I still have a soft spot for Gossip Girl, despite its many ridiculous plot lines and even more ridiculous ending. (You know, when that guy was revealed as the titular G.G.) But for all its faults, the CW show delivered the goods, particularly when it came to love. Gossip Girl gave us so many couples throughout its six seasons—some good, some bad, some very, very confusing.
Here’s our condensed list of Gossip Girl’s most important couples: the ones that worked, and the ones that should have been banned from Manhattan.
Best
Serena and Nate
I’ll say it: I wish these two had rekindled their flame. Dubbed the Golden Couple by Gossip Girl herself, the luscious locks between the two were reason enough for them to get back together. They made the prettiest couple. So! Pretty!
Getty Images
Chuck and Blair
When the show was on, I had no problem saying those three words, eight letters to these two: I love you. Ed Westwick and Leighton Meester had so much chemistry on G.G. that my TV screen melted a little each time they were on it. Could a normal relationship withstand an attempt to sell the girlfriend for a hotel, a pregnancy and marriage to another (royal) guy, a near-death car accident, approximately 8 million breakups, and 9 billion revenge hookups? No. But the love between the bespoke-purple-suited Chuck and crowned-by-headband Blair was not for mere mortals.
My feelings about Chuck are more complicated now, considering, in 2017, Westwick faced sexual assault charges. (He wasn’t prosecuted due to insufficient evidence, per NBC News.) But for our story here, we’ll focus on the fictional characters and not the men or women who play them.
Shutterstock
Rufus and Lily
How did a couple that made no sense at all make so much sense? She’s Upper East Side; he’s Brooklyn. Her fashion is impeccable; he wears the same flannel shirt four times a week. They have a secret love child that neither of them seem to care about, and she left him at one point for Bart Bass. Yet Rufus and Lily always endured. I forever stan.
Eric and Jonathan
Seriously, why did Eric disappear? He and cutie boyfriend Jonathan were probably the least drama-prone couple ever on the show, until Jenny had to go and ruin it. Jenny ruins everything, including but not limited to: fashion shows, my opinion on eyeliner, and young love.
Eleanor Waldorf and Cyrus Rose
Two words: Wallace. Shawn.
Dorota and Blair
While a platonic couple, yes, no one loved each other more on G.G. than Blair and Dorota. While Vanyas and Chucks may come and go, these two are family forever.
Worst
Blair and Dan
Yes, they’re the two smartest members of the crew who share pretentious tastes in literature and old movies and love-hate feelings toward Serena. But I’m sorry…gross. No. I felt sick when they kissed. Blair could maybe get past his Brooklyn upbringing, but the most polished woman alive would never truly fall for someone with such messy style.
Getty Images
Blair and Louis
Blair Waldorf is royalty in her own mind; she didn’t need Prince Whoever, his devious family (she has her own), or his dowry blackmail nonsense.
Serena and Dan
I might get a lot of disagreement here, but I hated these two. Rufus is the only Humphrey man who can handle being an Upper East Side house-husband. The giant chip on Dan’s shoulder kept getting in the way of his relationship with Serena. I know these two were a real-life couple once, but the second Blake Lively married Ryan Reynolds, her scenes with Penn Badgley lost their excitement.
Shutterstock
Jenny and Chuck
Remember how Chuck attempted to sexually assault Jenny in the first season, and then later she ended up losing her virginity to him willingly? Yeah, NO.
Georgina and Dan
Too much scheming and lies in one “relationship,” if you can even call what they had that.
Vanessa and anyone
She tried with Nate, she tried with Dan (and briefly, with Dan and Hilary Duff), she tried with Dan’s secret half-brother, and I think she even hooked up with Chuck. But no. The writers could just never seem to make Vanessa’s relationships work, which is disappointing.
Rufus and Ivy
Shudder. Let’s never speak of this again.
