Top 10 TV Couples of the Decade (2010s)

The premise of “Jane the Virgin” is that a young woman is accidentally artificially inseminated, resulting in her becoming pregnant even though she’s never had sex. While she’s in a relationship at the time, she ends up entangled with the baby’s father, Rafael. Throughout the show’s run, it’s a classic love triangle with fans being split over whether Jane should end up with Michael or Mateo’s father. In the end though, it became clear that Jafeal was end game, and we wouldn’t have had it any other way.

During the 2010s, we’ve seen a rise in the diversity of relationships on TV, with more and more LGBTQ courtships finally getting the attention they deserve. One of the best examples comes from “Shadowhunters” with Alec and Magnus. While the beginning of their relationship was a controversial one among viewers, they soon became a fan favorite couple, showing that same sex partnerships don’t have to follow a tired formula. Seeing the two get married in the series finale of the show was exactly what we needed for this happily ever after.

The “will they won’t they” couple has become a mainstay of TV tropes, and yet somehow it doesn’t get old. One of the more recent versions is Nick and Jess from “New Girl,” who started off as friends but eventually progressed to be much more, despite their incompatibilities. They’re a sweet and realistic couple with undeniable chemistry that kept us watching season after season. While it seemed like these two may never make things official, they finally did in the last season in the most adorable way possible. And while we loved these two, the show also featured another much-loved pair: Schmidt and Cece.

When it began airing in 2017, people weren’t sure what to expect from “Riverdale”, the show that planned to take a dark look at the world of the Archie comics. But it became a classic guilty pleasure among teens and adults alike, creating several great relationships that have been tested throughout the seasons. While we absolutely love Toni and Cheryl together, you can’t argue that the primary couple that fans root for is Betty and Jughead. Betty is a good girl and Jughead is a troubled writer from the wrong part of town, and the inevitable tension between them led to the two actors who play them to become a couple in real life as well.

First there was “The Office”’s Pam and Jim and then came their spiritual successors, Leslie and Ben. These two weren’t supposed to date because they worked together, but nothing ever could have gotten in their way. While many of the other couples on our list dealt with frequent life or death situations in the dramatic worlds their romances were set in, this love story is a sweet and simple one. In the first couple of seasons, we couldn’t have imagined the perfect match for the overly enthusiastic Leslie Knope, but when Ben came onto the scene, we all of a sudden couldn’t picture her with anyone else.

“Once Upon a Time” has offered up a full slate of couples for us to choose from, but the story of Killian and Emma has to be our favorite from this fantastical fairy tale world. Known affectionately by fans as “Captain Swan”, these two had to face many trials before they could get to “happily ever after”, but in the end their love prevailed. Clearly, this is the love story that mattered most to viewers, because the final shots of the series finale focus on Emma, Killian and their young daughter as the picture perfect happy family.

Vampire romance never really gets old, and the series that arguably defined the 2010s was “The Vampire Diaries”: Elena Gilbert had to decide between two brothers, who just so happened to be vampires. Much of the series was spent with the three in a classic love triangle, but it soon became clear where Elena’s true affections lay. Fans weren’t sure what would happen with these two considering Elena spent much of the end of the series in a coma, but viewers eventually saw her and Damon living out their lives together, even if it wasn’t exactly in the most conventional way.

Sometimes the best romantic stories are the ones that are the most realistic. Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago are fellow detectives at the 99th precinct in Brooklyn and when we met them, it was hard to imagine romance in their future. Jake is the classic class clown who can’t take anything seriously, and Amy is his straight-laced try-hard counterpart. But in a classic example of opposites attracting, these two proved to have incredible chemistry, playing off one another perfectly episode after episode until it became clear that their antagonism had something more bubbling under the surface.

Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander” novel series was hugely popular for years before it was adapted into a TV series, gaining a whole new following. Considering how steamy the books are, it comes as no surprise that the show has received a reputation for scenes that would make anyone blush. At the center of it all are time traveller Claire Randall and Highlander Jamie Fraser, a mismatched couple whose love story takes our breath away time and time again. Despite the forces trying to keep them apart, we always believe they’ll make it work, and we can’t wait to see what happens to them next.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Hanna & Caleb
“Pretty Little Liars” (2010-17)

Eleanor & Chidi
“The Good Place” (2016-)

Stiles & Lydia
“Teen Wolf” (2011-17)

Connor & Oliver
“How to Get Away with Murder” (2014-)

Glenn & Maggie
“The Walking Dead” (2010-)

One of the biggest surprises on TV in the later 2010s has to be the NBC drama “This Is Us”. No show is more of a tearjerker, and one of the biggest reasons it pulls at our heartstrings is because of the beautiful love story between Jack and Rebecca. We knew from early on that their tale would be a tragic one, but even after we found out exactly what happened to Jack all those years ago, we have still been glued to our screens watching this couple in flashbacks at various points in their relationship.