Opinion / 7 TV love interests who would make terrible boyfriends IRL, from commitment-phobe Simon Basset in Netflix’s Bridgerton to Emily in Paris’ cheating chef Gabriel

Feb 27 , 2021

Simon Basset from Bridgerton, Joe Goldberg from You and Gabriel from Emily In Paris. Photo: Buro MY

The romantic antics in TV shows like Friends, New Girl and How I Met Your Mother might be fun to watch, but some on screen relationships set off alarm bells

Just as Andrew Gray proved in recent reality TV series Bling Empire, a pretty face doesn’t always make up for bad behaviour

Glamorising TV shows can be all too easy. After all, entertainment is supposed to be an escape, right? We might even find ourselves fantasising about dating the characters played by dreamy actors – especially if our love lives leave a little to be desired IRL. In fact, showrunners probably bank on this, since characters’ appeal can hook viewers and make us even more eager to watch them on-screen.

But TV romances might not be all they’re cracked up to be. Just like how Andrew Gray raised some serious red flags in hit reality show Bling Empire, there are plenty of fictional men who, upon second glance, don’t make great boyfriend material after all – no matter how good-looking they are.

So were we blinded by pretty faces and heart-pounding scripts, or would some of these Casanovas be just as attractive if we met men like them in reality? We looked at seven popular TV love interests to find out.

Gabriel from Emily In Paris: beware the man who cheats

Chef Gabriel from Emily In Paris. Photo: Buro MY

What’s more charming than a man who can cook? In Netflix series Emily in Paris, protagonist Emily is pursued by her gorgeous neighbour Gabriel, who is a chef. But the start of their relationship isn’t exactly ideal: Gabriel sets about romancing Emily while still dating another character, Camille. This has lead some viewers to criticise the show for romanticising cheating.

So why do men cheat? Perhaps it’s to fill an emotional or sexual void. According to GQ, they do it for an ego boost, or because they feel that their original relationship is getting stale. But regardless of the reason, we can probably all agree that a relationship based on cheating hardly has the best foundation. If a man wasn’t loyal to his ex, who’s to say he won’t behave the same way with his current partner?

Simon Basset from Bridgerton: beware the man who’s hot and cold

Simon Basset from Bridgerton. Photo: Buro MY

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