Ranked: Who was categorically the worst of Ross’ girlfriends?

Maybe he’s the problem

6 months ago | UPDATED 6 months ago

Right, let’s admit it: For almost the entirety of the ten seasons of Friends, Ross’ love life was total and utter chaos. And, fundamentally, that’s his fault. He dated his student, Elizabeth, Rachel’s sister, Jill and Chandler’s situationship, Janice. So, most of his romantic choices said more about him than they did about the women involved.

But of the actual long-lasting girlfriends Ross had, who was the best and – more importantly – the worst? We’ve ranked all the women Ross dated from innocent to insufferable, to definitively decide who he fumbled the hardest and who he never should have been with in the first place:

Carol

Carol broke up with Ross because she was a lesbian which is, obviously, fair enough. And, even though she sometimes had different opinions to him on how exactly to co-parent Ben, she never got angry or territorial. These two were platonically really close even after they’d divorced, which says a lot about how strong their relationship actually must have been.

Julie

Julie had this butter wouldn’t melt quality, which made her kind of annoying. But, honestly, she was super compatible with Ross, really understood him, and brought out this super considerate side to him we didn’t see with many other women. If Ross had met Julie after he and Rachel had broken up in season three, they’d have been end game. End of.

Bonnie

Bonnie was fun, relaxed, and really nice to Rachel even after she flirted with Ross the whole time they were on their beach vacation in Montauk. Did she look better with hair? Probably. Was she too cool to go out with a palaeontologist? Definitely.

Mona

Mona started dating Ross right when he found out Rachel was pregnant with his baby. And, tbh, she should have tapped out then. Not being made a priority in Ross’ life made Mona dissatisfied and intense and she wound up ordering couple’s Christmas cards for her and Ross before they’d even confirmed they were in a relationship, which obviously freaked him out and it all spiralled downhill from there.

Charlie

Charlie was a massive know it all who totally threw away a great relationship with Joey because she thought he was too dumb. Then, she started getting with Ross immediately afterwards and ultimately dumped him because she still had feelings for her ex, Ben. Essentially, Charlie was Ross’ Karma for the way he treated Mona, Bonnie and Julie.

Rachel

If you re-watch season 10 of Friends, the speed Rachel goes from dating Joey to being loved-up with Ross again actually gives you whiplash. Plus, Ross and Rachel have always brought out the worst in each other: He makes her unambitious and dependent (she gives up her dream job in Paris?!) and he becomes possessive and petty (Lest we forget the Mark situation). Their relationship is, and has always been, toxic.

Emily

Hands down the absolute worst of all of Ross’ girlfriends was his second wife, Emily. Obviously, he said Rachel’s name at the alter and that’s unforgivable. But the fall out afterwards was unhinged. She ignored Ross for weeks to the point where he didn’t even know if he had a wife, bullied him into moving to England (without his son!) and told him he couldn’t see friends. Like, how was that ever going to work out?

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