Played by: Maura West | Photo Gallery

Deceased

Actress History: Maura West (2010-2011)
Susan Walters (2001-2004; 2010)
Alex Donnelly (1982-1986; 1996-2001)

Occupation at time of death: Unemployed

Resides at time of death: Suite in Genoa City Athletic Club

Spouse at time of death: Single

Previous Marriages:
1. Andy Richards (divorced)
2. Victor Newman (divorced)
3. Victor Newman (annulled)

Flings:
Andy Richards
Victor Newman
Jack Abbott
Brad Carlton (deceased)
Tucker McCall
Nicholas Newman
Deacon Sharpe

Children:
1. Kyle Abbott (son with Jack)

Relatives:
Kyle Jenkins (father)

Friends:
Michael Baldwin
Deacon Sharpe

Enemies:
Phyllis Newman
Nikki Newman
Victor Newman
Adam Newman
Nicholas Newman
Abby Newman
Victoria Newman
Tucker McCall
Ashley Abbott
Jack Abbott

Character biography:

Diane Jenkins entered Genoa City as the woman who Jack Abbott had an affair with on his wedding day to Patty Williams. Jack was in love with Diane but agreed to marry Patty to prove to his father that he was mature and responsible enough to run Jabot Cosmetics. It was Jack’s sister, Ashley, that discovered Jack in bed with Patty after he was late for his wedding.

Diane continued seeing Jack ever after he married Patty. She then threatened to tell Patty about them if she wasn’t made the lead model at Jabot. Jack gave Diane the model job, but Julia Newman replaced her over time. Jill Fenmore convinced a very pregnant Patty to go visit Jack at work. She found him making love to Diane. She tripped over a plant in the lobby and miscarried her baby.

After she recovered, Patty told Jack she wanted another child and wanted to move out of the Abbott mansion and into their own house. But soon, Patty overheard Jack telling Jill that he was planning on a vasectomy and that he only married Patty to become president of Jabot, Patty became outraged and shot Jack three times. Jack was temporarily paralyzed, and eventually recovered. Patty had lost any memory of the shooting or what led to it until her psychiatrist forced her to remember. She and Jack divorced and Patty left town.

Realizing that Jack would never fully commit to her, Diane became involved with Andy Richards. At first, Diane loved the simple life that Andy led, but several months into their marriage, Diane became tempted by Jack again. They began having an affair, and Diane was convinced that Jack was going to propose to her. She divorced Andy, only to find that Jack was not going to propose, but only ended up giving her a bracelet.

Diane left Genoa City for Europe. While there, she realized that she was still in love with Andy. She returned to Genoa City to find that Andy was engaged to Faren Connor. Diane considered fighting for Andy, but she gave up on the idea and left town again.

Ten years later, Diane returned to Genoa City as a well-respected architect. Jack was excited to see Diane again, but Diane’s memories of Jack made her very distrustful of him. In order to see Diane on a regular basis, Jack hired her to design a lake home for him. Ashley was outraged that her brother was seeing Diane again. She tried to get Diane to stay away from Jack, but she admitted that she still had strong feelings for him. They rekindled their romance and became engaged.

Victor Newman then began to romance Diane, originally only to get back at Jack, but ended up falling in love with her. Victor offered her a top-secret job to design the new Newman Towers. Diane was torn between her new feelings for Victor, and her old feelings for Jack. Victor took Diane away on a business trip and proposed on the jet. They were married in Nevada.

Diane decided that she wanted Victor’s child, but Victor countered by having a vasectomy behind her back. He first donated his specimen at a sperm bank before the operation. Diane was furious after finding out what Victor had done.

When Nikki was shot by her new husband, Victor arranged for a quick divorce from Diane in order to remarry Nikki on her deathbed. The plan was for Diane and Victor to remarry after Nikki died. But Nikki survived. Due to his divorce from Diane being declared illegal, his marriage to Nikki was invalid. A legal divorce was gotten from Diane and Victor married Nikki again, legally.

Diane, wanting revenge on Victor and Nikki, decided to steal the sperm sample that Victor had given and impregnate herself. After the baby’s birth, she told Victor that her new son was his and he insisted on a DNA test. Diane was stunned to find out that her baby, Christian Victor Newman, was not Victor’s child at all. Soon afterward, she left town with her baby.

It was later revealed that Nikki, with the help of Jack, had an employee at the lab switch the samples, and Diane was given Jack’s sample instead of Victor’s. Diane returned to town her son, now renamed Kyle Jenkins, and found out that Jack was Kyle’s father.

Jack’s wife, Phyllis, was torn whether or not to support Jack as he sued for full custody of his son. Phyllis went to her friend, attorney Michael Baldwin, for help. Diane also approached Michael for help on the case. Michael decided to bow out and let someone else handle the case. Once Phyllis was on the witness stand though, Michael jumped in and began to break her down on her own parenting issues, causing Jack to lose custody of Kyle.

Using Kyle to her advantage, Diane convinced Jack to let them move into the Abbott pool house. Phyllis and Diane began playing tricks on each other. But the ultimate trick would be Diane framing Phyllis for arson and attempted murder. Diane set the pool house on fire and told everyone that she had been inside and just barely escaped. Diane assured that all evidence pointed to Phyllis. Phyllis was arrested and charged with attempted murder and arson. Phyllis was finally able to convince Jack that Diane had set her up. Jack took Diane to bed and had her admit that she had framed Phyllis. Jack used the information against her and Phyllis was released. He was also able to win full custody of Kyle.

Andy returned to town, in hopes to rekindle his relationship with Diane. They began dating again. Due to friction between he and Phyllis, Jack gave Kyle back to Diane, only to have her move to Chicago and take Kyle with her.

Years later, Jack’s new wife, Emily, asked Diane to return to Genoa City in order for Kyle to visit his father. By the time Diane and Kyle arrived, Patty Williams had returned and taken Emily’s place. Diane and Patty clashed immediately. Patty was having a hard time maintaining the persona of Emily, as Diane began to bash Patty to her. After a short visit, Diane and Kyle left and returned to Canada.

A few months later, just as Jack and Phyllis were celebrating their reunion, Diane showed up on his doorstep. She claimed that she was returning in order for Jack to get to know his son, but Phyllis refused to let history repeat itself. After fighting with Victor, meeting Tucker McCall, and watching Jack and Phyllis break up, Diane decided to enroll Kyle in school in Genoa City.

Shortly after, Diane accepted a job working for Tucker McCall and went to his place to seal the deal. However, the two ended up in bed. A tornado blew out the windows in Tucker’s apartment. After they got dressed, Abby Newman and Daniel Romalotti arrived at the door looking for Ashley.

Phyllis posted a story on the Restless Style magazine website exposing all the dirt on Diane. Once Tucker saw the story, he decided not to hire her. Diane threatened to tell Ashley of their night together, but Tucker told her that she could do whatever she wanted because Ashley wouldn’t believe her. While Diane was looking for a job, Kyle read the things in the article and went to confront Jack and Phyllis. He demanded to know if his mother had really done those things. They told them that she had, and Kyle was angry at Phyllis for hurting Diane like that. Jack ended up breaking up with Phyllis, and tried to work on his relationship with Kyle.

Nick ran into Diane at the Athletic Club, they had dinner together, then he took her back to the ranch where they made love in front of the fireplace. But when Victor returned from his trip unexpectedly, Diane sneaked out the back door. Later Diane accepted a job from Victor as in-house architect for Newman, her first project to be the renovation of the ranch house. She also accepted Victor’s invitation for her and Kyle to move into the carriage house, and carried on with Nick after hours. But after Diane was caught by Victor too often at Nick’s, Nick told Diane he wanted to be just friends. Later the same evening, Diane and Victor became lovers again. But unable to resist Nick, she often returned to his bed as well. Victor spotted Diane necking with Nick, so Victor called her away to the Valentines benefit at Gloworm, where he presented a large donation to the puppy love fund and declared Diane the woman in his life while Nick, Nikki, and Deacon looked on. The next day, Diane apologized to Nick and informed him that she had been asked, but was going to refuse Victor’s offer to move in. But Nick had seen Diane’s true colors, and told her not to refuse on his account, so Diane accepted Victor’s offer and moved in with him. When Jack returned to town and discovered that Diane was now living with Victor, he insisted that Kyle live with him.

After his loss at the arbitration hearing, Victor went home a broken man. Not finding Diane, he went to the stables to go for a ride, and found Nikki there preparing to do the same. They commiserated about the verdict and the destruction of their family, and ended up making love in a pile of hay. Diane came looking for Victor, saw them, and left. Later, Nikki and Victor agreed that it was just a one time thing. To help convince himself, Victor told Diane they were flying to Las Vegas on the Newman jet to be married. Diane balked at his assumption and not even being properly proposed to, Victor attempted to make up for it by charming her and a new dress for the occasion, then told her that he would be awaiting her answer on the jet. After Diane got his blessing from her son Kyle, and ran into Nick, and gave one last attempt to be with him instead, Diane met Victor on the jet. They flew to Las Vegas, and with Michael as their witness, were married on the jet. Victor, Diane, and Michael arrived back in Genoa City for a reception at Gloworm, and were met by Lauren and Katherine, the only remaining friends who Victor could invite. Phyllis and Jack later reluctantly dropped off Kyle for the party, and to return to live at the ranch. Fresh from her breakup with Deacon, Nikki walked in looking to drown her sorrows in a drink and discovered the wedding party. She left after making eye contact with Victor, then drank herself to sleep in her room at the athletic club.

A couple months went by, and Victor and Diane enjoyed a convenient relationship. But as always, a family crisis brought Nikki and Victor together when Victoria’s adopted baby was taken from her. Commiseration led to their making love. Diane walked in on them, and took a photo of them in bed with her cell phone. Afterward, Nikki felt guilty, but Victor told her that they belonged together. Later Victor told Diane he was getting an annulment. After Victor walked out to go for a horseback ride, Diane smashed the blue and white plate which had been the center of the décor at the ranch forever. Later Michael brought the annulment papers for Diane to sign, giving her a larger settlement than stated in the pre-nup. Nikki stopped drinking again, and was attending AA meetings where she would run into Deacon. When Victor caught Nikki merely having dinner with Deacon, he threw a fit at her and tore up the annulment papers.

After repeated attempts to talk her mother out of marrying Tucker, the day before their wedding, Abby got drunk and trashed the park which was decorated for the wedding before passing out in a fountain. Awakened by a cop, Abby was arrested for vandalism. Victor and Ashley met Abby at the jail, and vowed to let her sit there as a lesson, but Tucker talked her into behaving herself, and she was released. Later a rehearsal dinner was held at Gloworm, where Abby played nice to Tucker’s face, but was hatching a plot to expose him as a philanderer to her mother. She sent a text message to Diane from Tucker’s phone to meet him at the Abbott cabin, and one to Tucker from Malcolm’s phone to meet him there for his bachelor party. After the dinner, Abby, instead of driving her mother home, drove her toward the Abbott cabin. When Ashley realized how drunk Abby was, she attempted to get her to stop the car, but in their struggle, Abby stepped on the accelerator just as Tucker was walking across the road, and was struck by the car. Diane was behind them in her car and was first on the scene to tell the police what she saw – an apparently drunk driver who appeared to purposely run a man down. After the emergency workers pulled Ashley and Abby from the wreckage, Ashley told them that she was driving to protect Abby.

Tucker’s condition was critical. With a fractured skull and subdural hematoma, Kay gave permission for surgery to relieve pressure on the brain. Afterward, the doctor reported that they had found another bruise on the brain which caused a coma from which Tucker might not survive. Meanwhile Diane admitted to the detective that she was meeting Tucker, and that Ashley may have found out, so hitting Tucker may not have been accidental. Victor threatened the detective to take no further action, and confronted Diane, calling her a slut and telling her that there would be an annulment with no big settlement. Tucker’s attorney, Nelson McGinnis, was called in to announce that Tucker had a living will stating that no extraordinary measures were to be taken to save his life. Kay refused to allow it, but following his instructions, the doctors took him off the ventilator, expecting him to die. But Katherine made Tucker breathe by shear willpower.

When Victor discovered that Diane had made plans for a liaison with Tucker the night before Tucker was marrying Ashley, Victor called her a tramp and said the annulment would no longer make her a rich woman. In fact, their not having been married for a year, invalidated the pre-nup and Diane would get nothing. Victor took back all the gifts he had given Diane, including her engagement ring, presented her with her packed bags, and threw her out. Diane got Jack to take Kyle, and jobless again with nowhere else to go, Diane took Adam up on his offer to be his roommate, knowing it would further infuriate Victor. Before Adam was even aware, Victor had Michael get a court order to keep Adam and Diane from crossing Victor’s property to get to Adam’s, so they moved to the Athletic Club.

Diane followed Nick and Adam to New Mexico where they went to prove that Sharon’s “death” had not been a suicide. Adam stayed, and Nick and Diane made love in her room after they arrived back in Genoa City. But Nick let her know that it was just sex, he still was not interested in furthering their relationship because he could not trust her.

Adam plotted with Diane to keep Victor busy on the day that Newman stock went public while Adam told the world that Victor was dead, so that he could buy shares when the prices fell. Then when Victor let them know he was alive, the stock would rise and Adam would sell and be rich. At the last minute, Diane let Jack in on the plan, so he was poised to do the same. Diane went to the ranch, told Victor that she was pregnant by him, and he demanded a paternity test. As she was about to leave, she faked severe pains, and begged him to accompany her to the hospital in the ambulance. They left after Diane disabled Victor’s cell phone. As Victor held Diane’s hand in the ambulance, Adam began to execute the plan. Michael heard the newsflash that Victor had had a stroke and died. He tried to phone Victor, but got no answer. Adam in his hotel room and Jack at Gloworm with his laptop each gave the order to buy as soon as the stock price began to fall. Genevieve Atkinson joined Jack and marveling at his stock market skills, slyly accused him of having insider information. After the market closed, Adam, Jack, and Diane met for a champagne celebration of their profits. Victor showed up and told them they would never get away with it. Later after reviewing the facts with Victor, Gus from the F.C.C. determined that stock manipulation could not be proven against Adam, but possibly could be against Diane. After Adam paid Diane off in cash and revealed the trouble that she was in, Diane prepared to leave town, but was caught by Gus who told her that she would be arrested if she tried. Victor filed a lawsuit charging Jack, Adam, and Diane with stock fraud and personally handed each their grand jury summons. But Victor later made a deal with Diane to change her testimony to say that Ashley did not deliberately running down Tucker in exchange for the S.E.C. focusing on Jack and Adam. Diane carried out her part of the bargain, but Victor was unable to keep his. Furious with Adam and Victor for taking advantage of her again, Diane made deal with the D.A. to tell all she knew on Adam and Jack in exchange for immunity, then teamed up with Deacon to bring Adam down. Jack responded to the summons by informing Adam that he was shutting down the Newman Fund, so Adam just convinced their clients to move their investments to his new company, Oak Alley Partners.

Diane continued to play Victor and Adam against each other, hoping to get money. Adam didn’t know the full extent of Diane’s activities and suggested they team up in another scheme, this time involving Kyle. As a part of the scheme, Diane got Victor to get custody of Kyle because she was going to leave town over her fear of Adam. In reality, Diane sent Kyle away to a Swiss Boarding School under another name.

Suddenly everything fell apart as Adam received a grand jury indictment, which included information Diane gave the DA, which in turn of events, put an end to their plan. Later, Diane interrupted Nick and Phyllis making love, and in return, Diane received a restraining order to stay away from Phyllis. Then, a suspicious Jack threatened Diane not to pull any more tricks regarding Kyle and to get a hold of him immediately. She would bring Kyle back, in exchange for them returning as a family, and Diane ended up getting naked in front of Jack. He turned her down, and Diane claimed Jack would never see Kyle again. Building her own attack on Victor, Diane also teamed up with Deacon, so that he got her the video of Abby confessing that she ran over Tucker. With this leverage, Diane filed a lawsuit against Nikki, claiming that she destroyed her marriage to Victor. When Victor heard this, he threw Diane’s camera with the footage of Abby into the fireplace, but Diane claimed that she had made copies already. An angry Victor threatened Diane to stop and once he left, Diane phoned the police that Victor threatened her and tried to attack her after she showed him pictures she had of him and Nikki together. Victor was later arrested for domestic abuse. Not only that, but the picture of Victor and Nikki was eventually leaked to the press by Diane. Victoria and Nick ended up confronting Diane about her attacks on the family, and claimed that they would plan revenge against her. Diane tried to get Nick to pay her to leave town, but he declined. Diane also snipped with Ashley, when discussing her having the footage of Abby. During their argument, Diane mentioned her affair with Tucker. Ashley responded by slapping her. Earlier, Tucker told Victor that he would be forced to take care of Diane, since Victor couldn’t do it the first time.

Diane ended up running into Adam again and he proposed that they team up again, in exchange for her recanting her testimony. She agreed, and Adam gave her a significant amount of money. Diane ended up text messaging everyone to meet her at a river, but it isn’t what happened. Diane was found dead the next morning by Murphy. With everyone having motive, all of Genoa City were suspects in Diane’s murder.