10 Best Couples in ‘New Girl,’ Ranked

New Girl is one of the most beloved sitcoms, for many reasons, including its silly humor and its uniquely funny characters. Having so many specific and strong personalities living under one roof led to a lot of both hilarious and heartfelt moments. At the core of New Girl were the close connections and found family between the characters. The show had many really special friendships and romantic relationships over the course of its run. Romance was a significant part of New Girl, from the characters having active love lives and dating outside the group, to them dating each other.

The show’s romances led to some of New Girl‘s best scenes. There were funnier moments like when Jess Day (Zooey Deschanel) thought that Cece Parekh (Hannah Simone) and Nick Miller (Jake Johnson) liked each other, so she tried to talk to Nick about it, and the time Winston “Schmidt” Schmidt (Max Greenfield) was upset about Cece and Ernie “Coach” Tagliaboo (Damon Wayans Jr.) going on a date, so he asked Jess to hit him with her car. The romances on this show were really great, and these couples stand out among the rest.

10 Jess Day and Paul Genzlinger

Played by Zooey Deschanel and Justin Long

Jess Day (Zooey Deschanel) and Paul Genzlinger (Justin Long) first met in Season 1 when they were working at the same school. This led to a sweet romance, as the two of them were very similar, and they got along really well. Paul was a nearly identical counterpart to Jess. They were both goofy and musical, and they loved to sing and come up with silly bits together, from Paul’s first appearance in Season 1, Episode 6, “Thanksgiving,” to his last appearance in Season 4, Episode 18, “Walk of Shame.” The two optimists were a good pairing, although they did not have much chemistry.

Paul and Jess ultimately broke up because he loved her, but she did not love him back. He was the perfect first boyfriend for her to have after ending her relationship with Spencer. Paul was sweet Jess, and she could be herself around him. Additionally, he had some very funny moments with her loftmates. Paul may not have been Jess’s best pairing, but he was good for her, and their relationship was one of the best of Season 1.

9 Bob Day and Ashley Bergman

Played by Rob Reiner and Kaitlin Olson

When Jess first found out that her father, Bob Day (Rob Reiner), was getting married to her high school classmate, Ashley Bergman (Kaitlin Olson, this time playing a much nicer character than Dee Reynolds), she was very upset. Jess even tried to sabotage the whole relationship. However, upon realizing that Bob and Ashley really loved each other, Jess backed off. Bob first caught Ashley’s eye when she saw him singing “She’s So High,” and immediately fell in love. They got married soon after, and they had a very sweet wedding.

Bob and Ashley were a great couple in the typical New Girl sense; on a surface level, they didn’t seem like they would make a good couple at all, but somehow they did. Like Jess, the viewers may have been skeptical, but the pairing ended up gaining appreciation from fans. Sadly, these two didn’t last, as one of the many things that New Girl ruined in the later seasons was this relationship. Before that, though, they were very sweet together, and they were one of the show’s strongest pairings.

8 Nick Miller and Reagan Lucas

Played by Jake Johnson and Megan Fox

Reagan Lucas (Megan Fox) was introduced in Season 5 when Jess was away on jury duty. Nick had a crush on Reagan from the beginning, and their relationship initially seemed unlikely, but they ended up developing a strong connection. They were both more cynical and wary of relationships, so they worked pretty well together as a pairing. Essentially, Nick and Reagan were the Nick version of Jess and Paul. They were very similar in a lot of ways, and almost too well-matched.

Nick and Reagan lasted surprisingly long as a couple, before breaking up in Season 6 after Nick realized that they did not want the same things out of a relationship. They were very clearly never going to last, but they were a good couple in the meantime. Both of them grew from the relationship, and their episodes together were funny and enjoyable. Additionally, fans will never forget the hilarious scene in Season 6, Episode 21, “San Diego,” when Nick panicked about their relationship and left Reagan alone on a train.

7 Jess Day and Ryan Geauxinue

Played by Zooey Deschanel and Julian Morris

Jess Day met Ryan Geauxinue (Julian Morris) in Season 4, when he was working at her school. Jess initially pushed Ryan away a lot and struggled to fight her attraction to him, due to the fact that she was his boss. However, they continued to get closer in spite of that, from deep conversations at the teacher’s conference to a great first kiss at the end of “Bangsgiving.” Ryan and Jess were well-matched, like Jess and Paul, but these two had much more chemistry.

Ryan was very supportive of Jess and her passions, like when he backed her up in trying to get Councilwoman Fawn Moscato to stop the construction at night. The show broke them up in an awful way, with Ryan bailing on Bob and Ashley’s wedding after he took a job in London. Additionally, Jess ended up dumping him over a voicemail after he stopped returning her calls. While Jess and Ryan were together, though, they were a great fit, and one of her better pairings.

6 Jess Day and Sam Sweeney

Played by Zooey Deschanel and David Walton

Jess Day and Sam Sweeney (David Walton) met in Season 2 when he mistook Jess for his blind date, and they ended up having a roller coaster of a relationship that occurred on and off over the course of three seasons. They started off as a casual hookup, which led to Sam breaking Jess’s heart on Halloween, and eventually winning her back over on Christmas. They were then a really great couple, both in spite of their differences, and because of them. They even stayed strong on that wild weekend with Nick and Angie.

Jess and Sam’s first breakup wasn’t even sad, because it was the start of her first relationship with Nick. However, it was sad that she hurt Sam. They got back together a few years later and were a good couple, although not as swoonworthy as they were first time around. Most notably, Sam loved to high-five Jess in the mornings when they first woke up, and she could never get him to laugh with his mouth open. Jess and Sam eventually broke up to make way for their best relationship, but they had fun while they lasted.

5 Sam Sweeney and Diane

Played by David Walton and Caitlin Fitzgerald

During the second time that Sam and Jess were dating, Sam ended up reconnecting with his old friend from medical school, Diane (Caitlin Fitzgerald). Named for the iconic Cheers couple (two characters who were also great together), the two clearly had an incredible connection from the start of their first scene. Shortly after reconnecting with Sam, Diane tells Jess all about her feelings for Sam. Diane had been in love with him in med school, so she wrote a letter to him confessing her feelings before he left for Doctors Without Borders.

When Sam never responded, Diane thought that meant that he had not acknowledged her feelings, but really, the letter ended up coming back to her almost a decade later. When Jess learned about this, she was torn, but she ended up telling Diane to finally give the letter to Sam. Initially, Sam chose Jess, but an episode later, it was revealed that he could not say goodbye to Diane when she left. This caused Sam to realize his feelings for Diane, and to break up with Jess. This love story only got one episode, but it was so memorable, that they ended up being one of the best couples on New Girl.

4 Ernie “Coach” Tagliaboo and May Esperas

Played by Damon Wayans Jr. and Meaghan Rath

Coach met May (Meaghan Rath) on Nick’s bar crawl in Season 4. He hit on her once, but she rejected him, because she didn’t want to go out with a player. They kept running into each other at different bars throughout the night, and he kept accidentally hitting on her. Through the night, they ended up having some real and meaningful conversations, and a spark grew. May then gave Coach her email, and he wrote her way too many drafts, which soon led to them dating.

Coach and May’s relationship was a little bit rushed, but they were a great pairing. Even after some initial insecurity from Coach that he wasn’t what she was looking for, they continued to build their relationship. May really pushed Coach, and he in turn was vulnerable with her. Coach and May created such a strong and real connection, so much so that he ended up moving to New York with her shortly after they started dating. In the final season of New Girl, Coach and May were revealed to still be together.

3 Winston Bishop and Aly Nelson

Played by Lamorne Morris and Nasim Pedrad

Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris) met Aly Nelson (Nasim Pedrad) when he was assigned as her partner at the police station. They had a slow start, with Nick and Coach nearly scaring her off, and then Aly pulling back when she thought that Winston would fall in love with her. They ended up really clicking as partners and becoming very close. They had a good buildup and then got together in the following season.

They were an amazing couple, and easily Winston’s best relationship. Their buildup was so much fun to watch, with their slow and mutual development of feelings. Winston was afraid to reveal his feelings, because he didn’t want to lose her as his partner. Aly, in turn, broke up with her boyfriend when she realized that Winston was the one who really understood her. Aly fit into the show from the start. She helped Winston prank Nick and Coach before they were even friends, and she never tried to change who Winston was as a person. Aly also fit in really well with the group, as she eventually moved into the loft with him for a while.

2 Winston “Schmidt” Schmidt and Cece Parekh

Played by Max Greenfield and Hannah Simone

Winston “Schmidt” Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Cece Parekh (Hannah Simone) were an amazing couple with a long and emotional history. On the night that they met, Schmidt told Cece that he was going to marry her. For a long time, Cece did not return Schmidt’s feelings. They then started secretly hooking up, and eventually she fell for him. They had multiple breakups, from Schmidt “Whitefang-ing” her in Season 1, to Schmidt’s terrible and out-of-character cheating on Cece in Season 3.

In Season 4, Cece pined after Schmidt for a long time, causing fans to root for them more than ever. Then, Schmidt found out about her feelings, and Schmidt proposed to Cece right away. Since getting engaged and eventually married, Schmidt and Cece were the perfect sitcom couple. They were a great team, always goofing around and scheming together. He called her mom every day for months to get her to attend their wedding, and he even flew to her mom on the day of the wedding. They both truly loved each other, and the journey of their relationship was really something special to watch.

1 Nick Miller and Jess Day

Played by Jake Johnson and Zoey Deschanel

Ah, Nick and Jess. From the moment that Jess Day met Nick Miller, they had incredible sparks. As Nick would later reveal, he fell in love with right when she walked through the door for the first time, and was endeared to her from when he first saw her trying to get into the building from the window. They were always arguing, which created some hilarious and great banter, like their childish fight in Season 1, Episode 21, “Tomatoes.” Another great moment was in Season 2, Episode 14, “Pepperwood,” when they did a stake out of Jess’s student’s house upon suspecting that he was going to kill Jess. They initially broke up over their differences, leading to them just being friends again, until they got together for the final and lasting time.

Nick and Jess were an amazing couple, and they made a wonderful team. Although they lost some of the tension after they got together, they still had some great moments as a couple (“I would’ve noticed you”). Even better than that was the buildup to their relationship, though. Nick and Jess had the best first kiss in sitcom history, in Season 2, Episode 15, “Cooler.” Leading up to this, there were so many moments where Nick was pining after Jess, and it was delightfully visible in every one of their interactions (even when Jess couldn’t tell). He was completely in love with her, and they had the best connection. They are truly one of the greatests couples in the history of sitcoms.

New Girl is available to stream on Hulu.

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