Top 20 Friends Love Interests
#20: Barry Farber
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Before the series began, Rachel was engaged to marry Barry Farber, an orthodontist. However, on the wedding day, Rachel decides to leave Barry at the altar. Nonetheless, Barry is seen several times throughout the show, even briefly rekindling a romance with Rachel. But the fact that Barry proved unfaithful to Rachel, as well as her best friend Mindy, whom he ended up marrying for real, has us feeling that Rachel dodged a bullet by not marrying him. Barry may be a schlub, but he does have some importance to the show’s story, since Rachel leaving him effectively kickstarts her journey and the show overall. Also, this list!
#19: Janine Lecroix
After Chandler moves out, Joey gets a new roommate – Janine, played by Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson. A gorgeous dancer, Janine isn’t initially attracted to Joey, and his friends even advise him to try not to get involved with her, since they live together. However, Janine is eventually won over by Joey’s charm. The two of them get along well together, and she even helps him get in touch with his feminine side. Still, their relationship is doomed after a double date with Monica and Chandler brings to light that Janine doesn’t like them. And anybody who doesn’t like Mondler isn’t worth dating in our books either!
#18: Paolo
We’ve got to agree with Ross on this one - Paolo is a total crap weasel. He comes into the picture at the worst possible time, just as Ross is finally plucking up the courage to make a move on Rachel. But as soon as they meet, Paolo manages to steal Rachel’s heart... even though they don’t speak the same language. Their relationship isn’t exactly deep and meaningful, but she’s clearly infatuated with him. Ross unabashedly hates Paolo and it seems like he’s just jealous, but after Paolo gets a little handsy with Phoebe, the rest of the gang realizes that this guy has got to go.
#17: Mona
A co-worker of Monica’s, Mona meets Ross at his sister’s wedding. The two of them have some decent chemistry together. Heck, she even deduces his odd Halloween costume when none of his friends get it! Unfortunately, their relationship is plagued with commitment issues and unfortunate circumstances on Ross’ part. But the biggest obstacle in their relationship is the fact that Ross had gotten Rachel pregnant shortly before they got together. Although Ross had an understandable focus on his imminent child, his devotion to Rachel over Mona meant that Mona felt she was being put on the backburner. Maybe if they’d met sooner they could have made things work.
#16: Gavin Mitchell
When Rachel returns to work after her pregnancy, she encounters Gavin, who has been assigned to her job while she was on leave. Initially, Gavin’s sarcastic, confrontational attitude makes her dislike him. But some acts of kindness gradually win Rachel over. Eventually the two of them share a kiss at a party. However, like our last entry, Rachel’s complicated relationship with Ross serves to cut her budding romance with Gavin short after only a few episodes. It’s a shame really, since his back and forth with Rachel is pretty entertaining.
#15: Joshua Burgin
While working at Bloomingdale’s, Rachel meets Joshua, a recently divorced client she helps find a wardrobe for, and develops a crush on him. Personally, we think she may have been interested in him simply because she has so much fun saying his name! Rachel goes through several elaborate and often embarrassing attempts to ask him out and/or seduce him. Unfortunately, she ends up coming on a little too strongly – particularly when she asks him to marry her, which he isn’t ready for again. The whole wearing a wedding dress thing sends him packing for good!
#14: Paul Stevens
There are a lot of amazing guest stars on this show, but Bruce Willis playing the intimidating yet vulnerable Paul Stevens has got to be one of our favorites. When Ross started dating one of his students, he knew he was going to encounter some problems. But we’re not sure he was anticipating Elizabeth having an extremely protective (and extremely imposing) father for him to contend with. Much to Ross’s annoyance, Rachel develops an interest in Paul and the two end up dating. Hands down the most hilarious moment in this season 6 story arc is Ross accidentally witnessing Paul psyching himself up when the older man thinks he’s alone in a room.
#13: Fun Bobby
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Bobby dates Monica off and on for a few years. However, contrary to his nickname, Bobby ends up being less than fun. In his first appearance, he fails to liven up a New Year’s party, due to finding out his grandfather has just died. Then, Monica discovers Bobby has a drinking problem and convinces him to get sober. However, this has the side effect of making him “ridiculously dull” Bobby. Her attempts to get drunk to have more fun when he’s around only served to drive Bobby away, bringing their fun to an end.
#12: Bonnie
A friend of Phoebe’s, Bonnie used to be bald, which is part of why Rachel is initially okay with Phoebe setting her up with Ross. However, Bonnie has a full head of hair when they begin their relationship and she and Ross seem to be getting along well. Cue a very jealous Rachel throwing a wrench into things! During a trip to a beach house that Bonnie is late for, Rachel flirts heavily with Ross and advises Bonnie to shave her head again. This, combined with Rachel’s confession to Ross leads to Ross breaking up with Bonnie. Considering Ross and Rachel break up again almost immediately, maybe Ross should’ve stayed with Bonnie. Bald is beautiful, and so is she, after all.
#11: Kathy
Oh Kathy, we liked you so much when you were first introduced. You were funny, smart, and able to keep up with Chandler’s banter. But any girl who cheats on both Joey and Chandler can’t stay in our good books for long. When Joey starts dating a new girl, it’s the chemistry between her and Chandler, not Joey that seems obvious. After a few episodes of Chandler agonizing about what to do about his feelings for Kathy, the two end up kissing. There’s nothing worse than seeing Joey and Chandler fight, and since this one was clearly Chandler’s fault, we totally agreed with the punishment Joey gave him.
#10: Carol Willick
Ross’ ex-wife…his first one, anyway, Carol comes out as a lesbian before the beginning of the show, having cheated on Ross with her partner Susan. While their romantic relationship may be over, she and Ross retain a close relationship, in large part due to her having their son Ben during the first season and splitting time raising him with Ross. Still, leaving Ben aside, it’s clear that even if she isn’t in love with Ross, they have a special connection and a long history together, as Carol is able to read him like few others can. Also, her relationship with Susan is lovely to see develop.
#9: Pete Becker
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We were so rooting for this relationship... until Pete turned out to be a little nuts. Monica had had so many crappy boyfriends at this point that the idea of her ending up with a super nice guy (who just so happened to be a millionaire) was pretty appealing. When Monica thought he was going to propose, we admittedly had our hopes up too - only to be brought down to Earth when Pete told her that he wanted to “conquer the physical world”. When season 3 aired in 1996-97, UFC wasn’t the widely popular sport it is today, so it sounded pretty crazy when Pete described it. Sad as we were, we get why this relationship had to end.
#8: Charlie Wheeler
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When Charlie first appeared on the show, she and Ross had a great first day together. But because Ross didn’t move quickly enough, Joey swooped in and formed an unlikely relationship with this hyper-intelligent (and beautiful) paleontologist. It’s pretty clear the whole time they’re dating that they aren’t exactly the best match, so we weren’t surprised when things finally started to heat up between Charlie and Ross. If we weren’t so busy waiting for Ross and Rachel to figure things out, we would have been pretty happy for these two to end up together.
#7: Tag Jones
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Rachel hires Tag as her assistant for some pretty obvious reasons – the man is gorgeous! Still, while he may not be qualified for his job, he does hit it off with Rachel after a while. The two of them have great chemistry, both romantic and comedic. Plus, he’s like an adorable puppy most of the time and gets along great with her friends too. Sadly, Rachel’s 30th birthday makes her realize that she wants a relationship with someone more mature than Tag. Also, a misunderstanding about the father of her baby makes it clear he isn’t ready for kids. Still, Tag is a lot of fun while he lasts.
#6: Emily Waltham
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Poor Emily. She was actually pretty cool and clearly made Ross really happy when they started their whirlwind romance. But everything (understandably) went straight downhill when Ross made that tiny little error at the altar. In typical Ross fashion, their relationship moved very quickly, with Ross proposing after only six weeks. After the incident at their wedding however, Emily stopped being so likeable when she forbade Ross from seeing Rachel anymore. Yes, we get it; Emily comes out looking like the bad guy here, but who wouldn’t do the same thing if your fiancé said someone else’s name during your “I dos”?
#5: Julie
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Just when we thought Ross and Rachel might get together because Rachel finally seemed to reciprocate Ross’s feelings, Julie stepped into the picture. As with pretty much all of the women Ross dates, Julie would have seemed like a perfect match for him... if it wasn’t for Rachel. As a fellow paleontologist, she’s a good fit for Ross and she quickly fits in with the rest of the gang. She also tolerates a whole lot of crappy treatment from Rachel. Rachel does everything she can to sabotage this relationship, and ultimately succeeds after telling Ross how she feels about him.
#4: David
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Passionate, kind, and thoroughly adorkable, David “the scientist guy” is one of Phoebe’s best love interests and one of her first. Although the two of them are great together, his work takes him abroad for years. His sporadic visits to the U.S. are always a highlight, and Phoebe even breaks a sacred pact with Joey to see him. Sadly, circumstances lead to David coming in second place to someone we’ll be discussing soon. We have a feeling that if David had been able to stay in the States more often, the choice wouldn’t have been so clear-cut.
#3: Richard Burke
We loved Richard so much that we didn’t even have time to be weirded out by the fact that he was 21 years older than Monica...and a grandpa. Or that Monica kissed his son. Okay, maybe it was a little weird, but we really loved these two together anyway. Richard is Monica’s “great love” throughout the series and for good reason. He’s handsome, sophisticated and he actually seems to find Monica’s eccentricities to be endearing. Also, can we talk about that moustache? In the end it’s clear that Monica and Chandler make a way better couple, but we still hold a spot in our hearts for Richard.
#2: Janice Litman-Goralnik
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There were a lot of characters on this list that we were totally enamored with at one time or another, but admittedly this pick isn’t so much someone we love as someone we love to hate. Janice made her first appearance in season one when we see Chandler try, unsuccessfully, to break up with her… and the gang doesn’t quite manage to get rid of her until season 10. There were definitely moments where she seemed sweet - but honestly, if we have to hear that laugh one more time, we’re moving to Yemen.
#1: Mike Hannigan
The magic of Friends is based on the dynamic between the six main characters, and we don’t think any significant other fit into the gang quite as well as Mike (otherwise known as Crap Bag). Though their meeting was a total fluke, Mike manages to bring the perfect combination of quirkiness and sweetness that Phoebe needs. Whether he was playing air piano, taking money back from charities, or helping to raise a family of rats, Mike quickly stole our hearts. We admit it, we were really big David fans, but as soon as Mike was in the picture, it was clear that he and Phoebe were meant to be.
