Introduced as a stripper, the character became well known for her relationship with businessman Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), a union that developed into a supercouple pairing that has spanned over four decades.

The character has also had several other notorious relationships, including Paul Williams (Doug Davidson), Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman), and Brad Carlton (Don Diamont).

[11] In May 2009, Nelson Branco of TV Guide Canada reported that Scott had been asked to accept a salary cut, or be taken off her contract and dropped to a recurring status.

[13] Scott later signed another contract to continue her portrayal,[14] but in 2011, the actress' future was left in uncertainty, because of the soap opera's financial issues.

According to the soap opera's website, the character "has matured from the girl from the wrong side of the tracks to the serial’s luminous and resourceful heroine.

[17] Of playing the character's ongoing tragic life, Scott stated: "Ever since I have been an actress, which is 56 years now, I have always preferred high drama, angst, and catastrophes.

The writers of The Young and the Restless detailed their characters to marry and divorce or depart from each other in some form or fashion in a continuous cycle, which is a take on the original supercouple formula.

[23] Soap Opera Digest relayed the beginning of the pairing's creation and their impact, described as an "inspired decision", led to Victor and Nikki becoming the series' most successful supercouple.

"[30] In a 1994 interview with The Los Angeles Times, the newspaper reported that Victor's relationship with Nikki had "registered an enduring appeal among viewers", with Braeden replying that, "Arguably, it's the idea of this incredibly powerful, wealthy man taking a woman who comes from the wrong side of the tracks into his life, and shaping her and forming her more to his liking.

"[34] The Museum of Television and Radio wrote: "Combined with a series of social-issue storylines covering everything from AIDS to date rape to the plight of the elderly, as well as featuring a group of popular young African-American characters, and several long-term romantic and professional relationships, Victor and Nikki's love story has kept viewers enthralled for many years."

Of their relationship, Scott stated: "Deacon has more balls than Nikki expected and he keeps coming back, determined to convince her he truly loves her.

Josh didn't know I used to play piano on Y&R way back when, so he decided to revive that and use it to show the beginnings of Nikki's symptoms — the shaky hands, the cramping, the feeling you've got arthritis.

During the murder trial, Jill Foster (Brenda Dickson) hired a Nick look-alike named Joseph Thomas to scare Nikki and Casey.

After Tony's death, Victor moved on with Lorie Brooks (Jamie Lyn Bauer), while Nikki hooked up with Rick Daros.

Once Victor learned the truth of Leanna's book, he tried to win back Nikki through a business deal with Jack (now Peter Bergman).

Following a riding accident where she miscarried a child of hers and Jack's, she sunk into a state of depression, developing addictions to painkillers and being an alcoholic to help her recovery.

In 2007, she ran against ex-husband Jack in the race for Wisconsin state senate, but after a few mistakes and being caught on tape kissing her campaign manager, David Chow (Vincent Irizarry), she lost the election.

Nikki stepped down as CEO of Jabot after hearing that David had killed Ji Min Kim, Jill's current lover.

She once again returned, and after Victor was shot by Patty Williams, Nikki left with him after a heart transplant to undergo rehabilitation in a center in Europe.

Upon learning the truth about Deacon's role in her drinking, Nikki left him but it was too late for her to return to Victor, who had married Diane.

Deacon threatened to confess that he saw Victor, Victoria and Nicholas in the park the night of Diane's murder unless Nikki would marry him; she agreed.

Nikki's brief relationship with Victor failed; she began to reconnect with Jack who was suffering from a gunshot wound from Patty Williams that had left him paralyzed.

[51] Former executive producer and head writer Maria Arena Bell called Nikki one of the "hearts and souls" on the soap opera, and said: "Melody is a phenomenal actress.

Since Nikki's arrival in Genoa City back in 1979, she has been brainwashed by a bizarre religious cult; gotten caught up in the world of striptease and circa 1987 miraculously survived a "fatal" disease called sarcoidosis.

"[60] In 2006, when Scott celebrated 27 years on the soap opera, the Jamaica Gleaner wrote of her portrayal and the character's evolution, "As Nikki Reed Newman — a character who has been married seven times (twice to Victor), been addicted to alcohol and pain pills, killed her sexual-molester father and been shot several times — Melody has an exciting alter ego.

Curiously, those money issues at Y&R didn't stop the suits from hiring lots of new high-profile faces in recent months, including Emmy-winning suds greats Genie Francis and Debbi Morgan — a fact that did not go ignored by Thomas Scott's legion of irate fans who organized a massive Twitter campaign to bring their girl back.

"[50] Lori Harito of Global wrote that "the woman we love to hate" would be "back on our screens, no doubt butting heads with Victor Newman".

[63] Sara Bibel of Xfinity wrote that she had hoped Nikki's relationship with Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan) would blossom into a "real romance".

"[69] In 2024, Mason included Nikki in his list of the best mothers in American soap operas, joking that she is "the more fun parent with whom to judge party guests" and writing, "Sure, she once slept with a horseman who’'d go on to marry daughter Victoria.

[70] Mason also placed Nikki 10th on his ranked list of Soaps' 40 Most Iconic Characters of All Time, commenting, "Since the recovering alcoholic can't, we'll raise a glass to the stripper-turned-exec that since 1979 Melody Thomas Scott has kept as unpredictable as a Friday cliffhanger".