8 Beloved TV Couples That Are Likely No Longer Together

There are plenty of TV couples who are the driving force of their respective shows, but that doesn’t mean that they could realistically be together long-term in real life. In fact, most TV relationships wouldn’t last a year after the series finale, even though some of them are the favorite sitcom couples of the masses. Ross and Rachel’s relationship in Friends was thrilling, and David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston had amazing chemistry, but in reality, the characters were likely to break up again, not long after their emotional reunion in the series finale. The iconic lobsters are far from being the only TV relationship that wasn’t made to last.

Sitcom couples have it hard, but drama romances have it harder. The Vampire Diaries’ peak moment was when Elena chose Damon over Stefan, effectively resolving the tiresome love triangle, but that doesn’t mean that Elena and Damon could ever live out their happily-ever-after — not with the chaotic lives they had had or the choices they had made. Even the most beloved TV couples aren’t safe from facing everyday problems that every marriage has, and some of them simply can’t handle them, as their shared history proves. Some couples weren’t meant to be, and that’s the reality few people are willing to accept.

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8 Ross & Rachel

Friends

Friends’ Ross and Rachel have a long and complicated history that takes its roots from their high school days. They pined for each other, dated, broke up, had a baby, and got back together over the course of 10 seasons. However, this couple had no chance of staying together. Ross was still jealous of any attractive guy who was near Rachel, and when the next Mark appeared, the story was likely to repeat itself. Rachel passed up a huge career opportunity in Paris for Ross, and she was bound to regret it eventually. These two never even got to the altar, and by 2024, they had long been through.

7 Ted & Robin

How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother‘s biggest question remains who Robin should have ended up with, and there are arguments for both Ted and Barney. In the original ending, Robin and Ted decided to give their relationship another go, and that was a huge mistake. Ted and Robin were inherently different people — Ted always wanted stability and a family, and Robin put her career and adventures first. The children may be out of the equation, but all the rest still stands. Once Ted and Robin got serious again, all their old disagreements bubbled up to the surface, leading to their inevitable split.

6 Leonard & Penny

The Big Bang Theory

Leonard and Penny’s relationship in The Big Bang Theory was predictably doomed as well. Although the characters had come a long way from where they started, they still didn’t know how to communicate. Deep down, Leonard thought that Penny wasn’t smart enough, and Penny constantly mocked Leonard’s interests. As if that wasn’t a recipe for disaster, the two didn’t share the same views on children. Penny was quite happy with her life as a childfree woman, and Leonard accepted that, despite wanting to have kids. In the finale, however, Leonard got his wish, but Penny might have regretted fulfilling it, which resulted in a broken family.

5 Kurt & Blaine

Glee

Kurt and Blaine were the sweetest couple in Glee, and it was hard not to root for them. There was a lot of drama between the two during high school and afterward, but Kurt and Blaine got through it all. Shortly after Blaine’s surprise proposal, the couple tied the knot in a double wedding with Brittany and Santana. Despite their happy ending on the show, Kurt and Blaine could never have lasted. They didn’t learn how to discuss their true feelings respectfully. In addition, Kurt and Blaine both strove to be the center of attention, and that was bound to blow up in their faces sooner or later.

4 Damon & Elena

The Vampire Diaries

The Vampire Diaries’ main character wasn’t an easy woman to please, and even Damon, her boyfriend, could rarely do right by her. The slowburn romance was once the reason to watch the series, and after a lifetime of heartbreak and loss, Elena and Damon got to live out their human lives together in peace. However, that didn’t seem particularly realistic. Damon may have been reformed and human, but he still killed a lot of people, including Elena’s brother Jeremy, albeit not permanently. Elena might have overlooked it all back when their lives were full of chaos, but Damon’s crimes came back to haunt her later on.

3 D.J. & Steve

Fuller House

D.J. and Steve were the IT couple in Full House, and their happy ending in the finale felt appropriate since they both grew up and realized that they were meant for each other. Unfortunately, Fuller House‘s premise ruined it by having D.J. and Steve split off-screen and marry other people. They did wind up together eventually and even wed, but it was the wrong move for the show. It seemed like D.J. and Steve were just reliving their high school years, and the only thing that fueled their relationship was nostalgia. They could not have gotten far on that sentiment, so they amicably parted ways somewhere down the line.

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2 Luke & Lorelai

Gilmore Girl: A Year in the Life

It took Luke and Lorelai an entire revival to finally take the next big step in their relationship, but their rushed marriage in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life was one big red flag. Throughout the years, the adorable couple kept falling apart because they failed to simply talk to each other and discuss what worried them. By the time of the revival show, nothing really changed that much. Neither Luke nor Lorelai seemed excited about making a life-long commitment to each other, and they even had to elope before they changed their minds. They probably got an annulment a few weeks later, citing cold feet as the reason.

1 Dwight & Angela

The Office

Unlike Jim and Pam’s steady romance, Dwight and Angela’s relationship in The Office was a mess, and yet the two somehow made their way back to each other each and every time. In the series finale, the couple tied the knot, and it was implied that the drama was finally over. However, Dwight and Angela hurt each other one too many times for their marriage to work. After all, Angela lied to Dwight about his child, and that never went away. These two love birds couldn’t make it work long-term, as their history was full of mutually inflicted trauma.