Diego Guittierez is a fictional character from the American soap opera ''
The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, ...
''. He was originated by
Diego Serrano on December 18, 2001, before being replaced by former model
Greg Vaughan
James Gregory Vaughan Jr. (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor and former fashion model, known for his roles in the soap operas ''The Young and the Restless'' (2002–03), ''General Hospital'' (2003–09), and ''Days of Our Lives'' (2012– ...
in April 2002. Vaughan was let go as well, and the character departed on February 17, 2003.
Casting and creation
Diego Serrano's casting for the part was announced on October 26, 2001.
Serrano was previously known for his portrayal of
Tomas Rivera on the
NBC Daytime
NBC Daytime was the daytime programming block of NBC. It historically featured many soap operas, game shows, and talk shows.
Its main competitors were CBS Daytime and ABC Daytime.
Game shows were discontinued from NBC Daytime's lineup in 1994 a ...
soap opera, ''
Another World''. Diego made his first on-screen appearance during the episode dated December 18, 2001. On March 17, 2002, it was announced that Serrano was to exit the role, and his departure was "storyline dictated". Seven days later, it was announced that former model
Greg Vaughan
James Gregory Vaughan Jr. (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor and former fashion model, known for his roles in the soap operas ''The Young and the Restless'' (2002–03), ''General Hospital'' (2003–09), and ''Days of Our Lives'' (2012– ...
was Serrano's replacement.
Vaughan was known for playing
Dan Gordon on the serial drama series ''
Charmed'' from 1999–2000.
The recasting, according to executive producers, was due to a "new direction" they were taking with the character.
Serrano exited on April 26, 2002
with Vaughan debuting four days later on April 30.
In December, it was announced that Vaughan had been let go from ''The Young and the Restless''.
His exit was reportedly due to a "lack of storyline".
A spokesperson for the soap opera said "Greg's a fine actor. And we thank him for all the contributions he's made to the show. It was the end of contract and end of storyline".
His last airdate was February 17, 2003.
Character development
When the casting call for the character was issued, Diego was originally named Dante; but Dante was later revealed to be his brother. He was penned as a "gorgeous, Hispanic male" in his mid twenties.
He's "genuine and caring" but has learned to "sail through life on his good looks".
He was introduced as the brother of another character,
Raul Guittierez (
David Lago
David Scott Lago (; born January 18, 1979, in Downey, California) is a 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 ' ...
).
Candace Havens of
Zap2it called Diego "sexy".
Vaughan commented that Diego's character has developed and come a long way.
He stated "Diego has come a long way. I find him very very passionate about his family and his loved ones."
The actor noted Diego to be "selfless and willing" to put his life "on the line to make life better or safer for someone else".
On Vaughan's first episode on the show, Diego slept with
Sharon Newman
Sharon Newman is a fictional character from ''The Young and the Restless'', an American soap opera on the CBS network, currently portrayed by Sharon Case. Created by William J. Bell as a love interest for Nicholas Newman, the character debuted ...
(
Sharon Case
Sharon Case (born February 9, 1971) is an American actress and former model. At the age of 17, Case began working as a model, relocating briefly to Japan, before pursuing an acting career. She is best known for her roles on daytime television s ...
). Sharon was married to
Nick Newman
Nick Newman (born 17 July 1958) is a satirical British cartoonist and comedy scriptwriter.
Early life
The son of an RAF officer, Newman was born in Kuala Lumpur and schooled at Ardingly College where his satirical career began, working on ...
(
Joshua Morrow
Joshua Jacob Morrow (born February 8, 1974) is an American actor. In 1994, he began his career when he was cast in the role of Nicholas Newman on ''The Young and the Restless''. In 1998, he joined the soul-pop group 3Deep; the group disbanded in ...
) at the time. Sharon had believed that Nick cheated on her, which he didn't, and she became guilt ridden.
Diego "urged" Sharon not to tell Nick about their lovemaking because of the ramifications it could cause where her kids with Nick were concerned.
Intrigued by Diego, Nick's sister
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
(
Heather Tom
Heather Marie Tom (born November 4, 1975) is an American actress and television director. She is best known for her acting work on various soap operas. Her best known roles are Victoria Newman on ''The Young and the Restless,'' Kelly Cramer on ' ...
) took an interest in him and they began having a romance of their own.
On the night Victoria and Diego told each other they loved one another for the first time, Nick found out about his sleeping with Sharon and beat up Diego.
The Newmans began to hate Diego, but Victoria forgave him.
Diego was later beaten up by thugs.
Despite the character's duration on the soap having eventually come to a quick close, on what was to be expected from Diego, Vaughan said "I think there is a lot more in store for him, and we may begin to see a bit of a darker side of him. After being pushed around and beaten up, he finally retaliates, and it's something I've been waiting to see from him".
After Diego's obsession for revenge over the thugs got out of hand, Victoria dumped him and he left town.
Storylines
After being absent from his family's lives for a long time, Diego Guittierez came to Genoa City to find out more about his brother Raul's
diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...
problems. Raul refused to let Diego help him out when his grades started going down. Diego struggled to get around town at first, but he found help from
Larry Warton
A list of notable characters from the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' that significantly impacted storylines and debuted between January 1990 and December 1999.
Lillie Belle Barber
Lillie Belle Barber first appeared in 1990 as ...
(
David Fralick) in getting an apartment, while married couple Nick and Sharon Newman gave him a job at their coffeehouse and working on the Newman ranch.
Diego regularly found himself comforting Sharon, who was having trouble dealing with her problems. Her marriage to Nick suffered when she lost a baby and caught him kissing another woman, so she wanted something more than just comfort from Diego, but he refused to do anything and said he was only her friend nothing more. However, Diego and Sharon ended up sleeping together, then were left guilty when Nick decided to work on his marriage to Sharon.
Nick's sister Victoria Newman was confused about the friendship between Sharon and Diego, so she decided to pretend to be interested in Diego in order to find out more about the situations. She, however, ended up falling for him and they started a relationship. Just as they were ready to confess their love for each other, Nick found out about Sharon sleeping with Diego and he beat up Diego, then cheated on Sharon again. Victoria broke up with Diego. Diego desperately tried to convince the entire family that the night he spent with Sharon meant nothing to him and that he wasn't the one who initiated it. Victoria believed him and they hooked up again.
Victoria's family wouldn't tolerate her being with Diego, so she moved out of the ranch, and the couple moved into a hotel together. Victoria's father
Victor Newman
Victor Newman is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless''. He has been portrayed by Eric Braeden since 1980. Initially a guest character who was to last for eight to twelve weeks, Victor has evolved ...
(
Eric Braeden
Eric Braeden (born Hans-Jörg Gudegast; April 3, 1941) is a German-born film and television actor, known for his roles as Victor Newman on the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', as Hans Dietrich in the 1960s TV series '' The Rat Patr ...
) tried to pay off Diego to leave town, but he wouldn't accept it. Victor gave Diego money, which was later stolen by two thugs who beat up Diego. Diego recovered from his injuries and was keen on getting revenge for the crime against him, completely ignoring the fact that Victoria wanted to lead a normal life with him. Diego hatched a plot with Larry to get revenge on the thugs and it worked. Victoria was upset over how different Diego had become and they split, causing Diego to leave Genoa City behind.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guittierez, Diego
The Young and the Restless characters
Television characters introduced in 2001
Male characters in television