You Won’t Believe How Grey’s Anatomy’s Longest Couples Started—And Where They Are Now!
When Teddy Altman and Owen Hunt walked off into the Parisian sunset in Grey’s Anatomy’s season 22 finale, they became one of the show’s rare couples to find true, long-lasting love. Thanks to their good looks, demanding careers, and proximity to the world’s most cursed fictional hospital ever, most of the characters on Grey’s have enjoyed more short-term flings (or suffered through complex love triangles) than enduring romance. And can you really blame them?
Still, a few pairs on Grey’s have stayed strong throughout the years, no matter how much drama and chaos life has thrown their way. Below, revisit the love stories of the series’ most enduring couples, from how they began to where they are today.
How they started: With Miranda Bailey yelling at Ben Warren, and him finding it cute (naturally). After a patient woke up during surgery, Bailey wrongly blamed the then-anesthesiologist, who threw her off guard by defending himself — and not long after, by asking her out on a Valentine’s Day date. From the get-go, it was clear that the two had a strong-enough chemistry to make the rarely flustered Bailey “go stupid” around Ben. Still, she stubbornly kept trying to push him away until he finally made it clear that he wouldn’t be scared off so easily, and they began dating for real.
Where they are now: The longest-lasting couple on Grey’s Anatomy are doing quite well these days, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. After all, they’ve already survived a breakup, numerous job changes, Bailey’s mental health struggles with OCD and PTSD, health issues like her heart attack and Ben’s testicular cancer, and more. At this point, what can’t they handle? With such unwavering love and support for each other, the married parents of three are undoubtedly endgame.
How they started: Visiting urologist Catherine Avery expressed interest in Richard Webber from the moment they met in season eight — when she tickled his chest in front of a very unamused Bailey. But while the chief returned her flirt, he felt wrong pursuing anything further while still married to Adele. As his wife’s Alzheimer’s disease progressed, however, Richard slowly began opening himself up to a new romance. He and Catherine spent months enjoying a long-distance fling (much to her son Jackson’s horror), with things turning more serious after Adele’s passing.
Where they are now: This power couple haven’t had an easy road. They’ve gone through more than a few rough patches, including a long separation, faced medical ordeals like cancer and cobalt poisoning, and argued over everything from secret illnesses to hospital firings. But ultimately, the challenges have just made them stronger. It’s hard to imagine a world where Richard and Catherine don’t make it in the long term, even if they fight tooth and nail all the way to the end.
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How they started: Even when they were only friendly coworkers, Jackson Avery and April Kepner shared a hot chemistry that was apparent in every flirty conversation and shared glance. Their drastically different personalities and belief systems exemplified the “opposites attract” axiom, and it seemed inevitable when they finally hooked up (April’s first time!) the night before their medical boards in season eight. They started dating in the following season.
Where they are now: Hopefully, they’re doing well! They have a relationship that has survived trial after trial: painful breakups and near-death experiences, religious trauma and devastating loss, surprise pregnancies and moves to the Middle East. They even divorced each other and married other people, but by season 18, they’d reunited after realizing they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Last we heard on Grey’s, Jackson and April were happily raising their daughter Harriet in Boston.
How they started: Teddy Altman and Owen Hunt first met overseas while working as Army surgeons, but while Teddy was romantically interested, Owen was engaged to someone else and didn’t see Teddy as more than a friend. Years later, Owen invited “Cardio God” Teddy to join the Grey Sloan staff, and it became clear fast — especially to Owen’s then-girlfriend Cristina — that the heart surgeon still had feelings for him. Nevertheless, they kept things (mostly) platonic and married other people … which didn’t stop Owen, the King of Grand Gestures, from flying to Germany (where Teddy had moved) to be with her. Their tryst ended badly, but it did produce their future daughter, Allison. And during Teddy’s labor, they finally proclaimed their love for each other.
Where they are now: After two engagements, one divorce, two affairs, and one failed attempt at an open marriage, these crazy kids are finally getting their happy ending. The season 22 finale saw them reuniting and deciding to move to Paris as a family.
How they started: Having to get emergency surgery for a transplant complication in season 14 didn’t stop Nick Marsh from flirting hard with his doctor, the one and only Meredith Grey. He adorably tried his best to get Mer to fit one “brilliant but not too brilliant, with one debatably functioning kidney,” person into her future plans, and to her own surprise, she wasn’t totally against the idea — even telling Alex that Nick had made her “feel something” for the first time since Derek’s death. Unfortunately, though, Nick headed home to Minnesota soon after, and that was the last we saw of him … until a few years later when Mer took a job at the Mayo Clinic in season 18 and the duo reconnected for real.
Where they are now: Despite a brief breakup and a laundry list of complications (a long-distance relationship, multiple job changes, Mer’s trust issues, Nick’s not-infrequent medical emergencies), the couple are in it for the long haul. They moved to Boston together with Mer’s kids, bought a house, and — as of the season 22 finale — might just be getting married! After experiencing so much romantic trauma and loss in her life, Meredith Grey deserves a loving future with a partner as kind, charismatic, and stable as Nick.
How they started: Technically, Jo Wilson and Atticus Lincoln’s real beginning can be tracked back to college, when the future couple befriended each other at a shared part-time job. They lost touch over the years, but when Link took a job at Grey Sloan during season 15, the duo happily reconnected — but only as friends. It took three more seasons (and a few bad breakups with others) for the doctors to realize their feelings for each other weren’t so platonic. They kept things casual — well, as casual as it can be when you’re roommates — for a while and had some fights, but in season 19, Link confessed his love for Jo with a seriously romantic speech in the rain.
Where they are now: Anyone who watched Link serenade Jo during their season 21 wedding could see just how in love the pair were, and that romance has stayed strong through scary events like Link’s post-explosion injuries and Jo’s traumatic labor. Now, they’re happily raising four kids together, including twin baby girls. They may be sleep-deprived and stressed, but their commitment to each other is unwavering.