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Sally Spectra on had quite a history before she even got to Genoa City! The character first appeared on in January 2017 and already had quite a legacy. Actress Courtney Hope originated the role on B&B and announced she was exiting the soap in August 2020. However, by October of that year, it was revealed that Sally was headed over to where she continued bringing the drama!
Sally was named after her great aunt, Sally Spectra. The two women have much in common, from their red hair and fashion sense all the way down to their outsized personalities and desire to make the Spectra name famous. Sally promised her great aunt she would bring Spectra Fashions back to life, and enlisted the help of her grandmother, Shirley, as well as Saul Feinberg II and Darlita.
After convincing C.J. Garrison not to sell the building to Bill Spencer as planned, Sally was given six months to prove herself. She kicked things off with a bang, starting a food fight with Steffy Forrester and filming it for a viral video, then crashed Zende Forrester’s wedding. Although she wasn’t crazy about the plan to have her sister, Coco Spectra, work as an intern at Forrester and unwittingly wear a necklace with a camera in it to photograph and steal their designs. When Thomas Forrester invited Sally to Steffy’s Australian wedding, she happily attended but balked when Shirley ordered her to take photos they could use against them.
Sally was nervous about putting their stolen designs into production, but she lost faith in her own design abilities and went ahead with it. Unfortunately, she was then forced to confess to grand larceny to save Coco, and nearly went to prison until Thomas testified on her behalf at her hearing. Thomas also invested in her company to keep C.J. from selling the building back to Bill so he could demolish it and build his skyscraper. Thomas also joined Sally as a designer and they created a swimwear line to compete with Forrester in Monaco.
Unaware that Bill had orchestrated the lie, Sally sadly let Thomas return to New York with Caroline and their son when she claimed to be dying. She found a shoulder to cry on in Liam Spencer, who offered more than emotional support when he took over at Spencer and offered ownership of the building back to her. Having gotten through a minor fire, Sally took out a loan and began to rebuild Spectra Fashions from the ground up. When it turned out Bill still owned the building, Liam joined the Spectras for a protest and was trapped in the rubble with Sally when Bill demolished the building believing everyone was out. Fearing they were going to die, Sally confessed she’d fallen for him and they shared a kiss.
After their rescue, Sally refused Bill’s attempts to make nice and was devastated when Liam reconciled with Steffy after confessing to the kiss. Thomas, having learned the truth about Caroline’s deceit and Bill’s part in it, returned to Los Angeles and joined Sally as one of the prime suspects when Bill was shot and nearly killed! After getting back together with Thomas, they took off, but she eventually returned to reveal that her beau had reunited with Caroline again. She and Wyatt Spencer got drunk together and started an unlikely new relationship.
Wyatt helped get Sally hired at Forrester and later tried to help her advance her career by relaunching Spectra Fashions under the Spencer umbrella. Sally turned that down, and then things got even worse when Wyatt’s ex, Florence Fulton, came to town and he was drawn right back to the blonde, leaving Sally single again. After Flo’s part in the heartbreaking baby switch was exposed, Wyatt dumped her and went running back to Sally. She took him back and although she wanted to take things slow, accepted when he proposed to her!
Things were going okay until Sally accidentally called Wyatt by Liam’s name which made him question her feelings for him. And the redhead was doing fine at Forrester until her sketches for the fashion showdown disappointed Ridge and Steffy and her fears over being fired led to a full-on panic attack! After Wyatt dumped her to go back to Flo, Sally confronted the blonde, which led to her feeling lightheaded and shaking uncontrollably. Concerned, she went to the hospital for tests where she ran into Katie Logan. Sally confided her fears to Katie, who was there when she received the devastating diagnosis.
Informed she didn’t have long to live, Sally broke down but Katie urged her not to give up and get a second opinion to fight for her life. Although Sally asked Katie not to tell anyone, she quickly told Bill and Wyatt and later Ridge and Steffy so they wouldn’t fire the dying woman. Sally was also relieved when Wyatt came back to her, claiming problems with Flo, not realizing that Flo had urged him to make Sally’s remaining days as happy as possible. When Dr. Escobar tried to contact Sally to tell her she was handling her situation all wrong, the redhead dismissed her.
When Sally finally admitted to Wyatt that she was dying, she realized that Katie had already told him. But after Dr. Escobar made a house call to talk to her patient, it was revealed that the entire thing was all an elaborate charade Sally had concocted to get Wyatt back! The doc has tried to insist Sally come clean, but the redhead refuses to stop until she gets Wyatt away from Flo!
Sally continued to try and sink her claws into Wyatt, but when Flo discovered the truth, the redhead panicked. After Dr. Escobar knocked Flo out to keep her from telling Wyatt the truth, Sally tried tying her up in her apartment so she could seduce Wyatt and get pregnant with his child, tying them together forever. But during a struggle, Sally fell and was knocked unconscious just long enough for Flo to write “help me” on her underwear so when Sally tried to strip down for Wyatt, the jig was up!
As her plan collapsed around her, Sally tried to explain her motives to Wyatt and beg forgiveness, but then suddenly collapsed! Rushed to the hospital, Sally was diagnosed with severe stress and attempted to persuade Wyatt to forgive her. He agreed not to press criminal charges but urged her to go away.
In November 2020, Sally relocated to Genoa City where she hoped to land a big job at Jabot, but had to settle for working as Lauren Fenmore’s assistant. She found a new partner-in-crime in Theo Vanderway, and they tried to help each other get ahead with the Abbott family. Sally clashed with Kyle Abbott and especially Summer Newman, but soon found herself growing close with Jack Abbott. Summer and Kyle went to L.A. to dig up dirt on Sally’s past, but she was armed with Theo’s information about Kyle’s affair with a married woman in NYC so the rivals reached a stalemate.
But Summer’s mother, Phyllis Summers, had it out for Sally as well, and warned Jack to stay away from her. Fearing someone else would reveal her scandalous past, Sally finally came clean to Jack, who naturally put the brakes on their budding relationship. Determined to get Summer out of town, Sally spoke with Ashland Locke and offered him information in exchange for him helping to get Summer a job at an Italian fashion house. Unfortunately, the man who was to make the decision about that job turned out to be Eric Forrester!
Once Sally’s role in driving Summer out of town was exposed, Lauren fired her and Jack wanted nothing to do with her. Chloe Mitchell befriended her and offered her a role with Newman Media’s fashion platform. She also gave Sally a warning about Adam Newman, but the redhead didn’t listen and pursued a romance with the guy. Sally’s plan to secretly design Victoria Newman’s wedding dress turned out in her favor, but Lauren was furious that they’d switched dresses on her. Sally not only clashed with Phyllis, but butted heads constantly with Chelsea. When Chelsea and Chloe started their own fashion business and left Sally out in the cold, Adam hired her to work with him as Newman Media’s COO.
After struggling to keep their relationship strictly business, Sally and Adam finally gave in to pleasure and had sex. They also supported each other as Victoria and Ashland’s split plunged Newman Locke into chaos. When Victor named Adam CEO of Newman, Sally was promoted to CEO of Newman Media. However, when Victoria returned to take over the family business again, Adam was out on his ear and Sally worried about her job as well. She managed to convince Victoria to let her prove herself and went through with her plan to hire Chloe as her COO. However, she was devastated when Adam dumped her so he wouldn’t drag her down with him!
Sally earned Nick Newman’s trust when she declined to publish the true story about Ashland’s death, and after he stopped Victoria from firing the redhead, Nick and Sally had sex in the office! The pair found themselves drawn to each other and decided not to define their relationship but just have fun together. Victoria eventually forced Nick to fire Sally, and she declined Nick’s offer of money to start her own fashion house, opting to stand on her own. She decided to start a design business and enlisted Chloe to work with her.
Adam tried to win Sally back, but while she decided she was going to stay with Nick, they ended up sleeping together as a kind of final farewell. So when Sally discovered she was pregnant, she didn’t know who the babydaddy was. Nick was disappointed when the DNA test revealed Adam to be the child’s father, but stood by Sally throughout her difficult pregnancy (and even stepped in when Victor tried to sabotage Sally’s potential business with Chancellor-Winters). Sally worried when she learned she was suffering from pre-eclampsia and unfortunately, she ultimately miscarried the baby, leaving her and Adam both heartbroken.
Sally pushed Nick away after the loss of little Ava, but she soon accepted his support as she recovered. When she considered Victor’s office to run a design firm under the Newman umbrella, Chloe warned her pal that if she accepted it, she was out. Not that it mattered, because when Sally tried to accept, Victor told her the deal was off! So she reluctantly accepted Nick’s offer to fund her new interior design business under the condition he remained a silent investor.
After Sally and Adam shared a kiss, they tried to pretend it didn’t happen but he hoped she was falling back in love with him. Sally confessed the kiss to Nick, who was worried, but she insisted she was falling in love with him now. Still, Nick broke up with her and she found herself drawn back to Adam. When she involved Chloe in designing Daniel Romalotti’s new apartment, Chloe left Marchetti to work with her friend again. Chloe tried to push Nick and Sally back together again, but Sally was head over heels for Adam again.
Sally and Adam rang in 2024 together and celebrated their future. She and Nick agreed to remain friends and she also found a new gal pal in Audra Charles upon realizing that they had a lot in common. Sally felt terrible when her business failed but Nick assured her not all investments work out. With Chelsea on a leave of absence, Summer reluctantly hired Sally to work at Marchetti on a trial basis. But they were surprised at how well they worked together and Sally even convinced Sally to give Chloe a shot, too. Sally moved in with Adam but struggled to support him as he and Chelsea dealt with Connor’s OCD. She and Billy began to grow suspicious of the growing bond between Adam and Chelsea and Adam felt awful after realizing he’d left Sally to mourn the anniversary of their daughter’s death alone.
Stay tuned to Y&R to see how her story continues!