Colleen Zenk Exits Young And Restless As Jordan Bites The Dust!

Tea Totaled: As Claire (Hayley Erin, far l.), Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott, second from l.) and Victoria (Amelia Heinle, far r.) looked on, Jordan (Colleen Zenk) drank herself to her doom.

Colleen Zenk, beloved to As the World Turns fans for her 1978-2010 run as Barbara Ryan, joined the Young and Restless cast in November 2023 as the diabolical Jordan, who had kidnapped Cole and Victoria’s newborn daughter — then known as Eve, now known as Claire — at birth. Now that Claire was all grown up, Jordan was out for revenge against the Newmans, blaming patriarch Victor for how he had mistreated her late sister, Eve. Many dangerous schemes later, the character’s arc came to a dramatic conclusion on the Friday, January 24 episode. (You can click here for a photo recap of Jordan’s villainy.)

This Is The End

In June of 2024, it appeared that Jordan’s reign of terror was over, as Victor turned Jordan over to the police and the character was shuttled off to prison. But she resurfaced in November (this time with a new accomplice, Ian Ward). As the two plotted their latest wave of revenge, Jordan employed her usual roster of wigs to slink around town — that is, until Claire spotted her. But the young woman Jordan had raised was now aligned with the maternal side of her family tree.

On the Thursday, January 23 episode, Jordan was growing increasingly wary of Claire’s attempts to extract the whereabouts of Sharon (who Jordan was holding hostage) from her. As their conversation grew more heated, Jordan demanded to know what Claire had put in her mug of tea, rightly suspecting it was tainted. Soon, Nikki and Victoria revealed their presence, and Claire gloated that Jordan had walked into her trap. Jordan brought up the tea again, voicing her confidence that Claire didn’t have the guts to kill her. Claire shot back that it was her idea.

Victor and Nick then joined the “festivities,” and a menacing Victor declared to Jordan that this time, they would be successful in getting rid of her. Jordan dangled her ace in the hole — her knowledge of Sharon’s location. Victor disclosed that he knew she was in cahoots with Ian, and Jordan shocked the group by revealing that it was Ian who killed Heather. To bait Victor into letting her go free, Jordan stressed that Sharon was running out of time, as the food and water she had supplied her hostage was surely gone by now. Just when it looked like Jordan might get what she wanted, Nick got a call informing him that Sharon had been found! After Victor rejected Jordan’s offer to lead him to Ian instead, it hit Jordan that she had nothing left to bargain with. She lunged for the coffee table and gulped down the cup of poisoned tea!

When the action resumed on the next episode, Jordan finished guzzling down the toxic beverage, then smashed the mug, snarling that she would rather be dead than once again be Victor’s prisoner. Claire brought Victor up to speed about the presence of poison (in the form of crushed-up sleeping pills) in the tea. Jordan addressed Claire, but Victoria intervened, refusing to allow Jordan to get into her daughter’s head. Jordan smirked that she was in Claire’s head already.

As the poison began to take effect, Jordan clumsily made her way to the couch. Claire told her she had mere minutes to live. Victor sat down, prepared to watch Jordan take her last breath, as Jordan grumbled that she thought she would meet her maker in a more creative way. Claire spoke of her loyalty to her family, the Newmans, which caused Jordan to fly into a rage. She blasted Claire as ungrateful and said she hoped Ian succeeded in destroying the whole lot of them. With her dying breath, she told Claire, “You will miss me.”

Claire gazed upon Jordan’s body, and Victoria moved to comfort her. A blanket was placed over Jordan and the cops were summoned. As on-screen soap deaths go, this one appeared to be pretty darn final. Of course, death is rarely truly permanent on soaps, and Jordan has been known to resurface when and where she was least expected….

Do you think Jordan’s gone for good, and are you happy or sad to see her go? Let us know in the comments below!