‘The Golden Girls’: Blanche’s 3 Best Boyfriends
The Golden Girls character Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan) was irresistible to men. She could get any guy she wanted with her sex appeal and Southern charm. Throughout the show’s seven-year run, Blanche had plenty of handsome suitors. But these three gentlemen are her best boyfriends.
‘The Golden Girls’ Blanche Devereaux had a good man in Jake Smollens
When it comes to Blanche’s best suitors on The Golden Girls, Jake Smollens (Donnelly Rhodes) tops the list. Jake appears in the Season 2 episode “Diamond in the Rough” as a caterer hired by the girls for a charity banquet. Blanche charms Jake during their first meeting, and they begin dating.
Jake is every woman’s dream with his good looks, romantic gestures, and kindness. Yet, that’s not enough to please Blanche, who feels he doesn’t meet her qualifications. She dumps Jake, who had planned to propose to Blanche.
On the night of the banquet, Blanche realizes she made a mistake in dumping Jake. She tries to win him back, but Jake says she was right about their differences, and they wouldn’t work out. Many fans were upset at Blanche letting a good man like Jake slip through her fingers.
As one Reddit user wrote, “He was a genuine, down-to-earth person, and Blanche was just being a damn foolish snob.”
Jerry made her feel like a lady
Blanche proved to be a good friend when she fills in for Dorothy Zbornak’s (Bea Arthur) blind date in the Season 7 episode “The Commitments.” While Dorothy has a great time at Beatlemania, Blanche has a lousy time on her date with Jerry (Ken Howard), who doesn’t open her door or pay for her meal. The next day Jerry apologizes for his behavior and says he’s a widower trying to get back into the dating game.
He and Blanche agree to a fresh start, and as their relationship progresses, she falls in love. Yet, she worries about her sex appeal when Jerry doesn’t make a move on her. Blanche tricks Jerry into coming to a hotel room, where she plots to seduce him. However, her attempts fail, and he storms out.
Later, Blanche apologizes to Jerry then asks why he doesn’t want to sleep with her. Jerry says he likes to take things slow and have an old-fashioned romance. He then shows his love to Blanche by kissing her. Later, when Rose Nylund (Betty White) asks how Blanche feels about her old-fashioned romance, she responds “like a lady.”
Mel Bushman was always there for her
Blanche had friends with benefits relationship with Mel Bushman (Alan King). When Blanche gets dumped, she calls on Mel to comfort and satisfy her needs. In the Season 6 episode “Melodrama,” Blanch and Mel decide to take their relationship to the next level.
After fearing Mel is dead when he fails to return her calls, Blanche is relieved to learn he was on vacation. Blanches professes her love to him, and they decide to become exclusive. However, their first date turns out to be a disaster. The two realize this new arrangement isn’t going to work and return to the way things were.
