Ethan Winthrop and Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald are fictional characters and the signature couple on the American soap opera Passions. Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald Crane is portrayed by Lindsay Hartley. Ethan Winthrop was previously portrayed by Travis Schuldt (1999-2002). Eric Martsolf (2002-present) took over the role after Schuldt's departure from the show. The couple is referred to as "ET" (for Ethan and Theresa) or "Therethan" on internet message boards. Storyline 1999 When the show debuted on July 5 1999, Ethan, a member of Harmony's powerful Crane family, had just graduated from law school and was engaged to marry Gwen, of the wealthy Hotchkiss family. Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald was in high school in Harmony; her mother, Pilar, worked as a maid for Ethan's mother Ivy in the Crane mansion. Theresa had dreamed of marrying Ethan since she was a little girl and felt that since Fate had destined them to be together, it was only a matter of time before Ethan fell in love with her. Her mother and best friend Whitney thought she was crazy for believing in such a fantasy.
Ethan and Theresa met in a series of incidents that included Theresa spilling paint on Ethan and other calamities. Frank Lomax was brought in to investigate whether Theresa was stalking Ethan. 2000 Ethan's mother Ivy hired Theresa as her personal assistant, and Theresa made sure to spend a lot of time with her boss's son, which also involved befriending Gwen. Gwen was suspicious of Theresa's intentions toward Ethan, but Theresa convinced her that she had a boyfriend, Chuck, and didn't want Ethan. Just as Ethan and Gwen's wedding planning was to begin, Gwen was called away on business. She asked her now-friend Theresa to help plan her wedding with Ethan while she was away. The wedding planning included a trip to Bermuda to look at possible honeymoon sites. While dancing under the stars with Ethan, Theresa realized that her dreams were coming true and Ethan was falling in love with her.
On the night of Harmony High's prom, Theresa told Ethan that she loved him. He insisted that he did not return her feelings and was in love with Gwen. Theresa told Ethan that she knew he was really in love with her and was only marrying Gwen out of obligation. They continued to bond and occasionally kissed as they planned the wedding. After Theresa was hit by a motorcycle and rushed to the hospital, the nurse informed Ethan that only his love could bring a desperately depressed Theresa back from the brink of death. Ethan told Theresa he loved her, but she thought he was simply saying it to make her better. Ethan then realized how much she meant to him - more than Gwen. They kissed passionately just as Gwen walked into the room, back from her business trip. Gwen mistakenly believed that Ethan had done what he did to help cure Theresa; she thought he was a hero. But Ethan had realized what was in his heart, and the night before his wedding, he called things off with Gwen. He told her that he had fallen in love with Theresa, which enraged Gwen, who had considered Theresa a friend despite her initial suspicions. She went to the Lopez-Fitzgerald house with a baseball bat. and attacked Theresa. Pilar tried to intervene, but Gwen locked her in a closet. Eventually Ethan arrived to subdue Gwen. On Christmas Eve, he proposed to Theresa. 2001 Meanwhile, Gwen and her mother, Rebecca, schemed ways to get Ethan back. They found out that Ethan was not really Julian's son; he was Ivy's son with her first love, Sam Bennett. Theresa also knew, but she had not said anything at the insistence of her mother, so as to not devastate Ethan. Gwen and Rebecca sent the news to the tabloid The Intruder from Theresa's email on her laptop, making it seem that the information had come from Theresa. At Theresa and Ethan's engagement party, it was publicly revealed that Ethan was not a Crane as he had always thought; he was a Bennett instead. He was shocked by the news and changed his name to Ethan Winthrop, taking his mother's maiden name. Lost without his identity as a Crane, Ethan vowed to destroy whoever ruined his life. His mother was denounced by the entire town as well and vowed revenge on whoever had sent the information to the tabloids.
Ethan and Theresa were scheduled to be married in July, 2001, in a double wedding with Theresa's brother Luis and Ethan's aunt Sheridan Crane. Theresa wanted to wait until she was married to make love, but she and Ethan couldn't wait any longer and made love on the beach the night before the wedding. In a desperate bid to stop the wedding, Gwen called the tabloid and gave an anonymous tip that Theresa had been the one to reveal Ethan's true identity. Rebecca made arrangements for the next day's copy of The Intruder to be placed in Ivy's bedroom. An enraged Ivy, thinking Theresa had ruined her and Ethan's lives, drove her car into the church in a crazed bid to stop the wedding. She stopped the ceremony and denounced Theresa in front of all the shocked guests. Theresa admitted she knew Ethan was a Bennett and didn't tell him, but swore she was innocent of sending the e-mail. Gwen also denounced her, stating she was lying. Ethan was devastated Theresa knew, and Ivy encouraged Ethan never to trust Theresa again. The wedding was off.
In Bermuda, Theresa and Julian both got drunk and ended up marrying each other. She was horrified to realize what had happened the following day. Ethan heard she was in Bermuda and tracked her down, still having feelings for her. She was able to keep the marriage a secret from Ethan while trying to have it annulled. Ivy found out Theresa was married to Julian. Ivy was going to tell Ethan about the secret, but Theresa, now emotionally unstable after learning that she was expecting a child which she assumed to be Julian's, stopped her and broke Ivy's wheelchair with a fireplace poker. She then locked Ivy in her room. Ivy was determined to tell Ethan the secret even if it meant crawling to Ethan and telling him the truth and that is what she did! With every ounce of strength Ivy crawled down the Crane Mansion steps interrupting yet another wedding - Julian and Rebecca's. Theresa initially wanted to get an abortion so that she could keep her secret and because the baby would be evil Julian's child, but eventually realized that she could not abort her child. Ivy contacted Mort Chandler, the tabloid reporter who broke Ethan's story, and made him reveal to Ethan the truth about his bride to be's pregnancy on New Year's Eve. Shaken, Ethan left Theresa, and Ivy was triumphant.
2002 After the revelation of Theresa's marriage to Julian and pregnancy, Ethan turned to Gwen, as they had remained friends even after the broken engagement. Ethan continued to decline Theresa's advances, feeling that he just couldn't trust her any more. Despite that, he was still drawn to Theresa, while also being drawn back to his first love, Gwen. Ethan and Gwen get closer, and become lovers again, but when Ethan learned that Theresa had confessed to killing Julian Crane, he and Gwen tried to get her off, both believing that she was innocent. What Ethan didn't realize is that Theresa thought she was covering for him! He begged the Crane attorney, Davis, to help her, not realising that Davis had been instructed to make sure Theresa was found guilty. When the judge declared Theresa's fate, the two went on the run together.
When Theresa went into labor at the Crane cabin where they took refuge, she refused to tell Ethan because she felt she needed more time to convince him that he still loved her. Ethan would have remained clueless if Gwen had not shown up on the scene and finally forced Ethan to realize that Theresa was actually in labor. With Ethan and Gwen's help, Theresa gave birth to a baby boy, named Ethan Martin after the love of her life and her missing father, just as the police burst in. They took Theresa back to the city, where they prepared to execute her. Ethan went to the governor's office, hoping that he could convince the governor to delay the execution in order for them to file an appeal, but Alistair had gotten there first.
Ethan watched the investigation with his lady love, Gwen Hotchkiss. She was there to comfort him throughout the entire event, but after Theresa's death, needed to know if Ethan wanted her, or the ghost of Theresa. Ethan assured her that it was her he wanted, and the two retired for an evening of love making. Both were shocked when Theresa turned up alive, all part of Alistair's plot. Theresa immediately made a play for Ethan, despite her marriage and his commitment to Gwen, and at first he bought into it, until he realized that Theresa was using the baby to manipulate him.
Ethan went back and forth between the two women for a time and when Little Ethan fell sick and he saw Theresa as a selfless, devoted mother, he rethought his feelings on her betrayal in Bermuda and decided to marry Theresa after all. However, when Gwen got pregnant, Ethan decided it was his duty to marry Gwen after speaking to Sam, who had never gotten to raise him since he was never married to Ivy.
Although Gwen planned to move to New York and raise the baby alone, after much thought and a talk with his father, Ethan realized his future now lay with the mother of his child. He asked Gwen to marry him and began looking for a new job. Theresa made sure the only job he could get was at Crane Industries with her. 2003 Theresa's marriage to Julian was announced to be invalid as Julian never said, "I do." Julian kicked Theresa out of the mansion and sued for custody of Little Ethan. Things were slightly resolved when Theresa found a loophole allowing her to live on the Crane estate with her son. Gwen wanted to move away with Ethan, somewhere far away from Theresa, because she knew he still had feelings for her. Theresa left for Los Angeles on her mother's advice to get away and made fast friends with Fox Crane, Ethan's half-brother, who had fallen in love with Theresa's best friend Whitney.
Meanwhile, Ethan and Gwen decided to go to Los Angeles to see a specialist for Gwen's pregnancy complications and to take a break from Theresa. They didn't know Theresa was already there. Ethan was initially able to resist her, until Theresa and Fox launched a full-out attack to get the objects of their affections. Ethan couldn't forget the innocent young girl he still believed Theresa to be, and was drawn to her again, even though he made it clear that he was not leaving his wife or child, and told Theresa it was over. Unfortunately, Gwen had seen the two kissing on television, and came to the apartment to talk to Ethan.
After a confrontation with Theresa, Gwen was rushed to the hospital, where Ethan was told he had to choose between her and the baby. Theresa encouraged him to let Gwen die and to save the baby, as it was the Christian thing to do. Unable to forget how willing Theresa was to end her own baby's life, Ethan called her a heartless monster, and after much deliberation, decided to save Gwen but the decision was taken out of his hands when the baby died. Although Theresa continued to try to manipulate her way close to him, Ethan told her he wanted nothing to do with her again, and promised Gwen that he would never let get in their way again. Gwen was left infertile after losing baby Sarah.
2004 When Theresa lost custody of Little Ethan, Gwen and Ethan decided to adopt him and rename him Ethan Winthrop, Jr. So when Ethan and Gwen decided to go the surrogate route to have a baby, Theresa had herself implanted with the eggs by impersonating the intended surrogate, so that she could blackmail Ethan and Gwen into giving her son back. When they learned she was expecting twins, Ethan and Gwen were initially thrilled, until Ethan began remembering a night he thought he was with Gwen, and soon realized he had been with Theresa and one of the babies she was carrying belonged to the two of them. Despite his conviction that Theresa had drugged and raped him, Theresa lied that she had never drugged him, leaving Ethan uncertain as to what actually happened.
During the pregnancy, Theresa decided that not only did she want Little Ethan back, but she also wanted the babies she was carrying. She promised Gwen and Ethan they would have their baby, but secretly planned to keep both. She inserted a loophole into the surrogacy papers so that she could regain custody of Little Ethan.
After one child had to be aborted to save the life of the other, Ethan prayed that the baby girl Theresa carried was his child with Gwen. Theresa announced her intentions to keep the child, and Ethan was forced to admit to a disbelieving Gwen that Theresa had been with him and that what she said might really be true. The baby, named Jane, turned out to be Theresa's, leaving Gwen devastated and Ethan distressed.
2005 After attempting to kill Theresa by stabbing her, Gwen went on the run with the baby. When they finally caught up to them, Ethan shocked Theresa by telling her that he had the charges against Gwen dropped and, in return for Theresa not re-filing, Ethan would not take the baby from her. After learning that Theresa had the charges reinstated in a bid to break up his marriage with Gwen, Ethan was furious with her. He made good on his threats, and he began a custody battle with Theresa over Jane.
Gwen and Ethan won temporary custody because it was proven in court that Gwen's actions were caused due to a drug interaction and she was not responsible, but the judge was disgusted by the scenario surrounding Jane's conception. Before long, Theresa's visitation was limited as she continued to scheme to get close to her daughter. The custody arrangement seemingly became permanent as Gwen and Ethan attempted numerous times to leave the country with Jane but Theresa, who married Alistair to be near her children (Alistair adopted Little Ethan), blocked them at every turn, making it impossible for Ethan to get a job anywhere in her attempt to keep him close. Theresa endured rape and mental torture at the hands of Alistair, so that she could be close to her son and daughter in the mansion. Ethan confronted Theresa after finding proof that she had sabotaged his job prospects, only to be confronted with a proposition. If he would agree to let her become his mistress, she would leave him be. Ethan was tempted, as he still loved Theresa despite her faults, but didn't want to hurt Gwen. She continued to try to get him to work at Crane, but Ethan finally decided to be a stay-at-home dad to Jane after Gwen got a good job.
2006 Theresa was so determined to get Ethan that she flew to Rome to locate the tabloid editor who had initially printed the story about Ethan's paternity. She found J.T. Cornell in Rome and convinced him to spill the beans, that it was Gwen and Rebecca who sent him proof of Ethan's paternity. Ethan had headed to Rome to protect his sister, Jessica after she took off, and while there, Theresa found this to be the perfect opportunity to tell Ethan the truth. Unfortunately, although J.T. claimed Gwen had sent the information, Ethan didn't believe him, thinking Theresa paid him off. But when Gwen showed up in Rome, he wanted answers from his wife as to why Theresa was so certain that she was behind the leak of his paternity. Gwen eventually got out of it and she and Ethan returned to Harmony.
J.T. also told Theresa that Ethan was Little Ethan's biological father, not Julian. Pilar tried to convince Theresa to tell Ethan, as he deserves to be a father to his child, but Theresa believed that she would lose her son to Ethan and Gwen, so she paid J.T. to leave Harmony for good. In this time, Julian decided he wanted custody of Little Ethan, hiring Ethan to be his attorney. Theresa, of course, objected and was scared that Julian would seek full custody.
Theresa eventually gave up on Ethan and moved on with a new man, Jared Casey. Ethan, however, was still drawn to his soulmate. Theresa finally decided to tell Ethan, so she found J.T. Cornell before he left town so that he could tell Ethan the whole truth, but Gwen wanted him to keep quiet. Gwen and Theresa fought over J.T. to do their bidding, for him to keep quiet and for him to tell Ethan the whole truth, respectively. J.T. finally said he would tell the whole truth, but when he told Ethan the "truth," he said that it was Phyllis, the maid for the Cranes, who actually outed him as a Bennett.
While Theresa and Julian discussed the trial for custody over Little Ethan, Theresa couldn't bear her child being with someone who was not his real father, so she broke down and told Ethan the truth about Little Ethan's paternity. In true Ethan Winthrop fashion, he began to berate Theresa for keeping such a secret. She got scared and was hurt by his reaction, so she immediately reneged her confession and said that she merely meant he is more like a father to Little Ethan than Julian ever could be.
Eventually, Alistair died and left the entire Crane empire to Little Ethan, with Theresa as steward.
2007 Theresa moved on with Jared, intending to marry him, but Ethan insisted that she couldn't and that he was wrong for her. Eventually, Gwen had had her final straw and told Ethan that she was sick of always playing second fiddle to Theresa and she was finally divorcing him for good. She left and filed for divorce.She even smashed their wedding ring. Ethan at first fought against it but then realized that Gwen had done what he had not had the courage to do - he was always meant to be with Theresa. Theresa had decided to move on completely with Jared and was encouraged by Whitney to tell Ethan to run after Gwen and try to make up so that they could be a family. Theresa just couldn't do it and realized that she still loved Ethan after all; now was their chance to be together.
Things were dampered by Theresa's brothers Luis and Miguel being wrongly accused of rape and attempted murder of Ethan's siblings Fancy and Fox, respectively. Theresa was contacted by a blackmailer insisting that she stay away from Ethan and marry Jared, or he/she would tell Ethan about Little Ethan's true paternity. Theresa realized that if it were revealed that Little Ethan was not a Crane, she would lose her role as head of the Crane empire. Without the Crane money, she had no chance of proving her accused brothers innocent. Since her mother had already lost one son, Antonio, Theresa knew that it would kill Pilar to lose her remaining sons to prison or death row. For her mother's and brothers' sake, Theresa realized that she could not tell Ethan the truth about his son even though she wanted more than anything to be a family with him and Little Ethan and Jane. She had to comply with the blackmailer's wishes. She married Jared in the hospital but couldn't stay away from Ethan, making love to him that night. Ethan has tried many times to be alone, or make love to Theresa. He kidnapped her and took her to one of Allister's hidden room, and talk her into making love to him. He also hired a look-alike to stand at Chad's surprise party so that he and Theresa could sneak off to the make love once again in the closet. But Ethan also gave the look-alike a GPS device, so when the blackmailer contacted the look-alike, he could signal Ethan and Theresa. After being singal while making love in the closet, Ethan and Theresa went after the blackmailer. But they ended up being locked in a secert room that had caught on fire. Theresa, who then thought they were going to die, decided to tell Ethan that he was, in fact, Little Ethan's true father. But Ethan had passed out from all the smoke and did not here Theresa's confession. After that, the blackmailer got angry that Ethan and Theresa tried to come after him again that he sent a text message to Julian, telling him to get a DNA test on his son. Julian found out that Little Ethan is not his son, and is threatening Theresa.
They were finally married on August 20 2007 in a small ceremony with their children Little Ethan and Jane present. They don't know that her husband is still alive.
