The Young and the Restless spoilers: Nikki’s shocking temporary replacement at Newman Media?

Although The Young and the Restless’ Jordan (Colleen Zenk) was apprehended by the police in the episode airing on December 26, her damaging impact on the Newmans is far from over.

For example, Claire (Hayley Erin) has a long road ahead in her recovery. The young woman has spent her entire life being tormented by her deranged great-aunt and now has the difficult task of rediscovering who she is as a wanted member of the Newman family.

Then there’s Victoria (Amelia Heinle). She and Cole (J. Eddie Peck) must continue coming to terms with the fact that their daughter never died as a baby and they missed the opportunity to raise her. While they certainly will try to make up for lost time, this is a difficult pill to swallow.

Even with all the challenges that lie ahead for Claire, Victoria and Cole, Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) arguably has had just as much trauma, if not more, inflicted on her that she’s got to recover from.

Claire, under Jordan’s direction, force-fed Nikki alcohol when she was held hostage in Oregon. Since then, she’s been unable to recover in her sobriety and has been successfully hiding this relapse until Nate (Sean Dominic) spotted her during the week of December 18 and reported back to Victor (Eric Braeden). Then again in the episode airing on December 26, Victoria finds a flask in Nikki’s purse.

With all that being said, Nikki is likely headed for a stint in rehab to regain control over her life. Should that happen, then we have to wonder what will happen with Newman Media.

Throughout this whole ordeal with Jordan, it’s appeared that the Newman family has understandably not given much attention to the Newman business empire. With her out of the way for the time being, the Newmans are probably going to get back into the swing of things with work. But if Nikki is headed to rehab, that means someone else will be needed to fill in for her as the Newman Media CEO. So who might that be?

Audra (Zuleyka Silver) is a good possibility as she’s already the COO of Newman Media and was previously CEO of the company before Victor appointed his wife to the role. Considering how things are going with Tucker’s (Trevor St. John) plans for a Jabot takeover these days, Audra may be more than happy to fill in for her boss.

Adam (Mark Grossman) is also a contender to temporarily replace his stepmom. As Adam isn’t shy to share, Newman Media is the baby that was taken from him. He’s always eyed the chance to regain control of the business, and since Victor believes Adam has turned over this "new leaf," The Mustache may be inclined to let Adam prove himself as the temporary CEO of the business.

Now while Adura and Adam are both contenders for the interim CEO position, allow us to propose a shocking candidate — Noah (Rory Gibson). There have been rumblings that Noah is set to return to Genoa City very soon.

The Young and the Restless fans know that Noah is an accomplished businessman who has plenty of experience with the family company. Plus, his grandparents adore him and trust that he won’t give in to darker impulses of greed and deception like Audra and Adam have a tendency to do. Not to mention, Nick (Joshua Morrow) would love the chance to work closely with his son given Nick is back at Newman Enterprises.

We should point out that if Noah does temporarily fill in for his grandmother, Adam may become enraged for being passed over again, and Audra may find herself in an awkward work environment reporting to her ex.

New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.