TV Romances
All of Ted Mosby’s Serious Girlfriends on ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ Ranked
Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) spent nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother looking for “the one.” The series followed the architect telling his children the story of how he met their mother, who didn’t even join the cast until the final season.
The series was set while Ted was in his late 20s and early 30s, and he dated a lot of women before finding the mother of his children. While some of the relationships were short-lived, other girlfriends stuck around. He even came this close to marrying another woman in Season 4.
Scroll down to check out Swooon‘s definitive ranking of Ted’s love interests — the serious ones, at least.
7. Karen
Ted’s college girlfriend, Karen (Laura Prepon), was, well, the worst. We saw just how horribly she treated him in flashbacks from their college days. Not only was her personality awful, but Karen also cheated on Ted multiple times and brought out the worst in him.
Most importantly, Ted’s best friends, Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan), couldn’t stand Karen and how she treated Ted. This was evident when Karen came back into Ted’s life in Season 4, and Lily purposely left Robin’s (Cobie Smulders) earring in Ted’s bed so Karen would break up with him. After Lily confessed what she did, Karen and Ted got back together, but when she wanted him to end his friendship with Lily because of her meddling, Ted chose his friends, who actually had his back over his relationship with Karen.
6. Jeanette
Jeanette (Abby Elliott) was Ted’s last girlfriend before he met his wife and the mother of his children (more on that later). If Karen wasn’t so awful, there’d be no question that Jeanette is Ted’s worst girlfriend. First of all…she’s a stalker. But because Ted was in such a low place after Robin’s engagement to Barney (Neil Patrick Harris), he wasn’t able to see the truth about Jeanette. Instead, he found her obsession with him endearing, even as more of her questionable qualities started coming out.
When Ted and Jeanette finally broke up, she trashed his apartment and started setting his things on fire. This was never going to work out, and even Ted’s desperation didn’t make this relationship okay.
5. Zoey
While Ted and Zoey (Jennifer Morrison) had the makings of an epic enemies-to-lovers arc — she was protesting the destruction of a historic building, The Arcadian, being torn down because he was helping to build its replacement — they clearly weren’t destined to be together.
Ted and Zoey’s relationship was never on solid ground. They only got together when she left her husband for him, and even then, they were still at odds over the future of The Arcadian. Ted often made sacrifices for his other relationships (except when it came to his friendship with Robin), but he wasn’t willing to give up his dream job in favor of Zoey’s activism.
The banter between Zoey and Ted was fun, but it worked when they were just friends, too. Once things became romantic, the spark just wasn’t there.
4. Stella
Okay, yes, it’s f**ked up that Stella (Sarah Chalke) left Ted at the altar on their wedding day so she could get back together with her daughter’s father. However, when things were good between these two, their relationship really was special. Ted was (somewhat) sweetly relentless in pursuing Stella, who was his dermatologist, and their speedy first date that fit within her two-minute lunch break was the sweetest gesture.
These two made major sacrifices for each other. Stella made time for Ted in her busy schedule as a single mom and doctor, and Ted moved to New Jersey to be with her. It wasn’t meant to be, but it was special while it lasted.
3. Victoria
Victoria (Ashley Williams) came into Ted’s life when she needed him most. He was feeling unlucky in love, worried that he would never meet “the one” that he would marry someday. Then, he met Victoria and found someone who was looking for exactly the same thing.
Although they couldn’t make it work when Victoria’s career took her overseas, it showed great maturity that Ted urged her to pursue her dreams. The breakup wasn’t for lack of trying. They did give the long distance thing a go. Ultimately, the relationship ended because Victoria wasn’t comfortable with Ted and Robin’s friendship — which, to be fair, was valid — and she ended things because he refused to accept an ultimatum to end the friendship. Considering Ted and Robin started dating after this, it was clearly the right decision.
When Victoria returned in Season 7, Ted was still looking for “the one,” and she made quite a gesture by leaving her fiancé on their wedding day to be with him. This was messy, but it proved how much she cared about him. They gave things another go, but Victoria eventually realized that Ted was still hung up on Robin, even after Robin and Barney’s engagement. He once again refused to let go of his friendship with Robin, which left Victoria heartbroken.
Victoria was so sweet and lovable, you couldn’t possibly hate her. She wasn’t the right one for Ted, but she was his most mature relationship before his marriage.
2. Robin
Is this a hot take? Not everyone loves these two together, but I still think they’re meant to be. As Ted’s kids pointed out in the series finale, it was so completely obvious that he was in love with “aunt Robin.” At the end of the day, everything came back to her.
Although things didn’t work out between Ted and Robin when they first gave their relationship a go, it was the perfect romance for that time in their lives. They were still young and able to have fun, but old enough to be in a committed relationship. The relationship ended because they wanted different things, and that’s okay.
Then, they were able to go on and achieve the things they wanted individually, all while still staying friends (for the most part). Robin was beyond successful in her career, which ended up taking her all over the world, while Ted got the wife and kids he always wanted. By the time they got back together in the year 2030 — 24 years after their initial romance and following the death of Ted’s wife — they were ready.
1. Tracy
There’s no doubt that Tracy (Cristin Milioti) was Ted’s soulmate. While the mystery of the mother of Ted’s kids was the basis of the entire show, Tracy’s identity wasn’t revealed until the ninth and final season. The entire season featured the events that led to Ted and Tracy finally meeting for the first time when she was in the band at Robin and Barney’s wedding.
Even though the series finale only gave us a glimpse of Ted and Tracy’s 11 years together before her death, it was obvious that they were perfect for each other. Tracy was basically the female version of Ted. As a viewer, it was so easy to fall in love with Tracy in such a short amount of time and understand why Ted did as well. She loved the things about him that others considered quirks.
If it wasn’t for her death, these two likely would have lived a happy life together. But her passing did eventually allow Ted to end up with the other great love of his life: Robin.
