Tad (Michael E. Knight onward, except for a brief appearance by Terrell Anthony in 1990) returns to Pine Valley in 1982, SORASed to age 20. He gets a job modeling for Olga Swenson (Peg Murray). He is nicknamed "Tad the Cad" because he seduces and dumps many women. He is once caught in Erica Kane's bedroom with another model, which costs him his job. He begins seeing Liza Colby (Marcy Walker, briefly Alice Haining in 1984), a rival of his biological sister, Jenny Gardner (Kim Delaney) for the affections of Greg Nelson (Lawrence Lau). Tad has a simultaneous affair with Liza's mother, Marian Colby (Jennifer Bassey) which is eventually discovered by a furious Liza.