11 Love Triangles in Film and TV That Have Us Picking Sides

Some stories lean into romance. Others spiral into chaos. But the best kind of storytelling gives you both, and nothing delivers emotional whiplash quite like a love triangle. Whether it’s a simmering slow burn or a full-blown tug-of-war, there’s something magnetic about watching three characters orbit each other in a storm of unresolved tension, bad timing, and stolen glances. Love triangles aren’t just about who ends up with who—they’re about the chemistry, the betrayals, and the delicious thrill of not knowing how it’ll all play out.

With juicy entanglements dominating pop culture lately, we’re revisiting some of film and TV’s most iconic love triangles that have had fandoms debating loyalties until today. From messy teen dramas to the silent yearnings of decades past, these eleven fraught trios have kept us hopelessly invested and occasionally a little delusional.

1. ELPHABA, GLINDA, AND FIYERO (WICKED & WICKED: FOR GOOD)

Wicked: For Good may have just hit the silver screens, but the famed debate over which witch Prince Fiyero Tigelaar should have chosen has been raging for over 20 years. Since the Broadway musical first debuted in 2004, countless actors across the globe have stepped into the shoes of this lovelorn trio, yet the fandom still can’t come to a consensus.

In the latest cinematic adaptation—fronted by Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and Jonathan Bailey—every glance, every note, and every dance sequence crackles with undeniable chemistry. It’s nearly impossible to pick a favourite pairing when the dynamics on screen are this electric. No spoilers here, but Fiyero does eventually make a choice. And if history has taught us anything, it’s that when there’s a wedding, Jonathan Bailey should be nowhere near the altar.

2. LUCY, JOHN, AND HARRY (MATERIALISTS)

Love gets complicated when your heart and your bank account are pulling you in opposite directions. In A24’s Materialists, Lucy (Dakota Johnson) finds herself caught between two very different visions of romance: Harry (Pedro Pascal), the financially secure suitor who can whisk her off to candlelit dinners, luxury getaways, and flower arrangements the size of small cities; and John (Chris Evans), who can’t offer much in the way of material comfort, but gives her something softer—steady affection, vulnerability, and a kind of love you can’t put a price on.

It becomes a battlefield for tangible pleasures and intangible truths. Is grand abundance able to sustain a relationship? Does emotional intimacy trump the allure of wealth? Materialists asks the longstanding question in a modern setting: is affection alone enough, or do material things matter more than we’d like to admit?

3. TASHI, ART, AND PATRICK (CHALLENGERS)

Love hurts, especially when you’re still playing the same rally 13 years later. In Challengers, former tennis prodigy turned coach Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) finds herself entangled in a love triangle with former best friends, Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) and Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor). What begins as a flirty throuple between rising young athletes spirals into a back-and-forth volley of desire, ego, and power.

As each match intensifies, so do the stakes. Past and present collide in a showdown of grudges, missed chances, and emotional foreplay. Every stare is loaded, every line a double entendre—and the internet is eating it up. The Team Art versus Team Patrick discourse still rages on, but one thing’s clear: Challengers has revived erotic sports dramas for the modern age.

4. BELLY, CONRAD, AND JEREMIAH (THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY)

For Belly Conklin (Lola Tung), summer has always meant lazy beach days, pomegranate margaritas, and the bittersweet sting of childhood crushes. With season three of The Summer I Turned Pretty now airing weekly on Prime Video, we’re once again swept into the tides of her heart, torn between polar-opposite brothers Conrad (Chris Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno). 

As the trio wade through grief, jealousy, and unspoken feelings, fans are once again deep in the TikTok trenches analysing every glance, dialogue, and soundtrack choice while debating which brother reigns supreme. Though readers know where Belly’s devotion ultimately lands in the books, the series still keeps us guessing. And while I have a very obvious pick…we’ll just have to wait and see which Fisher boy she chooses.

5. BRIDGET, MARK, AND DANIEL (BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY)

Long before streaming platforms fed us every version of the good boy versus bad boy trope, Bridget Jones’s Diary laid the blueprint with a charming cad and a noble gent. Set against the backdrop of early 2000s London, 32-year-old Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) winds up in a muddle over Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), her roguish boss, and Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), the socially awkward family friend.

It’s a tale as old as time—messy, hilarious, and oh-so-British (ugly Christmas jumpers, anyone?). Between painfully relatable inner monologues and dramatic confessions, it reminds us that love sometimes means navigating self-help books, romantic blunders, and one too many vodka martinis. Decades later, we’re still rewatching and re-evaluating: was Mark really the better man with his quiet dignity, or was Daniel just misunderstood?

6. ELENA, DAMON, AND STEFAN (THE VAMPIRE DIARIES)

All is fair in love and war, even when you’re dealing with immortality, bloodlust, and centuries of emotional baggage. The Vampire Diaries thrived on this, delivering one of the most iconic love triangles to ever come out of peak 2010s TV. At the centre is Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev), a small-town girl who first falls for the tortured yet selfless Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) before being swept up by his impulsive, morally grey brother Damon (Ian Somerhalder). 

Over eight seasons, allegiances shifted and loyalties were ripped apart, but we were hopelessly hooked nonetheless. Sure, the supernatural premise and insanely attractive villains made it hard to turn off, but it was Elena’s struggle between two kinds of love that kept us coming back for more. We don’t blame her, though. The allure of being madly in love with a vampire is tempting, especially when there’s a Salvatore by your side.

7. BELLA, EDWARD, AND JACOB (THE TWILIGHT SAGA)

Speaking of the undead, who could forget the pinnacle of supernatural romance? After Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) moves to the gloomy town of Forks, she’s pulled into a realm of bloodsuckers, ancient rivalries, and badly CGI-ed babies. It was a battle between brooding vampire heartthrob Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) with his lifetime of swoon-worthy declarations, or warm-blooded Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), Bella’s childhood friend with rock-hard abs and a knack for turning into a werewolf.

Say what you will about Twilight, but no love triangle stirred the pot quite like this one. Edward was always destined to be the endgame (sorry, Team Jacob stans). He quoted poetry, composed piano lullabies for Bella, and was fully prepared to die for her multiple times. Old-fashioned? Painfully so. But that’s exactly why Twi-hards couldn’t get enough. A man who yearns is a man who earns!

8. ROBIN, TED, AND BARNEY (HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER)

If you ever need a reason not to date within your friend group, look no further. Across the CBS sitcom’s nine seasons, Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) was stuck in a years-long dilemma between Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris). Her drawn-out flirtation with Ted took an unexpected detour when Barney, the group’s notorious womaniser, caught real feelings for her. 

The competition between the men seemed to finally settle when Robin and Barney tied the knot. But the showrunners weren’t done. Maybe they wanted to satisfy both sides. Maybe they just loved adding fuel to the fire. Either way, the final twist saw Ted and Robin ending up together after his wife passed away and Robin’s marriage to Barney collapsed. Talk about an awkward reunion, especially when everyone already got their happy endings…or so they thought.

9. AMY, JO, AND LAURIE (LITTLE WOMEN)

Bring back the classics where longing meant conversing in prose and heartache in wide-brimmed hats. With countless reboots of Louisa May Alcott’s 1869 novel, Little Women has reignited the age-old argument: which March sister was truly the best fit for Laurie? 

The case for Jo was cemented the moment Timothée Chalamet poured his soul out to Saoirse Ronan on the hillside, a scene so raw and heartfelt it became etched into cinematic history. But when it comes to long-term compatibility, Amy made more sense. She and Laurie shared a similar vision of love, ambition, and a life built in tandem, underpinned by a fiery passion that simmered beneath the surface. Jo may have been his idealised muse, but Amy was the partner who met him where he was. 

​​10. DEVI, PAXTON, AND BEN (NEVER HAVE I EVER)

What happens when you have to pick between the hot jock and the overachieving nerd? For Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), the answer is simple: just date both. From the very first season of Never Have I Ever, mayhem has practically been her middle name. Between juggling AP classes, high school clout, and a tiger mum with sky-high expectations, she somehow still finds time to bounce between Ben Gross (Jaren Lewison) and Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet).

Team Ben swore by the sharp banter and rivals-to-lovers tension, while Team Paxton backed his character growth and undeniable soft spot for Devi. The show may have wrapped two years ago, but the fandom is still as divided as ever. One thing we learned by the final episode is to never underestimate Devi’s game. We support her rights and her wrongs.

11. ALLIE, NOAH, AND LON (THE NOTEBOOK)

Love letters. Rowboats. Rain-soaked kisses. In The Notebook, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams gave us star-crossed lovers Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton, who survived time, war, and even James Marsden’s Captain Lon Hammond Jr. in a three-piece suit.

Noah was the summer fling that refused to fade—reckless, familiar, and filled with a longing that clung to her like a song she couldn’t forget. Lon, on the other hand, was everything Allie had been taught to want: polished, dependable, and ready to give her the world. In the end, she chose the boy who built her a house with nothing but affection and hand-drawn blueprints. The heart often defies logic, and if Ryan Gosling is yelling your name in the rain, are you really walking away?

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