Disney Channel gave up plenty of iconic romances growing up, but not every pairing had me rooting for a happily ever after. Whether it was relationships who kept getting dragged out, exes who couldn’t seem to stay apart, or love triangles that went on for way too long, some storylines didn’t work for me. Now that we’re older, it’s time to revisit a few Disney Channel romances I never rooted for and the reasons why.
teddy and Spencer
I would like to say there is no shock as to why Spencer and Teddy are on this list. Spencer cheated on Teddy with Skylar, and when Teddy caught him with her, he lied saying Skylar was his cousin. Yes, he apologized, but that doesn’t erase the fact that he was actively dating Skylar while still being in a relationship with Teddy. What frustrates me even more is how the writers kept bringing Spencer back into Teddy’s life after they broke up. They eventually got together after working at an amusement park, only to fake a break up because their relationship was supposedly bad luck for the school’s team. The funniest part? Teddy’s mom and best friend Ivy are ecstatic when they find out the two have supposedly broken up. That alone makes me wonder why the people closest to Teddy seem so happy when Spencer is out of the picture.
After their second breakup, Teddy finally starts moving on with Beau, and the two officially start dating. But, of course, Spencer comes back for Teddy’s 18th birthday and tries to win her back. She initially says no, but by the final episodes of the series, they end up together after Beau moves back to Tennessee. Honestly, it makes Beau feel like a placeholder until Spencer was ready to come back. Teddy deserved someone who respected her relationship from the beginning, and I wish the writers had given her that with Beau instead of bringing her back to someone who had already betrayed her trust.Â
Maddie and Diggie
Maddie and Diggie might not have been as problematic as Teddy and Spencer, but that doesn’t mean I was rooting for them. When Diggie returns from his foreign exchange program, it becomes clear that things aren’t the same between them anymore. Their interests have changed, and they struggle to get back to what they once had. However, things get even more complicated when Diggie decides to become a foreign exchange student again without even talking to Maddie about it. Of course, he can make his own decisions, but you would think he would at least discuss something that could affect their relationship with his girlfriend first. Maddie even admits that she’s happy for him to go to Australia but doesn’t actually want him to leave, and when she expresses her frustration, everything blows up.
Things get messier when Maddie briefly dates Josh, and the paparazzi mistakes her for Liv while they’re on a date. Diggie can tell it’s Maddie and comes back from Australia, seemingly determined to make Maddie choose between him and Josh. When Maddie says she needs time to decide, it seems like Diggie is continuing to put pressure on her to choose him. In the end, Maddie chooses Diggie after he sings a song for her, and they get back together. Honestly, I think Josh deserved a real chance with Maddie instead. Diggie and Maddie weren’t as toxic as Teddy and Spencer, but I never liked how Diggie handled things when their relationship got complicated. It felt like he expected Maddie to deal with his decisions but then wanted her to choose him when he came back. I would have rather seen Maddie end up with Josh than go back to Diggie.Â
Maya and lucas
I will say I thought they were cute in the beginning, but when the storyline started being about the love triangle between Riley, Lucas, and Maya, I checked out. Riley liked Lucas first, and I understand they were middle school students at the time, but Maya liking her best friend’s crush was kind of odd. When Riley found this out, she pushed her feelings aside and distanced herself from Lucas to see how things between Maya and Lucas would play out. There’s a lot of discourse about Riley’s character, but I think she was good, even if she had her moments. Once again, we have to remember that they were middle school students who were eventually going on to high school. They were young and still figuring out their feelings.
I will say that Maya and Lucas had good chemistry and tension, but I just couldn’t get past the whole situation with Riley. The love triangle went on for so long, only for Lucas to ultimately choose Riley. It makes me wonder why the writers dragged Maya into the situation if they were always going to bring Riley and Lucas together in the end. I don’t think Maya and Lucas would have necessarily been a bad couple, but I wish the writers had handled the love triangle differently. Maya’s feelings for Lucas deserved to be explored beyond creating conflict between her and Riley, and I would have liked to see what their relationship could have been without Riley being caught in the middle. In the end, I just got tired of the back and forth and stopped rooting for Maya and Lucas altogether.Â
Revisiting these storylines as I’ve gotten older has made me look at some of these relationships differently. What once seemed romantic or exciting doesn’t always hold up when you consider how the characters treated each other or how the storylines played out. This doesn’t take away from how much I enjoyed these shows growing up, but it does make me wish certain characters had gotten different endings. At the end of the day, nostalgia doesn’t mean every couple deserves to be endgame.