‘Gilmore Girls’: Do You Remember Everyone Luke Danes Dated?
For many Gilmore Girls fans, Luke Danes and Lorelai Gilmore were relationship goals. The couple didn’t get together until the fifth season of the series, though. Before they finally professed their love for each other, they both dated other people. Do you remember everyone Luke dated before finally settling down with Lorelai?
Anna Nardini and Luke Danes had a relationship before Gilmore Girls started
Long before Gilmore Girls began, Luke was in a relationship with a woman named Anna Nardini. While the relationship would have happened after Luke and Lorelai met, they weren’t great friends at the time. Lorelai didn’t know anything about Anna until Luke found out he had fathered a child with Anna. April Nardini’s sudden appearance in Luke’s life caused a rift between Luke and Lorelai. Her role in breaking up Luke and Lorelai ensured April garnered serious hate from Gilmore Girls fans.
Considering April’s age when she appeared in Stars Hollow, fans can guess when Luke and Anna dated. Since April was 12 when she came into the diner looking for her father, one can ascertain Anna and Luke started dating six to seven years before Gilmore Girls began. Lorelai would have known Luke by that point, as she appeared in Stars Hollow when Rory was just a baby.
Luke’s ex, Rachel, briefly returned in season 1
Luke, before the start of Gilmore Girls, also dated Rachel. Sookie St. James mentioned Rachel’s existence early in season one of the series, and then she appeared back in Stars Hollow briefly to rekindle her relationship with Luke. The relationship didn’t last long. In total, Rachel appeared in just five episodes of season 1 of the show.
Rachel and Luke’s short-lived relationship ended when she realized he had feelings for Lorelai and could never commit to her. Her final appearance came in “Love, Daisies and Troubadours,” the 21st episode of season 1. She was mentioned sporadically throughout the remainder of the series.
Luke Danes married Nicole while on a cruise in Season 4 of Gilmore Girls
After Rachel’s departure, Luke dealt with a bit of a dating dry spell. He wasn’t with anyone for all of season 2 and most of season 3. By the end of the third season, Luke started seeing Nicole Leahy. Nicole was the lawyer that Taylor Doose employed when he was leasing a storefront from Luke.
The couple dated, then took a vacation together. In the season 4 premiere, Luke revealed that he had drunkenly gotten married. The couple planned to divorce but briefly got back together before ultimately divorcing. Nicole’s last appearance came in the sixteenth episode of season 4, “The Reigning Lorelai.”
