Every Friends Ex Ranked Worst To Best

For 10 satisfying seasons, fans watch the six main characters of "Friends" engage in a whole lot of relationships. The show is basically centered around their love lives, and each individual character has a very meaningful relationship or two over the years, some of which are very difficult to watch come to an end. Even though all of the friends — minus Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) — enjoy solid romantic finales, there are plenty of other outcomes for each of them that fans probably could have been happy with. In fact, it's impossible not to ponder what might have been, had things gone differently — and boy, are there a lot of options to choose from.

After a while, every "Friends" fan finds themselves considering how these many romantic partners stack up against each other. That's why we're here to rank every single significant "Friends" ex, from the absolute worst to the swoon-worthy best. The ones we love to hate, the ones we want to last, and the ones who never stood a chance — they're all in here.

Please note: We're not going to talk about one-episode romances here. These flings are never meant to be taken seriously, so we have not included them on our list.

If we're being quite frank, Kathy (Paget Brewster) does not receive as much animosity from the "Friends" fandom as she deserves. She cheats on two of the main cast members — something no one else does in the entire series — and she almost decimates one of the strongest bonds on the show. Joey begins dating Kathy first in Season 4, and Chandler (Matthew Perry) is instantly head-over-heels for her. After realizing she has feelings for Chandler, Kathy cheats on Joey by sharing a passionate kiss with his best friend. Chandler eventually confesses to the transgression, and he and Joey come to a dire point in their relationship.

Joey is somehow able to overcome his girlfriend cheating on him with his best friend, and supports Kathy and Chandler's new relationship. But Kathy isn't done cheating: She ends up sleeping with a theater colleague of hers, putting a knife directly into Chandler's heart. As the old saying goes, how you get them is how you'll lose them. Kathy is pure proof.

Most of Joey's exes are one-offs, but he has a lengthier relationship in Season 6 with his new roommate, Janine (Elle Macpherson). Right off the bat, Janine redecorates the entire apartment, making it ultra-girly. She is also not a fan of Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler. Anyone who isn't going to gel with Joey's closest friends has no future with him, which ultimately leads to this couple's downfall. 

It's definitely a treat to see Joey get rejected by Janine at first. But when they eventually get together, it just isn't very believable. This could be due to the fact that Macpherson is a subpar actress, rendering a lot of their one-on-one scenes a little cringey. Fans aren't too keen on Janine either, as proven by a very popular thread on the "Friends" subreddit. Here, longtime viewers of the show debated some of the series' most annoying side characters, and over 440 fans upvoted Janine as one of the worst of all time.

We first meet Mona (Bonnie Somerville) in the Season 8 premiere, "The One After 'I Do,'" during Monica and Chandler's wedding reception. There is an immediate attraction between Mona and Ross, although it looks like Joey is going to sweep in at one point. The two begin dating shortly after, and surprisingly enough, Mona is very supportive of Ross and Rachel having their baby together. At times, Mona does draw a line if she feels the duo are getting too close, especially when Rachel moves into Ross' apartment without her knowing.

Mona is actually very nice, and one of the more level-headed exes we see throughout 10 seasons of "Friends." The reason we've put her so low on our list is solely based on the fact that she's just a bit "blah." She mostly acts as a force that keeps Ross and Rachel from getting together, during a time when they should be recoupled. It also should be mentioned that Mona suggests sending out a holiday card with Ross after they've only been dating for a few months. Let's be honest, that's pretty insane.

Charlie (Aisha Tyler) is a "Friends" ex who has a relationship with more than one main character. First striking up a romance with Joey, Charlie eventually finds herself falling for Ross, as they have more in common. This turns out to not be such a big deal for Joey, who falls into a relationship with Rachel shortly after. In terms of all the "Friends" exes, Charlie is a bit ho-hum, which lands her in the middle of our list. She's nice, funny, intelligent, and beautiful, but she's definitely not a fan-favorite and doesn't leave her mark on the series as some others do.

Some Redditors have pointed out that Charlie doesn't have great chemistry with Joey or Ross, which makes her relationships with them less believable. This doesn't apply to just Charlie, however, as users on this popular thread also discussed Janine's lack of chemistry with Joey. Things don't pan out for Ross and Charlie, as she goes running back to her ex, Benjamin (Greg Kinnear). Despite only having a few scenes together, those two actually do have quite nice chemistry.

Julie (Lauren Tom) is another not-too-bad-not-too-great ex on "Friends," who prevents Ross and Rachel from getting together at the very end of Season 1. After Rachel finally finds out Ross' true feelings for her, she goes to meet him at the airport to surprise him. What should be a wonderful romantic moment is ruined by the introduction of Julie, which sends Rachel's world crashing down. Ross and Julie know each other from grad school and are reunited in China, where Ross is sent to procure a newly discovered dinosaur bone.

Ross and Julie are together for several episodes in Season 2. Ross really seems like he falls hard for Julie, despite the fact that he's been in love with Rachel for so many years. If Rachel didn't eventually confess her love for Ross, it's likely he and Julie would have stuck together for a long time. Thankfully, we know Julie ends up finding new love after she's dumped by Ross — in his doppelgänger Russ, once dated by Rachel.

Rachel develops quite the crush on Joshua (Tate Donovan) in Season 4, when the two are both on the rebound from serious relationships. After being assigned to be his personal shopper, Rachel and Joshua start dating and really hit it off. He's a refreshing partner for Rachel after some of the dummies she's dated in the past, including Barry, Paolo, and Josh, the college bro she hooks up with to get back at Ross in early Season 4.

Yep, Joshua and Rachel have something pretty special. But it ends up going down the tubes, thanks to a too-early proposal from the latter party. After Emily and Ross get engaged, Rachel goes a little loco and decides to bring up the idea of marriage to Joshua. Understandably, he freaks out, and their relationship promptly ends. Joshua ends up having second thoughts and goes back to Rachel's apartment to talk, but she answers the door in a wedding gown while messing around with Phoebe and Monica. Needless to say, that's the end of the Joshua and Rachel romance.

There's something very special about David (Hank Azaria) the scientist. Despite only appearing in five episodes, David leaves Phoebe and the viewers feeling warm and fuzzy, as their relationship is uniquely authentic and pure. It always sort of looks like Phoebe is going to end up with David in the long run, until another charming son-of-a-gun named Mike (Paul Rudd) makes his way into her life in Season 8.

As it turns out, Phoebe was going to end up with David, but Rudd was so lovable that the plan changed. Azaria told The Huffington Post in 2016 that the show's original intention was to bring David back to be with Phoebe. "I think, honestly, what happened was Paul Rudd is so awesome that they sort of found a groove with him and [my character] became more of just the grist for that mill, as opposed to the other way around," he told the outlet. Despite how things pan out, David will always be remembered as one of the great "Friends" exes.

Janice (Maggie Wheeler) is one of the greatest sitcom supporting characters of all time. She's Chandler's longtime on-again-off-again girlfriend, appearing in 19 episodes throughout all 10 seasons. She's over-the-top, rather obnoxious, and annoying, but the good in Janice definitely outweighs the bad. Her no-nonsense attitude often puts Chandler in check, and she is never anyone but her authentic self.

Even in the episodes where Janice and Chandler aren't together and she just happens to pop up out of nowhere, she offers words of wisdom and calms her ex when he's in a nervous state. A great example of this happens in Season 9, when she runs into Chandler and Monica at a fertility clinic and tells them that they're meant to have children and everything is going to be just fine.

Chandler and Janice even get a nice end to their never-ending story in Season 10, when they run into each other while house-hunting on Long Island. In an effort to get her to look in a different neighborhood or city, Chandler admits to Janice that he still wants her, which makes her decide to not put an offer on the house next door to the one Monica and Chandler want. She gives her ex one last kiss on the lips, and departs from his life with a final utterance: "Goodbye, Chandler Bing."