Inside Sharon Case And Mark Grossman's Real-Life Relationship

There is still a contingent of "The Young and the Restless" fans who would love to see Sharon Collins and Adam Newman together again on screen. However, since the soap chose not to take that direction despite the slow burn attraction the characters have for one another, fans have to settle for their real-life romance instead.

That's right, Sharon Case and Mark Grossman — the actors who play Sharon and Adam — took their characters' chemistry and transferred it to their own life. The two met when Grossman was cast as Adam in 2019 (via Soap Opera Digest) and hit it off right away. While the show toyed with a true Sharon and Adam romance off and on until 2021, Adam has now veered in a new direction with Sally Spectra (via Soaps In Depth) and Sharon is about to lose her husband in an as-of-yet unnamed manner when Jordi Vilasuso leaves the role of Rey Rosales behind. So, one never knows who she will end up with. Off-screen, things seem a little more steady and a little less dramatic for Case and Grossman.

There was always something a little bit toxic about the on-screen relationship between Sharon Collins and Adam Newman. For one, she spent many years married to Adam's half-brother, Nick. Also, Adam (then played by Michael Muhney) was the man responsible for Sharon's daughter, Faith, being kidnapped as a newborn and handed to Ashley Abbott, according to Soaps In Depth. Adam caused Ashley to take a tumble down some steps, which caused her to miscarry. This is why Adam gave Ashley Sharon's baby and made her believe the child was hers.

Meanwhile, Adam felt guilty about the situation and comforted a devastated Sharon. This is when the two began dating, despite warnings from those closest to her. Even when Sharon got her baby back and learned the truth, she still couldn't help her attraction to Adam (via Soaps In Depth). Something was there, but she put it aside for quite a while.

Several years went by and Faith (played by Alyvia Alyn Lind and Reylynn Caster) grew into an adolescent. At this point, Sharon nearly married Nick again twice, and Adam had been presumed dead twice as well. The second time around, Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) enlisted Sharon's help when he learned Adam (now played by Mark Grossman) was alive and in Vegas. However, he had no memory of who he was and was going by the nickname, Spyder. So, Sharon helped Victor convince Adam to come home to Genoa City, because even with amnesia, he still felt comfortable with Sharon (via Soaps In Depth).

Although Sharon and Adam tried to give it a go again and even slept together once he got his memory back, she decided to marry Rey Rosales. Adam also ended up back with his ex-wife, Chelsea Lawson (Melissa Claire Egan), despite him watching from the corners as Sharon took her vows with Rey (via Soap Hub).

As the two worked together, eagle-eyed fans would notice Sharon Case and Mark Grossman looking close in social media snaps they would post, wondering if they were together as a couple or just friends. At first, they never really confirmed or denied whether they were together romantically or not, but Case finally spoke about their relationship when she appeared on the podcast "90201MG" in 2021 to chat with Tori Spelling (Donna on "Beverly Hills, 90210" ) and Jennie Garth (Kelly on "Beverly Hills, 90210").

Case appeared on two episodes of "Beverly Hills, 90210" way back in 1991 before she ever landed the role of Sharon on "The Young and the Restless." As Tori Spelling fangirled, gushed, and admitted she was a fan of Nick and Sharon's relationship, Case opened up a little more about her real-life relationship without really mentioning names.

Ironically, it was onset COVID-19 protocols that got Sharon Case and Mark Grossman to admit there was something between them.

"We're still not allowed to touch or kiss, we have to stand six feet apart, but if you are acting with someone in the storyline who you in real-life quarantine with, which is the case with me, we can touch or kiss, yeah, so we have a couple of people on the show who can touch or kiss, that doesn't mean we have to be in a storyline together but we could be," Case told the "90210MG" podcast.

That prompted Jennie Garth to ask if she is in a real-life relationship with someone on show. "I mean, we've never talked about it so bluntly, but I guess the reason why we finally mentioned it to the studio is just so that we wouldn't have to distance in case the show wanted to write us in scenes together," Case said. 

Indeed, Case and Grossman did have some passionate kissing scenes when other actors did not. This was the case as a jealous Chelsea imagined Sharon and Adam kissing in front of her while she was recovering from a stroke in a wheelchair and couldn't speak (via Soaps.com).

When Mark Grossman first landed his role as Adam Newman in 2019 (via Soaps In Depth), he credited Sharon Case with showing him the ropes on how a soap — particularly "The Young and the Restless" works. "I was terrified," he said on the Soap Opera Digest podcast "Dishing With Digest." "I was absolutely terrified, especially looking at all the people who'd played Adam previously and the great work they did, and realizing how important the character was to the show." 

So, Grossman went to the pro, Case, who had been with the show for more than 25 years. Over one casual lunch, he picked her brain about everything daytime and got the answers he was looking for. "I had some rapport with Sharon [Case]," he told Digest. "We went to lunch and I asked her every question. I just asked her thousands of questions. She probably wanted to strangle me, but she was great. She was so helpful, especially in the beginning."