‘The Young And The Restless’ Star Hunter King Talks Summer’s On-Screen Rival
The Young and the Restless star, Hunter King, spoke with Soap Opera Digest about her on-screen alter ego’s rival, Abby. It’s no secret that Summer and Abby do not have a typical niece and aunt relationship. They’ve been at each other’s throats numerous times over the years, but off-screen, that’s a different story. The actress talked about her real-life friendship with Melissa Ordway, who plays Abby.
“It’s so funny because we just hate each other on-screen,” King told the magazine.
“Abby and Summer can’t stand one another. We always joked in between scenes. I’m like, ‘You’re the worst aunt ever!’ She’s like, ‘You’re the worst niece ever!’ And we always have to give each other mean looks.”
In the storylines, Abby and Summer rarely have a kind word to say about each other. That could have something to do with their history of problems with men. At one time, Summer’s aunt Abby slept with her husband, Austin (Matthew Atkinson), which did not do anything to strengthen their relationship. They’re often at each other’s throats and have gotten into physical fights with each other at different times.
Despite their on-screen animosity, King and Ordway are good friends when the cameras stop rolling.
“Afterwards you see us, and I’m, like, hugging her. It’s so funny that we have to play like we hate each other so much,” said King.
Plus, since they have such a good time together, King and Ordway struggle to turn into their alter-egos when it’s time to shoot scenes together. At times, they have to try hard because their friendship is so different than the relationship their characters share.
“Some days it’s really hard because one of us will still or laugh and then we can’t stop. But I adore Melissa. She is one of the sweetest people,” the actress gushed.
She also revealed that Ordway, who is a mother of two, arrives on set in the wee hours of the morning dressed in cute outfits, while King shows up in pajamas. For King, Ordway resembles Superwoman in how well she manages parenting and working for the CBS Daytime drama.
The soap is currently airing theme weeks of reruns due to its production shutdown amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, in the current storyline, Abby and Summer find themselves at odds because Summer and Kyle (Michael Mealor) got back together, leaving Lola (Sasha Calle) heartbroken. Lola is the chef at Abby’s restaurant Society, and the two women are also friends. Abby didn’t appreciate Summer and Kyle’s reunion.
