From the moment she first appeared on our screens, Keeley Jones has been one of the most heart-warming and energetic characters to watch on Ted Lasso. Her determination and confidence prove to be her greatest assets and her success with her own PR Company is truly inspiring.
On the other hand however, Keeley’s love life hasn’t been as much of a breeze for her. She’s been paired up with multiple love interests on the show, but her future with any of them is still hard to predict.
Keeley was first introduced as Jamie Tartt’s girlfriend. But their differences caused a break-up and she eventually began a more committed relationship with Roy Kent.
Much to the disappointment of the fans, and everyone in AFC Richmond, Roy and Keeley unfortunately didn’t work out either. But this wasn’t the only thing that stunned us in season 3; the writers surprised us this week by adding a third love interest to Keeley’s story: Jack Danvers.
If Keeley were to end up with anyone by the end of the series, it would have to be one of the three characters she’s already been linked to. The only question that remains is who will it be?
Keeley is likely to end up with Roy since the Ted Lasso writers have hinted a few times that there is still hope for them.
As for Jamie and Jack, Jamie’s story with Keeley is definitely over and a relationship between Jack and Keeley isn’t feasible because of their positions at work.
1. Why Keeley and Jamie won’t work
When we first saw Keeley in Ted Lasso, she was still working as a model/influencer, and she was dating Jamie. However, their relationship always felt one-sided because Keeley cared more about putting in the effort than Jamie did.
In the first season, Jamie was a lot more self-centred and arrogant and he would take advantage of Keeley’s feelings for him. It took Keeley a while to realise that he was not right for her but when she did, she immediately broke off their relationship.
Jamie may have gone through some character development over the last two seasons, but it’s too late for him to patch things up with Keeley now.
Even when Jamie confessed his love for Keeley, after they were long broken up, she didn’t let his words cloud her judgement. Keeley knows how Jamie treated her in the past and she isn’t going to let herself go down that path again.
Keeley’s history with Roy
Keeley and Roy started dating a while after she had broken up with Jamie. Although it took some time for their romance to kick off, they eventually became a couple that we were all rooting for.
Roy showed Keeley a side of him that no one else had seen before. We have always known Roy to be a stoic, hot-headed, and strong-willed person, but around Keeley he would feel comfortable letting his guard down and actually expressing how he felt.
Roy and Keeley built their relationship on trust, love and respect, which were lacking in her previous relationship with Jamie. Keeley helped Roy through all his failures and Roy supported Keeley while her business was taking off.
Keeley even formed a special bond with Roy’s niece, Phoebe, making their connection even deeper and more meaningful.
Because of the way the writers built up Roy and Keeley’s story, it really did come as a shock when we found out that the two of them decided to break up. We weren’t the only ones heartbroken though; everyone on the team and all the coaches took it pretty hard as well.
Keeley and Roy said that they needed to focus on their careers for the time being, which is why they chose to end their relationship. However, this doesn’t mean that either of them has lost feelings for each other.
Keeley admits that the break-up really hurt her and although Roy doesn’t exactly show it, it’s obvious that he feels the same way. Even Phoebe knows that it was stupid for Roy to let Keeley go.
The unexpected kiss between Keeley and Jack
In season 3 episode 4, Jack Danvers makes her first appearance. Jack is the head of the VC that funded Keeley’s PR Firm and is essentially her boss.
Jack comes to London to check on Keeley’s company and the two meet in an awkward encounter in the bathroom stalls. But they immediately hit it off later on and Jack seems impressed with Keeley’s progress.
In the following episode, Jack and Keeley are forced to stay back at the office to clean up a “situation” that Shandy causes as an act of revenge for Keeley firing her. By the time they’re done, it gets late so they decide to share a bottle of vodka together.
What happens next is certainly not something most of us were anticipating. Keeley impulsively leans in to kiss Jack, after which Jack kisses her back and the two of them sleep together in Keeley’s office.
Conclusion
The Ted Lasso writers spent way too long building up Keeley and Roy’s relationship for them to just discard all that development and not have them end up together.
I believe that they are using the break up to allow Roy and Keeley to grow a little bit on their own, but eventually realise that the best thing for them is to find their way back to each other.
While a relationship with Jack could be worth exploring with respect to Keeley’s sexuality, the circumstances they’re under don’t point towards a romance lasting very long.
For one, Jack is Keeley’s boss, and it wouldn’t be ethical for them to get involved with each other. Secondly, it doesn’t look like Jack will be staying in London for too long because her own office is obviously elsewhere.
And as I’ve already mentioned before, Jamie is out of the picture because Keeley got over him a long time ago.
Now although I have strong opinions on who Keeley might end up with, I also don’t think it would be the worst thing for her to end up on her own by the end of the series.
Keeley is so much more than just her relationships; she’s got KJPR, her wildly successful PR Firm, and loads of great friends she can lean on. She wouldn’t necessarily have to tie herself down to anyone to have a “happy ending”.
Either way, I’m excited to see what the creators have come up with for Keeley’s story and I’m sure it will be worth the wait. Ted Lasso season 3 will have 7 more episodes. Watch the next one on April 19, 2023, only on Apple TV+.
About Ted Lasso
Ted Lasso is an American sports-comedy streaming TV series developed by Bill Lawrence, Jason Sudeikis, Joe Kelly, and Brendan Hunt. It’s based on a character of the same name that Sudeikis first portrayed in a series of promos for NBC Sports’ coverage of the Premier League.
It follows the life of Ted Lasso, a coach of college-level American football who is unexpectedly recruited to coach an English Premier League team, AFC Richmond, despite having no experience at all in association football.
It stars Sudeikis as the titular character, Ted Lasso, joined by Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift, Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed, Juno Temple, and Sarah Niles among many others.
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