's differences in opinions. While Neil wanted a stay-at-home wife, Drucilla was ambitious and didn't want to give up a flourishing career as a model.

Her career as a model also earned Sharon, Victor, and Brad's friendships. She also developed rivalries with Phyllis Summers and Ashley Abbott.

Neil's brother Malcolm created problems for the Barber-Winters couple (Image via Instagram/youngandrestlesscbs)

Drucilla left The Young and the Restless in 2000 with Lily and returned in 2002. She reconciled with Neil and their devotion stood the test of time when Neil stood by his wife despite having an affair with Carmen Mesta, when Drucilla's drunken actions led to her arrest. She was also fired from Newman Enterprises and she had to go for therapy.

The couple stayed together through many other events in their lives such as Lily eloping and marrying Daniel Romalotti and the couple's adopted son, Devon Hamilton, getting arrested. Most troublesome was the time when Drucilla thought she saw the dead Carmen and had to be committed to a facility.

She was later cleared when Carmen's true killer, Jana Hawkes, and the perpetrators of the Drucilla's visions, Ines and David, were exposed.

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Drucilla's abrupt exit from The Young and the Restless

2007 on The Young and the Restless found Sharon asking her friend, Drucilla, to be her bridesmaid. As the friends went to a cliffside for a pre-wedding photoshoot with Phyllis, the latter had an altercation with the bride-to-be. When Drucilla joined in, trying to snatch Phyllis's phone away, the duo lost their foothold and fell off the cliff.

After a search team located Phyllis and brought her back, they claimed Drucilla's body was never found. She was then presumed dead. Drucilla's unexpected exit from the soap disappointed fans who looked forward to her return. While Victoria was interested, the storyline did not bring the character back.

Victoria was unhappy about her character's story arc on the soap, but she also hinted at racism in the production house with very little diversity representation.

Moreover, in 2015, actor Victoria Rowell sued Sony Pictures Entertainment and The Young and the Restless for blacklisting her for speaking out against the show's diversity issue.

Drucilla's pairing with Neil was considered a super couple on the soap (Image via Instagram/youngandrestless, /victoriarowell)

As per The Hollywood Reporter, the case was dismissed in 2017 after the two parties allegedly reached a settlement, whose exact terms are not known.

Current plot dynamics on The Young and the Restless focus on Drucilla's daughter Lily siding with Victor Newman to go against her former boss, Billy Abbott while Drucilla's friend, Sharon, is facing mental health issues leading to an impending criminal case against her.

Stay tuned to CBS at 12.30 pm ET, every weekday, to catch the latest drama on the soap.