Eric "Victor Newman" Braedan leaves "The Young & the Restless"

It looks like Colleen's heart is going to waste.

TV Guide magazine is reporting that Eric Braeden, the iconic big man of Genoa City, is leaving CBS' "The Young and the Restless."

It seems Sony took advantage of a standard clause in soap
contracts that leaves a star’s salary prone to renegotiation every 26
weeks. Sony demanded that Braeden take a major pay cut; Braeden
chose to walk.

He taped what could well be his final scenes as Victor
on September 23 and they will air November 2.

His character, Victor Newman, is in the midst of a storyline that has him hanging on to life after being shot by Mary Jane or really Patty, Jack Abbott's crazy ex-wife, whom Victor brought back to town, helped get reconstructive surgery and a new identity, all in an effort to get revenge on Jack. Jack had gotten Adam, Victor's evil son, to write a diary, allegedly penned by Victor, in which Victor admitted murdering the man responsible for killing his last wife Sabrina and their unborn child.

But Victor's plan went haywire; Patti was crazier than he knew. She ended up poisoning Summer, (Victor's granddaughter) with a peanut kiss (the child is allergic), leaving her with brain damage. Patty kidnapped Colleen; but when Patty got bit by a spider and Colleen went for help, she fell in the lake and hit her head, leaving her submerged too long and then, brain dead. And Patty shot Victor.

Now, it looks like Victor will end up with Colleen's heart, despite the Abbotts' hatred of him. Oh, and Victor's latest wife Ashley, who is an Abbott, after finding all this out, is set to leave Victor. But that's OK, because he still loves Nikki.

Got that?

Speaking of Nikki, the actress who plays her, Melody Thomas Scott, had contract problems of her own earlier this year. As a result she was written off the show for two months, just returning last week, to sit by Victor's bed side.

Could she lose Victor again? (She had a chance to be with Paul but....)

If you're a fan of the show, you know that this is crazy talk! There is no show without Victor.

Soaps, we know from the demise of "Guiding Light," are on the ropes. This is a great way to kill the number one soap on the air.

Braeden speaks out on the ordeal; there's a glimmer of hope.