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.

In 2005, the character underwent a dramatic change in storyline when Nick and Sharon's fourteen-year-old daughter Cassie was killed off after a car accident.

In 2013, a storyline regarding Summer's paternity was visited, centered on speculation that she is actually the daughter of Jack Abbott, Phyllis' ex-husband.

Morrow regards Nick as a "good dude" who has a "fiery" protective personality, which has developed into a "more mature" persona as the character grew.

The pairing of Nick and Sharon has been met with notable success, listed as one of the genre's best supercouples by The Huffington Post and SoapNet, among other sources.

Morrow's performance has been met with critical acclaim, having garnered him the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series nomination consecutively from 1996 to 2000.

[2] The character was portrayed by infant twins Marco and Stefan Flores in 1989, while child actor Griffin Ledner took over the following year, departing in January 1991.

[7] Morrow, who worked in a restaurant prior to debuting on The Young and the Restless, considered his change in profession a "quantum leap in careers".

He stated he was "happy to know" where he was going to be for the next five years, as well as expressing gratitude towards the soap opera for accommodating his living conditions and schedule.

[18] A controversial storyline occurred in 2011 when alongside his sisters Abby Newman (Marcy Rylan) and Victoria Abbott (Amelia Heinle), Nick sued his father.

"[13] By the following year, Morrow opined that Nick is now "more mature" with his decision-making, and that "He's got a very practical view of the world, and I like that he's kind of become a steady character on the show".

The marriage ends the following year; Nick marries a pregnant Phyllis, who gives birth to their daughter, Summer Newman (Hunter King).

[30] After another one-night stand Sharon becomes pregnant,[31] briefly lying that Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman)—Sharon's ex-husband—is the baby's father when Summer becomes ill and Phyllis needs Nick.

[34] Cassie has a crush on bad-boy Daniel Romalotti (Michael Graziadei), who is dating Lily Winters (Christel Khalil).

[36] Daniel is cleared of all charges and Nick and Sharon begin Cassie's Foundation, a movement to prevent teenage drinking and driving.

[37] Weighing in on the "groundbreaking" and "shocking" plot, Morrow stated, "As a person who watched Camryn grow up, I was devastated and it was not that difficult to use those feelings in the scenes we had to play.

[38] In 2012, during a court battle over Newman Enterprises (the family company), Nick tells a judge that Sharon's mental problems date to Cassie's death.

[26][40] Their three-year marriage eventually succumbs to Nick's ongoing feelings for Sharon, which resulted in an affair and the birth of their daughter, Faith.

[44] In May 2013, Morrow spoke with Michael Logan of TV Guide, revealing that the question of Summer's paternity would be visited, as Nick's "game-changing deception" would be uncovered.

[47] According to Morrow, after Cassie's death, Nick withheld the fact that the results were corrupted because "he just couldn't bear the thought of losing Summer, too", but called it "out of character".

[47] Later that May, Morrow stated during an interview with TV Buzz that Nick would be devastated by the paternity test outcome; confirming that Summer is in fact Jack's daughter.

However, a man named Cameron Kirsten (Linden Ashby) who physically abused her (after having an affair with her) followed Sharon to Genoa City, wanting to bed her again.

Nick, disgusted with her actions, takes full custody of Faith from her when Sharon is unjustly arrested for murder, but continues to support her.

However, in reality, Sharon (who has stopped taking medication to treat her bipolar disorder), altered the results in an attempt to get Nick to return to her.

[51] Also during his early tenure on the series, Liz Wilson of The Record wrote that Morrow is a "soap opera hunk", noting his large group of "mostly young female fans".

[52] In July 1995, more than 12,000 fans of the show attended a "Men of Y&R" event, which also featured fellow actors Eddie Cibrian, Shemar Moore and Don Diamont.

Garrett stated that he "makes perfect choice daily as an actor" and is "solid as a rock from outer space" who "continues to shine" on screen.

[69] Amid critical praise for Cassie's storyline in 2005, Dan J. Kroll of the website Soap Central noted that it had "widely been expected" that Morrow and Case would receive nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress and Actor at the 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards; however, they were not.

[71] Jamey Giddens of Zap2it stated that it was "sad to see a storyline that started with such huge, game-changing potential devolve into a head-scratching stink bomb".

[72] In 2022, Charlie Mason from Soaps She Knows placed Nicholas 16th on his list of the best 25 characters from The Young and the Restless, commenting "A dreamboat run ashore, Joshua Morrow's on-screen persona is the hero in every romance novel… crossed with the mistake that every woman has ever warned a gal pal against making.