Younger: All Of Kelsey’s Love Interests, Ranked

Content Warning: This article contains mention of self-harm.

On the hit series Younger, Kelsey admitted that she had the worst taste in men. She went from dating a chauvinist who was using and cheating on her to an unstable author to a complete narcissist, and everyone in between. It’s unclear if Kelsey – who some believe is Hilary Duff’s best character to date – was just attracted to the wrong types of guys, if the wrong types of guys were attracted to her, or if it was a combination of both.

A lot of it stemmed from the fact that, as a young woman in a powerful position and with a strong sense of self, a lot of men were intimidated by her. This manifested in several ways through several guys, as them using Kelsey to get ahead. With that said, Kelsey, who was a fan-favorite character on the show, also put blinders on sometimes and wanted to believe these men weren’t only in it for themselves or to take advantage of her.

8 Chad Steadman

Kelsey didn’t really date Chad, but she did sleep with him, unbeknownst to her. As her long-time boyfriend Thad’s twin brother, Chad once switched places with his brother and thought Kelsey knew.

He seemed obsessed with her and tried to worm his way into her life following Thad’s death. Not only was this a despicable move by someone to go after their brother’s fiancé immediately after his death, but he was also clueless as to how awkward it would make Kelsey feel.

7 Thad Steadman

Despite his flaws, Chad was seemingly the nicer brother, all other things considered, because Thad was awful to Kelsey. He was more focused on their physical relationship and making sure Kelsey pleased him. But he also lived another life where he cheated on Kelsey frequently. Not only was he terrible to her but also to Liza, who even tried to quit her job after he died following the guilt she felt because he passed while meeting with her to blackmail her about the secret.

Sure, Kelsey wasn’t innocent either and cheated on Thad as well. Thad was more concerned about having Kelsey around to keep up appearances. And while Kelsey never truly believed that she deserved more than him, and it took his death for her to move on, it was clear that she absolutely did.

6 Anton Bjornberg

At first, Anton seemed like a perfect passionate match for Kelsey. But there were too many strikes against them from the beginning, making him one of her most questionable dating choices. First was that he was an author she was working with, and the second, was that he was married. This doesn’t even take into account that he didn’t even live in New York, which meant it would never be more than a fling.

But when Bjornberg wrote openly about his affair, leading his wife to believe that Liza was the other woman, Kelsey had to reveal the truth. In doing so, it also revealed how mentally unstable Bjornberg was when he cut himself to try and show her how much he cared.

5 Colin McNichol

Kelsey can’t be faulted for having faith that Colin McNichol, the smart and savvy journalist, and author, truly wanted to be with her and wasn’t just using her to get ahead. Her relationship was up and down as he was seemingly using her, then proved that he chose her over fame, then lost her trust once again.

Had Colin been able to separate business from pleasure and not view Kelsey as a stepping-stone for his career, he could have been a good mate for her.

4 Rob Davis

There was a massively waving red flag with Rob from the get-go, seeing as he was the ex of a friend. Granted, Kelsey and Clare weren’t that close. But considering Kelsey and Lauren – her cool best friend – took Clare out for drinks for the sole purpose of helping her get over Rob meant they were close enough for Kelsey to stay hands-off.

That said, she pursued him anyway, unable to resist his seemingly irresistible charm. It took a while and almost cost Kelsey a friendship, but she finally realized that Rob was not as sweet and caring as he tried to come across as being.

3 Lucas

He became better known as the “bad pancake” along with an unsavory term that described Kelsey’s intimate dealings with him on a tram right before kicking him to the curb. But Lucas had real potential. A blind date, he turned out to be exactly who he appeared to be in his profile photo.

He was kind, smart, and really into Kelsey. But her friends got in her head, making her believe that he was the “bad pancake,” the first person someone dates after a previous relationship ends that is doomed not to work out, just like the first pancake put on a griddle is always the worst, throwaway one. But the clincher for Kelsey? When Lucas revealed that he lived on Roosevelt Island, an area that, while gentrified, is still looked down upon by “true” New Yorkers given, in part, how far it is outside of the city.

2 Jake Devereux

Like most of the men that Kelsey got involved with, Jake seemed to be threatened by her success and tried to do whatever he could to drag her down when he didn’t get his way. But Jake started out being different. He did eventually reveal himself to be just as petty as the others. But at the beginning, he had real promise.

Fans can’t fault him for being hurt when he realized she was seemingly dating Zane at the same time as him. Nonetheless, Jake could have been the bigger person. Instead, he tried to use his position to toy with them both, even though he should not have pursued Kelsey in the first place given their professional relationship (nor should she have he).

1 Zane Anders

Surprisingly, Zane ranks highest on the list of Kelsey’s suitors. The reason is that he seemed to be the only one who genuinely loved and cared for her. Zane’s issue was that he could not put his own ego and competitive nature aside. Though admittedly, neither could Kelsey.

They were two young, ambitious Type-A personalities who, under any other circumstances, might have been perfect for one another. But because they worked in the same industry, and vied for the same jobs and contracts, it just became a game of one-upping one another. Nonetheless, if they worked in different industries, the electric chemistry between the two would have caused fireworks for the long haul. It’s no surprise fans also rank Zane as one of the top characters they’d love to be friends with.

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