Ranked: Who was categorically the worst of Rachel’s boyfriends?

Let’s just forget she ever dated Joey

3 years ago

Over the 10 seasons of Friends, we saw a lot of relationships take place, none more famous than Ross and Rachel. On again off again. They were on a break. They’re lobsters. Blah, blah, blah we’ve heard it all before. But thankfully Ross wasn’t Rachel’s only boyfriend.

Throughout the series Rachel dated a multitude of different men. There was the young fit assistant Tag, the older lawyer Paul and of course her ex-fiancé Barry. She even dated Joey, but I think we’d all like to forget that ever happened.

But of the many men who was the best and more importantly who was the worst? We’ve ranked all the men Rachel dated to definitively decide who she should have been with (spoiler alert it’s definitely not Ross) and who treated her the best.

None of them were the dream partner for Rachel, but we’ve got to work with what we were given and some were a far better match than others.

These are Rachel’s boyfriends ranked from pretty decent to just dump him now:

Tag

Wow, Rachel really should have held onto Tag longer than she did. Not only was he gorgeous but despite his age he was actually quite mature.

Yes ok he wanted to ride a scooter but who wouldn’t? He was romantic, dressed well and had no problem that Rachel was his boss and a woman in a position of power.

They wouldn’t have lasted forever because they were in different stages of their lives but that is literally the only thing wrong with him.

Gavin

We never really got a chance to get to know Gavin and that’s a shame because I think he would have been a good fit for Rachel.

He was confident, charming and bought her a present after just meeting her. Gavin also checked up on her when she was sick, but he lasted three episodes so there’s not much else to say about him.

Joshua

Does anyone else seriously not get the hype with Joshua? Like I’ve never seen a more average looking man in my life.

He was a pretty bland guy with his only defining characteristic being his fear of birds.

However he did nothing wrong and Rachel was most definitely the crazy one when she suggested they get married. That’s the only reason he’s this far up the list.

Mark

When we first meet Mark, he’s super helpful and gets Rachel her job at Bloomingdales. At the time he’s dating someone else and it’s Ross who is the crazy one inventing a relationship that just isn’t there.

However by the time Ross and Rachel go on a break, it’s pretty clear that Mark is into Rachel, and who wouldn’t be?

Yes he tries to make a move when she’s moping over Ross but nothing happens. And we can’t hate a guy for trying to get with her.

Joey

The Joey Rachel relationship is complicated. It really made no sense and the producers were clearly scratching their heads for ideas when they came up with this one.

Joey was actually really dedicated and sweet to Rachel. He took care of her, never undermined her and also respected Ross enough to tell him about his feelings.

If they weren’t best friends it would have been a great relationship but because of how close they were it just felt like watching two siblings get with each other. Unpleasant, uncomfortable and thank god it ended when it did.

Paul

Ok so Paul was a bit intense, but he was a rich older gentleman that I could definitely see Rachel with.

There was of course the slight problem of his toxic masculinity complex. Rachel was out of order when she got annoyed at him for crying, after she asked him to open up more. C’mon Rachel make up your mind hun. But can we really blame him for the tears? No not really, it’s society.

Also he on a side note was perfectly entitled to be annoyed by Ross dating his daughter.

Danny

He had baths with his sister! No more explanation necessary.

Barry

Ok so in fairness Rachel dumped Barry literally at the altar, however he was already cheating on her with her best friend so he completely deserved it.

Barry then played both women off of each other and cheated on Mindy which Rachel two years later. And then in season six it was revealed Barry and Mindy got divorced after he cheated on Mindy again. How does a below average looking orthodontist get this many women?

Paolo

They didn’t speak the same language. Had nothing in common, and he hit on her best mate. Next please.

Ross

Where do we even begin with the whole Ross and Rachel saga? Honestly anyone who think these two are soulmates needs to take a long hard look in the mirror.

Rachel was definitely not innocent in contributing to the problems of their relationship, however I would say Ross was responsible for 75 per cent of all the carnage and bad treatment that went down.

As a person Ross is insecure, jealous and needy. Before they even started dating he was obsessed with Rachel but did literally nothing to go about asking her out, just stared at her longingly in a rather creepy way.

He then couldn’t decide between dating Julie or Rachel, so made a list about all the bad things about them. They should have both ditched him and gone out for drinks.

Ever since their first try at a relationship they’ve been toxic. He was so possessive about Rachel when she first started her dream job and that continued on throughout all 10 seasons when she gave up her cool job in Paris to be with him.

Ross has been toxic to every other woman he’s been with. He literally said Rachel’s name at his wedding to Emily, how is that fair to either woman?

And let’s not forget when they drunkenly got married and Ross DIDN’T get an annulment and lied to Rachel about their marriage status. Who does that? A psychopath, that’s who.

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