A Definitive & Salty List Of Television’s Worst Boyfriends
Television has blessed us with some small screen relationships to make us believe that love might be real, but it has also demonstrated to us the red flags to look out for when a boyfriend is just the worst.
For every Ben Wyatt and Jim Halpert there is a Ross Gellar and Dan Humphries. The kinds of boyfriends who thrive on controlling women and are often threatened by their girlfriend’s career and aspirations. In short, they’re trash.
These are some of TV’s boyfriends that really deserved to stay single forever.
Ross, Friends
This doesn’t need a lot of explaining but Ross was a terrible boyfriend to Rachel, Julie, Emily, errr…pretty much every woman he came into contact with. He was so controlling and overbearing with Rachel, I’m surprised she ever went back to him.
J.D, Scrubs
While many may think J.D is Scrubs‘ resident Good Guy, he was actually a very shitty boyfriend. The way he treated Elliott – fighting for her, leading her on, then dumping her, was truly awful.
Dan, Gossip Girl
Dan is the essence of a fuckboi. He was all over the place with Vanessa, and in every single relationship he always compared everyone to Serena, who he went on to slut-shame and belittle.
Tony, Skins
While he became a much nicer person in season two, Tony was a major douche to Michelle. He manipulated her, led her on, ridiculed her looks and was a general trash human.
Jughead, Riverdale
I know he has some good qualities, but Jughead as a boyfriend just brings drama, whether he’s trying to become a Southside Serpent or breaking up with Betty to protect her instead of being honest. He repeatedly takes Betty for granted.
Seth, The O.C.
Yes, Seth as a character is loveable and hilarious, but as a boyfriend he is truly terrible. He constantly played with Anna and Summer’s feelings. Despite claiming he was in love with Summer he ditched her completely to follow Ryan and then expected her to be waiting for him.
Ted, How I Met Your Mother
I could write a 10,000-word thesis on why Ted is the worst kind of boyfriend. He emotionally blackmailed Robyn into being his girlfriend holding his friendship hostage over her, and with every other girl that came and went he would expect them to meet his overhyped impossible standards for women.
Riley, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Ugh. Riley. Many will know Riley as Buffy’s most basic boyfriend because not only is he about as interesting as a slice of white bread, he was constantly intimidated by Buffy’s abilities and always wanted to bring her down a notch.
Tim, Friday Night Lights
I will admit that Tim Riggins is about as dreamy as any TV teen can get but he was not a great boyfriend to Lyla. She constantly put in the effort and tried to help Tim follow his aspirations and Tim was just a lazy unmotivated gronk.
Lucas, One Tree Hill
Yes, Lucas is beautiful and has that whole sexy tortured writer vibe. But he did the worst thing you can do: pit two best friends against one another. He fell for Peyton, then dated her bestie Brooke, then cheated on Brooke with Peyton. This toxic dynamic continued the whole series. He’s the worst.
Ryan, The Office
Let’s be real, most of the men on The Office are hilariously terrible people but Ryan is the worst of the worst. Kelly is a precious angel, she should be treated like a queen and not an inconvenience.
Ezra, Pretty Little Liars
OK, we all knew Ezria were endgame but looking back… a twentysomething teacher writing a book about a missing teen he once met, and then hooking up with her friend when he was “researching”? Weird and creepy.
Dean, Gilmore Girls
Some might argue that Jess or Logan are equally bad boyfriends but I beg to differ because Dean is not just bad but also incredibly boring. Oh, and he cheated on his wife. He is a dull lump of a human and never deserved Rory to begin with. (Rory + Jess 4eva)
