Top 10 Most Divisive Love Interests on Teen Shows

The popular, star quarterback – most high schools have a Nate Jacobs. But the thing about “Euphoria”’s version of the trope is that he’s borderline evil. We repeatedly see Nate be abusive, cruel, and generally a total douchebag to the world around him, including love interests Maddy and Cassie. He’s also impossible to understand — you almost want to feel for him, but how can you when he’s so toxic? His relationship with Jules starts off on a terrible, manipulative note, but it’s clear Nate has some sort of real feeling for her. Plus, everything that’s bad about him can basically be tracked to one source; his father. Daddy issues abound, and while they excuse nothing, they do make him more complex than meets the eye.

Luke Perry was a remarkable actor who flawlessly embodied nuanced, complicated characters. Indeed, on “Beverly Hills, 90210,” Dylan McKay is far from perfect, making many mistakes — especially during his stint as Brenda Walsh’s boyfriend. His decision to cheat on Brenda with her best friend Kelly is a real low point. When Brenda finds out, she’s understandably devastated. While Kelly tries to console her, Dylan basically acts like he doesn’t really care. It’s one example, but it speaks to a larger issue. We know he’s a bad boy and all that, and he had great moments throughout the course of the show. But there’s also a lot of pain and volatility, and it’s kind of hard to look past a betrayal of this magnitude.

Some guys just can never get it right. Such is the case with Drew Torres from “Degrassi: The Next Generation.” As far as divisive romances go, with Drew the question was always more like which one? He’s in a relationship with Alli at one point, but he cheats on her. He also agrees to marry Bianca in Vegas at one point, but that love story ultimately doesn’t pan out, either. And while it feels like the showrunners really want us to care about his and Becky’s relationship, the duo just never really work. No matter what, it always feels like he can’t quite get it right. Don’t even get us started on all the little love triangles. Sorry, Drew, it might be you?

It’s a tried and tired trope. The homophobic jerk turns out to be queer, and falls in love with one of the gay characters he has treated so terribly. If we expected “Glee” to not partake in this trope, we were proven wrong. From the jump, Dave Karofsky torments Kurt endlessly. In season two, however, things start to change when it’s revealed Karofsky has a crush on Kurt. To his credit, Dave does go through a lot over the course of the series, and experiences plenty of growth. Yet when he starts dating Blaine, AKA Kurt’s ex, in season six, we have to admit we were not pleased.

Sometimes, the main character is also the most annoying. Dawson Leery might be among the worst characters to headline a show, with his insecurities and annoying tendencies. That made all of his relationships a bit hard to stomach. Even in the case of the romance with Joey, who’s billed to the audience as Dawson’s soulmate, it’s hard to root for the pair to end up together. Dawson can be a great friend to Joey sometimes, but whenever the two date, things always go haywire. Even putting aside the fact that Pacey Witter is right there, we just never really believe that Dawson and Joey are end game. That’s mainly because he doesn’t quite measure up, with his guilt-tripping and frustrating nice guy shtick.

We love a bad boy. But just because we love them doesn’t make them any less bad. There have been some rocky love interests in the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” series. Take the attractive but kind of boring Riley Flynn, for example. Still, no one has more ups and downs than Spike. It’s controversial from the get-go. A vampire slayer falling in love with a literal vampire? Who would have thought! Spike proves to us time and time again that he’s a better guy than he lets on, but he does have some really dark moments. In fact, he literally once tries to assault Buffy. It’s hard to let that go.

Lucas Scott is one of the most iconic characters of the teen drama canon. And he and Peyton Sawyer are one of its iconic couples. But does that mean he’s a great partner? Not exactly — particularly when it comes to one Brooke Davis. Lucas has eyes for Peyton from jump, but Brooke takes him by surprise, so cue the love triangle. The two begin a relationship that stops and starts a couple of times, but alas, it isn’t meant to be. Not only does Lucas repeatedly cheat on Brooke with Peyton, but even when he’s being faithful, you can tell his heart is with Peyton (who’s also not spared his shenanigans). It’s not great boyfriend behavior, even if things do ultimately work out for everyone.

“Gossip Girl” is kind of a soap opera at heart. And as with most soap operas, all the love interests have a little something wrong with them. Dan is literally gossip girl, for one thing. Still, no one gives us more to chew on than Chuck Bass. Chuck is one of the baddest boys to ever do it when it comes to teen dramas. Just when he gives you something to like about him, or feel sorry for, he turns around and does something so unspeakably evil we can hardly believe it. From literal assault to the whole Blair-hotel deal, there’s no shortage of horrific behavior. It’s amazing any of us were ever as obsessed with this man as we were.

Picture this: you meet someone, you make out, you go home. Everything is fine, until you walk into school later and learn he’s your literal teacher. Aria and Ezra start out this complicated on “Pretty Little Liars,” and things really never get better. Weirdly enough, the age gap and the whole teacher/student thing isn’t even the worst of their problems. That’s saying a lot, because the power imbalance inherent in their romance reflects very poorly on him. Throughout “Pretty Little Liars”’ run, Ezra is suspected of everything from being a murderer to being A, and that’s saying nothing of numerous other transgressions – like spying on the girls for his novel! As far as partners go, let's just say he isn’t the most reliable.

Listen, if we’re being honest, Rory Gilmore herself is among the most controversial love interests in the entirety of “Gilmore Girls.” But at the end of the day, she’s still our protagonist. There is, however, one boyfriend of hers who remains more divisive than the rest and matches her sin for sin. Dean Forester is one of her first true loves, but their romance is toxic from the beginning. Look, we know no teen relationship is perfect — but Jess, for instance, eventually grows up. It seems like Dean, in contrast, never does, and he brings out the worst in Rory as a result. Their cheating scandal as adults – which takes place while he’s married to someone else – says it all.

Which of these love interests do you hate? Are you a fan of any of them? Let us know in the comments below!