J.T. Hellstrom and Colleen Carlton
Encyclopedia
Supercouple
A supercouple or super couple is a popular or financially wealthy pairing that intrigues and fascinates the public in an intense or even obsessive fashion...
on the CBS daytime soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
. J.T.
J.T. Hellstrom
Jeffrey Todd "J.T." Hellstrom is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless, played by actor Thad Luckinbill since August 27, 1999. Luckinbill originally appeared on a recurring basis until he was put on contract in November 2002.J.T. left the show on November 5, 2010,...
is portrayed by Thad Luckinbill
Thad Luckinbill
Thaddeus Rowe "Thad" Luckinbill is an American actor best known for playing J.T. Hellstrom on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless for 11 years...
. Colleen
Colleen Carlton
Colleen Cecile Carlton is a fictional character from the American soap opera The Young and the Restless. She was last portrayed by Tammin Sursok, who joined the cast on July 30, 2007 and departed on October 5, 2009...
was portrayed by Lyndsy Fonseca
Lyndsy Fonseca
Lyndsy Marie Fonseca is an American actress known for playing Colleen Carlton on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and The Restless, Dylan Mayfair on the ABC series Desperate Housewives, and Ted Mosby's daughter on How I Met Your Mother. She also played Katie Deauxma in the 2010 superhero film...
from 2001 to 2004. She appeared briefly from 2004 to early 2005. Adrianne Leon
Adrianne Leon
Adrianna Therese León is an American singer-songwriter, chef, personal fitness trainer, model and actress. She is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the rock band Caught Crimson. León began writing songs for the Emmy award-winning soap opera General Hospital...
took over the role in 2006 and stayed in the part until 2007 when she was replaced by Tammin Sursok
Tammin Sursok
Tammin Pamela Sursok is an Australian actress and musician of South African origin. She is best known for the role of Dani Sutherland on Home and Away, as Colleen Carlton on The Young and the Restless and as Siena in Disney Channel's Hannah Montana...
, who continued in the role until 2009. The couple's story ran off and on from 2001 to 2007. They are often referred to by the portmanteau "Jolleen" (for J.T. and Colleen) on Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
message boards.
Beginning as a controversial couple because of the gap in the character's ages, the pairing rose in popularity to become "Genoa City's sweetest supercouple." Former The Young and the Restless head writer and executive producer Jack Smith
John F. Smith
John F. Smith is an American soap opera writer and producer. During the WGA strike, he chose financial core status with the WGA and continued working....
pushed for a story between the characters despite the unexpectedness and controversy surrounding them. Luckinbill's music ability was an element in the storyline as the actor wrote and performed two original songs for the show. The Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
song "When You Say Nothing at All
When You Say Nothing at All
"When You Say Nothing at All" is the debut solo single by Irish singer-songwriter Ronan Keating. The song was recorded in 1999 for the soundtrack of the film Notting Hill. It also appeared on Keating's debut solo album, Ronan. The song was released on July 26, 1999 in the United Kingdom. It peaked...
" also appeared in their storyline.
Writing and portrayals
The original storyline designed for J.T. Hellstrom and Colleen Carlton centered around an unrequited crush Colleen feels for J.T. Luckinbill and Fonseca thought their character's relationship would progress no further than friendship. Fonseca said that if they became a couple, the fun brought on by the "tug-and-pull" element between them could disappear. Luckinbill considered the age difference too great an obstacle to overcome. At the time, J.T. was an 18 year old college freshmen with a bad reputation with women and Colleen was a 15 year old high school student. The Young and the Restless former head writerHead writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
John F. Smith
John F. Smith
John F. Smith is an American soap opera writer and producer. During the WGA strike, he chose financial core status with the WGA and continued working....
pushed for the plot to be taken further and the characters were paired romantically. Both soap opera critics and members of the show's cast and crew considered this a controversial and surprising move. "I wasn't expecting it at all," said Fonseca. "Even David Shaughnessy (Y&R executive producer at the time) came up to me and said, 'To be honest with you, when I first heard about this, it was kind of shocking.'"
"When I came up with this story last summer," Smith said, "I got a lot of people raising their eyebrows about it in terms of J.T. He's not going to give her two looks. But I saw something special in these guys, and that was the story. This very unexpected interest. Of course, initially, it was a girl who was gaga over him. And he, being J.T., enjoyed the attention. What he didn't expect was to find himself drawn to her." The writers used J.T.'s relationship with Colleen to bring out a more sympathetic side to him that the audience up to that point never witnessed before. "The story is taking this guy on the journey from wild college kid to being in love with this little high school sophomore," Smith said. They also positioned Colleen as the aggressor in the relationship by scripting her as pursuing J.T., while he, in an uncharacteristic move, held off because of the difference in their ages. The writers "carefully navigated the development of this relationship, emphasizing its tender, supportive aspects." They scripted them as "ferociously protective" of each other.
Other obstacles brought into the story included the opposition of Colleen's family to the pairing, J.T.'s music career, and third party characters who came between them. These third parties included Anita Hodges, Brittany Hodges, Mackenzie Browning
Mackenzie Browning
Mackenzie Hellstrom is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless, introduced in 1999 as a part of the new teen scene and revealed to be the granddaughter of wealthy businesswoman Katherine Chancellor.-Casting:Ashley Bashioum, the actress that played the role for the...
, and Adrian Korbel
Adrian Korbel
Professor Adrian Korbel is a fictional character in the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless, portrayed by American actor Eyal Podell from September 18, 2006 until August 5, 2008.-Character's background:...
. Within the story, Colleen leaves Genoa City and J.T. because she does not want to stand in the way of his music career. As she left town, Fonseca's contract was not picked up and she departed the series in May 2004. She reprised the role later that year in December on a recurring basis. By this time in the story, J.T. developed romantic feelings for his married friend, Brittany Hodges. The writers brought Colleen back to add more complications to the story. Luckinbill described his character's feelings for Colleen and Brittany as extremely different. "J.T. saw Colleen as somebody so opposite himself that he considered himself undeserving of her love," he said. "She was too angelic [whereas] Brittany has more of the 'black sheep' in her." Fonseca departed the role again in 2005.
Eyal Podell
Eyal Podell is an Israeli-born American actor who is known for his portrayal of Professor Adrian Korbel on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Podell recently played the role of Dr...
. Initially, Leon theorized that, while Colleen felt an attraction to Korbel, her heart belonged to J.T. "She absolutely loves him and adores him, but she's going through that change where she was a little girl and now she's not. She's growing up and evolving", Leon said. "The bad boy was interesting to her when she was a teenager, but now she's more interested in the intellectual". Leon portrayed her character as confused while she waffled between her love for J.T. and her attraction to Korbel. Colleen's cheating with Korbel broke the pairing up.
Music
Luckinbill's musical ability was utilized in the J.T. and Colleen story. "The writers and producers felt like it might be a good idea," he said. "They wanted me to sing a song by Alison KraussAlison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
called, 'When You Say Nothing at All
When You Say Nothing at All
"When You Say Nothing at All" is the debut solo single by Irish singer-songwriter Ronan Keating. The song was recorded in 1999 for the soundtrack of the film Notting Hill. It also appeared on Keating's debut solo album, Ronan. The song was released on July 26, 1999 in the United Kingdom. It peaked...
.' I liked it, was sitting at home one night working on that song and this new song just came about." The new song Luckinbill wrote was entitled "Feel". In writing the song, Luckinbill said he was "thinking of the character's viewpoint, from J.T. to Colleen. If he were going to write her a song, what would he write? And these words came out. I ended up writing a song that night, which I took to our producers and said, 'I know you want me to sing this song, but how do you feel about this one? It's character driven.'" Smith decided Luckinbill would sing both "Feel" and "When You Say Nothing at All". Luckinbill sang the Krauss song for The Young and the Restlesss December 26, 2002 episode where J.T. serenades Colleen on her sixteenth birthday. Smith wrote a scene specifically for the song Luckinbill wrote, featuring J.T. playing his guitar at Colleen's Valentine's Day dance where he performed "Feel". After J.T. cheats on Colleen with Anita Hodges, Luckinbill wrote an untitled song in character for the show. He performed it as J.T. on the July 24, 2003 episode.
Storyline
J.T. and Colleen meet in 2001 but they do not become involved until 2002 as he catches her doing drugs. He plans to use this information to hurt his nemesis and her uncle Billy AbbottBilly Abbott
William "Billy" Abbott is a fictional character in the American soap opera The Young and the Restless. He is portrayed by Billy Miller as of September 19, 2008; other actors that have played the part include a set of child actors, and three contract actors: David Tom, Ryan Brown and Scott Seymour...
(then played by David Tom
David Tom
David Tom is an American actor.-Career:In 1993, Tom was nominated for two Young Artist Awards for his roles in Stepfather III and Stay Tuned...
), but changes his mind when she cries. They start up a friendship and Colleen develops a crush on him. She romantically pursues him by finding ways to bring them closer such as helping him study and getting tickets to see a concert. At first, J.T. only likes her as a kid sister. That slowly changes as he develops feelings for her. Colleen's family disapproves of their relationship despite J.T.'s insistence that they are only friends. John Abbott
John Abbott (The Young and the Restless)
John Abbott, Sr. is a fictional character on the soap opera The Young and the Restless. He is the patriarch of the Abbotts, one of the core families that was introduced to the show in 1980. The character was originated by Brett Halsey from May 1980 to March 1981...
(Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas (actor)
Jerry Douglas is an American television and film actor. For 25 years Jerry Douglas reigned in fictional Genoa City as patriarch John Abbott on the daytime television serial The Young and the Restless...
) and Billy warn him to stay away from her. Her mother, Traci (Beth Maitland
Beth Maitland
Beth Maitland is American actress, best known for her portrayal of Traci Abbott Connolly in the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless from 1982 to 1996 and from 2001 to the present on a recurring basis.-Early life:...
), decides to take her home to New York as a way of separating them. To keep from being separated from J.T., Colleen runs away and stays with J.T.'s friends, Raul Guittierez
Raul Guittierez
Raul Evan Guittierez is a fictional character in the American soap opera The Young and the Restless. He was played by David Lago from August 2, 1999 to August 13, 2004. Raul returned briefly in May and June 2009.-Character's background:...
(David Lago
David Lago
David Scott Lago is an Cuban-American actor. He is best known for playing Raul Guittierez on The Young and the Restless from 1999 to 2004. He has also had a recurring role as Jeremy on 7th Heaven....
) and Brittany Hodges (Lauren Woodland
Lauren Woodland
Lauren Woodland is an American actress.-Career:Woodland has been acting since childhood. In 1989, she appeared in the Fox Network science fiction series Alien Nation as the child newcomer Emily Francisco...
). This results in her being placed in juvenile detention while J.T. is brought up on charges. Traci offered to drop the charges against him if he convinced her daughter to come back to New York with her. He complies but stops her from leaving. Colleen's father, Brad Carlton
Brad Carlton
Bradley "Brad" Carlton was a fictional character on CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Actor Don Diamont played the role since May 1985 until he departed the show in 1996 and returned on July 28, 1998. Diamont was temporarily replaced by Russell Todd in 1993. The character has also...
(Don Diamont
Don Diamont
Don Diamont is an American actor, best known for his long-running portrayal of Brad Carlton on the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless. In 1990, he was chosen as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world by People Magazine, becoming the first daytime drama actor to receive the honor...
), convinces Traci to allow their daughter to stay with him and his wife and her sister Ashley Abbott
Ashley Abbott
Ashley Suzanne Abbott McCall is a fictional character from the American soap opera The Young and the Restless, currently played by American actress Eileen Davidson, who had played the character for a total of more than 16 years prior to her return in September 2008...
(Eileen Davidson
Eileen Davidson
Eileen Davidson is an American film and soap opera actress. She is known for her role as Ashley Abbott on The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful and for the multiple roles she portrayed on Days of our Lives....
). Despite staying in Genoa City, she is not allowed to see J.T. They begin secretly spending time with each other in the Abbott family playhouse.
During one of their rendezvous, Colleen tries to seduce him, but J.T. convinces her to hold off on sex so they do not ruin their relationship. She continues to worry that, despite J.T.'s insistence that they not engage in sex, he will become bored with her because of his promiscuity in the past. He reassures her that he's fine, but then cheats on her with an older woman, Brittany's mother Anita Hodges (Mitzi Kapture-Donahue). Shortly afterwards, Brad gives them permission to date. Colleen finds out about J.T.'s affair with Anita and breaks up with him. They continue longing for each other and she forgives him enough to rebuild their friendship. The couple eventually admit they still love each other and reunite.
J.T. and Colleen become embroiled in Lily Winters
Lily Winters
Lily Winters Ashby is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Starting off as a rebellious yet naive teenager, the character became one of the series' popular heroines. Stories centered around Lily included the mystery of her paternity and social issue...
' (Christel Khalil
Christel Khalil
Christel Adnana Khalil is an American actress.-Career:Khalil is best known for her role as Lily Ashby on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. She played the role from August 15, 2002 until September 2, 2005. Soon after she left the soap, Khalil was replaced by Davetta Sherwood...
) drama with internet predator Kevin Fisher
Kevin Fisher
Kevin Fisher is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless, portrayed by Emmy Award-winning actor Greg Rikaart since July 11, 2003. Rikaart won a Daytime Emmy Award for his portrayal of Kevin in 2005....
(Greg Rikaart
Greg Rikaart
Gregory Andrew Rikaart is an American actor, currently on the cast of the soap opera The Young and the Restless, playing Kevin Fisher since July 2003.-Biography:...
). They discourage Lily from being with him. After Lily engages in illegal intercourse with him, Colleen tells Lily's parents, Neil
Neil Winters
Neil Winters is a fictional character in the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless, portrayed by actor Kristoff St. John since his first appearance in January 1991...
(Kristoff St. John
Kristoff St. John
Kristoff St. John is an American actor, best known for his role as Neil Winters on the daytime US drama The Young and the Restless.-Career:...
) and Drucilla (Victoria Rowell
Victoria Rowell
Victoria "Vicki" Lynn Rowell is an American actress and dancer. She is best known for her portrayal of ballerina-turned-model Drucilla Winters on the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless, and medical examiner/pathologist Dr. Amanda Bentley on the CBS drama Diagnosis: Murder...
). They have him arrested. In retaliation, Kevin attempts to murder Colleen by locking her in a freezer inside a burning building. J.T. rescues her and carries her out of the building. The couple moves on from the Kevin ordeal as J.T. begins to focus on his music career. This serves as a roadblock in their romance as Colleen becomes jealous of J.T.'s closeness with other girls in his music video. During a press conference, he also lies to a reporter about not having a girlfriend. Though he attempts to explain why he did that, Colleen decides to move back to New York to live with her mother so she will not be standing in the way of J.T.'s career. During her time away, he develops romantic feelings for his long time friend Brittany, who plans to marry Bobby Marsino (John Enos III
John Enos III
John Enos III is an American actor, known for the role of Bobby Marsino in the soap opera The Young and the Restless from 2003 to 2005. Enos' other screen credits include guest roles on NYPD Blue, Sex and the City , Melrose Place and Murder, She Wrote...
). Colleen returns to Genoa City briefly and J.T. deals with his feelings for both her and Brittany. She ultimately leaves town again and returns in 2006 intent on reuniting with J.T. However, he is dating Mackenzie Browning
Mackenzie Browning
Mackenzie Hellstrom is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless, introduced in 1999 as a part of the new teen scene and revealed to be the granddaughter of wealthy businesswoman Katherine Chancellor.-Casting:Ashley Bashioum, the actress that played the role for the...
(then played by Rachel Kimsey
Rachel Kimsey
Rachel Kimsey, born August 28, 1978 in Tustin, Orange County, California, is an American actress. She holds a BFA from Brigham Young University, which she earned in 2000.-Career:...
) at the time. Colleen attempts to break them up. Ultimately, Mac's dependence on Kevin during her pregnancy and miscarriage, as well as J.T.'s cheating with Victoria Newman
Victoria Newman
Victoria Nicole Newman is a fictional character from the American soap opera The Young and the Restless...
(Amelia Heinle
Amelia Heinle
Amelia March Heinle Luckinbill is an American actress best known for her roles in American soap operas.-Career:...
), break the couple up. Not long after that, he and Colleen reunite.
Adrian Korbel
Professor Adrian Korbel is a fictional character in the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless, portrayed by American actor Eyal Podell from September 18, 2006 until August 5, 2008.-Character's background:...
(Eyal Podell
Eyal Podell
Eyal Podell is an Israeli-born American actor who is known for his portrayal of Professor Adrian Korbel on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Podell recently played the role of Dr...
). Trapped together during a snowstorm, Korbel and Colleen engage in sex. Guilty over the affair, she confesses to J.T. who breaks up with her. When Jana Hawkes
Jana Hawkes
Jana Hawkes was a fictional character in an American soap opera The Young and the Restless, portrayed by actress Emily O'Brien first on recurring status from May 11 to September 5, 2006, and then on contract from October 10, 2006 to February 20, 2007. The actress returned on June 15, 2007...
(Emily O'Brien
Emily O'Brien
Emily O'Brien is an English-born American actress. She is known for her role as Jana Hawkes Fisher on The Young and the Restless off-and-on from May 11, 2006 until her character died on May 6, 2011.-Personal life:...
) attempts to murder Colleen and Kevin by trapping them in the freezer of a building she set fire too, J.T. and Korbel rescue them. J.T. attempts to reconcile with Colleen, but she chooses Korbel.
In 2007, J.T. and Colleen become friends again and she stands by him while his pregnant fiance, Victoria, is in a coma. When Colleen's father goes missing in 2009, she goes to J.T. for help finding him. They discover his dead body frozen in the ice of the river. He comforts her while she deals with her loss. Colleen blames Brad's long time enemy and J.T.'s father-in-law, Victor Newman
Victor Newman
Victor Newman is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless played by actor Eric Braeden from February 1980 through November 2, 2009 and again from January 15, 2010 to present. The character briefly appeared on The Bold and the Beautiful in 1999...
(Eric Braeden
Eric Braeden
Eric Braeden is a German-American film and television actor, best known for his role as Victor Newman on the soap opera The Young and the Restless and as John Jacob Astor IV in the 1997 film Titanic...
), for her father's death and attempts to get back at him by claiming Brad's seat on the Newman board. Victor orders J.T. to find something damaging on Colleen that will force her to give up the seat. J.T. does not follow Victor's orders, but Victor gets what he wants by paying Gloria and Jeffry Bardwell to catch Colleen in a compromising position. They pay a bartender to get her drunk. Under the influence of alcohol, she flashes her breasts in public, which Jeffrey catches on camera. Once the footage of her is made public, Colleen is asked to resign from the Newman board. This only brings J.T. and Colleen closer. They begin bringing up suppressed feelings and on August 17, 2009 they kiss and are spotted by a spy of Victor's. This soon is heard by the Newmans that J.T. was seen coming out of Colleen's home the next morning. Colleen is confronted by J.T.'s wife, Victoria. Colleen is kidnapped by her Uncles Jack's unstable ex-wife, Patty Williams. She escapes by canoe on the lake but falls into the water and nearly drowns. She is found by Jack and brought to the hospital. On September 22, it is confirmed that Colleen is brain dead because of her accident on the lake. On September 28, the doctors announce that Colleen is an organ donor, and Traci decides to give Colleen's heart to Victor Newman. On her death bed, a heartbroken J.T tells Colleen that he loves her and always will.
Reception and impact
Initial reactions to the J.T. and Colleen romance were both positive and negative. Soap Opera WeeklySoap Opera Weekly
Soap Opera Weekly is a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It features onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional information...
said the age difference between the characters was an "unsettling factor". Yet the magazine referred to them as The Young and the Restless's "hottest young couple", describing them as having a "magic" quality and commending The Young and the Restless for pairing them. Viewers initially rejected the pairing and rooted for Colleen to get a love interest her own age. The couple eventually gained popularity as the story progressed. The couple was voted fourth most romantic couple in all soap operas of 2003 in Soap Opera Update
Soap Opera Update
Soap Opera Update was a magazine dedicated to the coverage of soap operas, co-founded by Angela Shapiro in 1988, and purchased by Bauer Media Group in 1992. The magazine became popular on news-stands in the mid-1990s. However, due to a lack of subscriptions, no promotion, and being criticized for...
: The Year in Soaps. Viewers voted J.T. and Colleen as their favorite couple on The Young and the Restless in Soap Opera Digest
Soap Opera Digest
Soap Opera Digest is a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It features onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional information...
polls multiple times until Fonseca's departure from the series in May 2004. They topped that poll once again for multiple weeks during her brief return. Fans of the couple also campaigned for a reunion between J.T. and Colleen when Fonseca returned in December of that year, and pushed for her to be put back on contract. Fonseca and Luckinbill also anticipated the repairing of their characters because of the positive viewer response. "That's the best part of coming back," Fonseca said. "Already it seems the fans [are] excited to see us together again." Luckinbill said, "When they were together, they were like some sort of supercouple and there is a huge amount of fans who still want them together." News of Fonseca's second exit incited a fan outcry and a campaign pushing for the actress's permanent return. Fonseca never returned but in 2006 the role was recast with Leon in the part. Viewers voted her and Luckinbill's version of J.T. and Colleen the top The Young and the Restless couple in Soap Opera Digest. In October 2008, Soaps In Depth
Soaps In Depth
Soaps In Depth is a series of magazines created in 1997 by Bauer Publications to give American soap opera viewers more variety in their soap-related magazine purchases...
listed J.T. and Colleen among soap operas' 100 greatest couples.