An emotional roller-coaster. From Riverdale‘s Cheryl and Toni to Nancy Drew‘s Nancy and Ace, fans have watched their favorite couples break hearts with some devastating splits.
Riverdale, which premiered in 2017, originally introduced Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) as a grieving sister trying to deal with the death of her twin brother Jason (Trevor Stines). After striking up a friendship with Southside Serpent member Toni (Vanessa Morgan), Cheryl came out as gay and the duo started dating.
Ahead of Riverdale’s season 5 time jump, Cheryl chose to hit pause on their relationship with Toni so she could make amends for the atrocities the Blossom family inflicted on the town. Seven years later, Toni revealed she was expecting a baby with Fangs (Drew Ray Tanner) and that Cheryl was not interested in rekindling their romantic connection.
The cast, however, still held out hope for the two characters to come back together.
“I know people are really rooting for Choni and there could be that element [in season 6] as well. I think it would be really interesting to see how things play out,” Morgan exclusively told Us Weekly in November 2021. “I think there’s a lot of built-up things that were left unsaid and tension there. I don’t think the chapter’s closed, but we’ll see.”
Creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa later hinted that Cheryl and Toni’s love story was far from over.
“There is no denying the power of Choni, we know it, the fandom knows that. It was really important for us to kind of tell Toni and Cheryl’s stories separate from each other [in season 6], but as we were kind of prompting the end of the season, we knew we had to start bringing them back together,” he explained to Nerds of Color in July 2022. “So I can tell you that we will be telling Choni’s stories in season 7. It’s going to be interesting though, because the ‘50s are such a different landscape for our queer characters and the way that they live their lives is so different — will be so different — in the ‘50s.”
Aguirre-Sacasa continued: “But that’s kind of one of the big things we talked about when we talked about going back to the ‘50s — is what that would look like. So Choni will continue in season 7. It’s going to be very different though from how we’ve seen them.”
Another series on The CW that devastated fans with onscreen couple drama is Nancy Drew. Throughout the seasons, the titular character (Kennedy McMann) found herself developing feelings for her best friend Ace (Alex Saxon). Their attempt to make things official took a tragic turn when Nancy’s relative Temperance cursed the pair from ever being together.
“I think this is very much a new chapter in their relationship for them — in their relationship with each other and their openness with each other and their ability to lean on each other emotionally is at an all-time high,” McMann hinted on “The Wayne Ayers Podcast” in August 2022 about the season 4 dynamic. “I think that’s something I’ve really wanted Nancy to be able to have — that experience with someone and to be really emotionally vulnerable with someone else. So, that’s definitely a part of it.”
The Good Lawyer star teased that Nancy and Ace would find surprising ways to deal with the looming threat.
“I think it will be unexpected the way that the writers have kind of taken this curse and what they have to deal with in the terms of their relationship with each other and how to navigate that,” she continued. “I love reading what fans have to say about the show and I read a lot of people’s theories and stuff, and everyone is wrong so far. I think it will be really unexpected and really satisfying. In the nature of our show, it’s incredibly romantic and beautiful and absolutely heart-wrenching and painful and all of the above.”
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Scroll down for other fictional TV breakups that tugged at fans’ heartstrings through the years:
