June 14, 2004 to June 15, 2004; September 14, 2004; February 19, 2007; May 9, 2007 to August 27, 2007; November 1, 2007; December 21, 2010 to December 22, 2010; February 1, 2017 to September 13, 2017 [guest appearances]

C.J. Garrison was the son of fashion maven Sally Spectra and her philandering designer, Clarke Garrison. C.J. grew up without his father, who wasn't interested in child-rearing and eventually left Sally on her own. But C.J. had the guidance of his half-sister, Macy Alexander, and the extended family of Spectra Fashions, which included Darla Einstein and Saul Feinberg.

As a teenager, C.J. exhibited his mother's spunky characteristics; he started a food fight with rival Rick Forrester, heir to competing fashion house Forrester Creations. C.J. and his family were dubious when Clarke came back to town to help save Spectra from bankruptcy; C.J. began defending his father until C.J. was kidnapped by thugs from Unicorn Fashions, who paid Clarke to sabotage Spectra and were angry that Clarke had reneged on their deal. C.J. forgave his father after Clarke was shot rescuing C.J. from the crooks.

C.J. eventually became friends with Rick, even performing together as a band at the Insomnia Café to help Rick's babysitter, Amber Moore, pursue a singing career. C.J. drag raced Rick on a dare from Amber, which resulted in a crash that required Amber to donate a kidney to Rick. C.J. became Amber's confidant when she wasn't sure if she was pregnant by Rick or one-night stand Raymond Usher. C.J. dated Kimberly Fairchild, but she was more interested in Rick. During a particularly fierce spate of competition between Spectra Fashions and Forrester Creations, C.J. attempted to sabotage Forrester's showing, ultimately ripping off the bottom half of Kimberly's dress in front of the press.

After Amber miscarried Rick's baby and replaced it with that of her cousin, Becky Moore, to fool Rick, C.J. uncomfortably kept the secret. C.J. began dating Becky and fell in love with her, but soon Amber revealed to him that she'd found out Becky was dying of pancreatic cancer. C.J. chose not to tell Becky, instead proposing marriage. Surrounded by family and friends, C.J. and Becky had a lovely wedding, but C.J. became a widower on his wedding day.

C.J. honored Becky's dying wish for him to raise her son, Eric Forrester III, with Amber; C.J. and Amber moved in together. C.J. was still grieving Becky when Macy was killed in a car accident; C.J. inherited the Insomnia from Macy and began running it. But when Amber had a party at their apartment, she and C.J. were falsely arrested for drug possession, and Child Protective Services handed Little Eric over to Rick, who had raised the child as his own when he was married to Amber. C.J. and Amber bonded while fighting the Forresters for custody of Little Eric and planned to marry. Before C.J. could exchange vows with Amber, Rick crashed the ceremony with Deacon Sharpe, Little Eric's slimy biological father. C.J. hoped he and Amber still had a future, but was crushed when Amber eventually decided to go back to Rick.

C.J. felt bitter toward the Forresters, not only because of the custody battle, but because Rick's older half-brother, Ridge Forrester, had taken over Spectra Fashions. C.J. took it out on Rick's sister, Bridget Forrester, who wanted a job at the Insomnia after a disastrous marriage to Deacon. But C.J. relented and also let Bridget stay in the apartment above the coffee house. C.J. dated Bridget and encouraged her ambitions to go to medical school. C.J. was jealous when Bridget's mentor, Mark Maclaine, took an interest in her. C.J. gained a more serious rival in Mark when Bridget decided to date both of them, a situation complicated by C.J. learning that Mark was his long-lost half-brother. Both C.J. and Mark missed a chance to say goodbye to Bridget, who was leaving for a Forrester fashion show in Italy, because they were too busy arguing over her.

C.J. was overjoyed when Macy turned up alive and came home to visit Sally, who had suffered a heart attack. C.J. refused his support when Macy wanted to marry Deacon, given how Deacon had used Becky and Bridget. But C.J. was forced to grieve Macy all over again when criminals rigged a chandelier to fall on her during a club performance to intimidate the club's owner; C.J. watched as Sally tearfully took Macy off of life support. Later, Darla married Macy's ex, Thorne Forrester, with C.J. in attendance.

A few years later, C.J. filmed a video of Rick singing with Phoebe Forrester, hoping to use it to promote the Insomnia as a karaoke spot. C.J. also aided in selling Spectra Fashions to Nick Marone, since Sally had moved to the French Riviera's St-Tropez and was happy being out of the fashion business. In 2010, it was revealed he had moved to San Francisco and was closing the Insomnia; C.J. sold it to Sally's longtime frenemy Stephanie Forrester, who turned the coffee house into Dayzee's, an eatery that would help to aid the homeless.

In 2017, C.J. returned to Los Angeles, having bought Spectra Fashions back from the Marones sometime before. Anxious to sell the failed fashion house to publishing magnate Bill Spencer, C.J. was dubious when his heretofore unmentioned cousin, namesake Sally Spectra, and aunt, Shirley Spectra, wanted to revive the business. Despite pressure from Bill, C.J. gave his cousin Sally six months to kick-start Spectra, promising to sell to Bill if she didn't. C.J. wasn't enthusiastic about young Sally's chances, especially not after she received a scathing review, but he was impressed by her comeback showing, at least until he discovered she had taken a page out of his mother's playbook and stolen designs from Forrester. C.J. was ready to sign Spectra over to Bill, who wanted to replace the fashion house with a skyscraper, when Sally's new love, Thomas Forrester, invested $100,000 to keep Spectra from the wrecking ball and announced Bill had written the bad review to sabotage Sally; C.J. happily refused Bill's offer.

C.J. was sorely tempted when Bill offered him an additional $5 million for Spectra, but C.J. held firm and refused after Sally had a successful preview and promised her forthcoming showing would turn things around. Later, C.J. was moved to tears when his mother's company went up in flames after having electrical problems and was forced to tell Sally there was nothing to rebuild with because he hadn't renewed Spectra's insurance.