Matt Clark is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. The role was originated by Eddie Cibrian in May 1994, who left the show in 1996. After Russell Lawrence briefly playing the character in 2000, Rick Hearst took over the role that year, departing in 2001 after the character was killed off. Hearst returned for several appearances as an apparition. Matt was known as an antagonistic villain who created problems for Nick and Sharon Newman, beginning when they were teens in high school. He raped both Sharon Collins and Amy Wilson, and framed Nicholas Newman for multiple crimes.

Nicholas Newman is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Created and introduced by William J. Bell, he was born onscreen in 1988 as the second child of supercouple characters Victor and Nikki Newman. Portrayed by a set of twins and later two child actors for his first six-year period, the writers of the series decided to rapidly age the character to a teenager in the summer of 1994. That June, Joshua Morrow began portraying Nick, and has remained in the role ever since. The character was reintroduced with the purpose of developing a relationship with another character, Sharon Collins, who was introduced around the same story arc. The pairing, which yielded three children, Cassie, Noah and Faith Newman, proved popular with viewers. They are regarded as a prominent supercouple by the soap opera media.