TV Couples Who Perfectly Represent Black Love!

It’s Black History Month and Valentine’s Day, and we wanted to celebrate some of the best couples in recent years who embody Black Love.

They are stable, loving, inspirational, and aspirational couples.

They’re free of some of the stigmas projected on Black couples and many of the problematic elements, too.

They are real, loving, beautiful depictions of black couples on television, showing how important and amazing representation can be.

We’ve compiled a list of some of the best black couples currently (or recently) on the air.

Check it out below!

Beth and Randall – This is Us

Beth and Randall are one of the first couples that come to mind when you broach the topic.

While This Is Us has concluded its phenomenal run, it remains an incredible series that has covered many topics and brought people of all shapes, colors, and life journeys together.

The Pearson family resonates with everyone. And Beth and Randall Pearson are all the goals.

They’re not a perfect couple. They have their ups and downs, but they balance each other out beautifully. They always get through everything together.

Through loss, mental illness, career changes, adoption, and familial plights, they’re always by each other’s side.

They showed how diverse the black experience is. Randall often had his fair share of identity issues growing up as the only Black person in an all-white family, and Beth was the daughter of a Jamaican immigrant, but they found their way to each other.

Through their relationship, the show has explored a plethora of cultural issues, giving viewers a peek into what it’s like to be in an everyday Black relationship and family.

Helen and Eric – Sweet Magnolias

We’re going to be honest, Helen and Eric probably have the best romance on Sweet Magnolias, and the series has a handful of them.

Their love story is just so passionate and romantic, it’s like a hard-earned fairytale type of love, right down to passionate, sexy, swoon-worthy rain kisses.

Eric LOVES Helen, like, there’s never a question of it. His willingness to be in her life in any way that she needed was so refreshing because he supported her through it all: second chances with exes, miscarriages, career challenges, the works.

And Helen, recognizing that she, too, can put in the work and prove just how much he means to her, grand gestures and all, makes them a beautiful modern couple and the ultimate goals.

Gina and Rome – A Million Little Things

The Howards were arguably the best and strongest couple on A Million Little Things.

Even when they were at low points or had disagreements and conflicts, there was never any doubt that they would get through it together. For Rome and Regina, being apart is never an option.

Regina has supported Rome as he has battled depression. They’ve endured the loss of their friend and Rome’s mother.

Rome has been Gina’s rock as she grappled with traumatic experiences from her past, strained familial relationships, and career changes. Even conflict about starting a family was something they learned to overcome.

Communication is at the heart of their relationship and what has made them excel as a couple.

Violet and Hollywood – Queen Sugar

Queen Sugar is masterful for many reasons. For one, the series gave us a May-December romance between Violet Bordelon and Hollywood, and they never made a mockery of it.

It’s no secret that there is an age difference between the two, but it’s not something that defines them. Their love is so real and raw that it’ll bring you to tears and inspire you.

They’ve faced challenges, from losing loved ones to trying to keep the family farm going and the family intact.

Violet is fierce, lively, and passionate. She’s a business owner and the family’s matriarch. She’s vivacious and sexy.

Hollywood treats her like a queen. They’re each other’s equals, and they have seen each other through their complicated pasts, abusive husbands, autoimmune disorders, and long-distance.

They’re the series’s touchstone romantic relationship.

Hen and Karen – 9-1-1

There aren’t many sapphic romances still onscreen these days (goodness knows they tend to cancel more series featuring prominent queer women).

But that’s one of many things about 9-1-1 that’s worth appreciating. Hen and Karen are a beautiful, realistic, loving couple with a family, and, in recent years, arguably the show’s most stable relationship.

They have broken down some barriers with their portrayal without even trying.

Hen and Karen have overcome so much… so many real trials and tribulations, including, infidelity, depression, fertility issues, job woes, family drama, and recently, health scares — and they’ve done so in a manner that resonates.

It’s what makes Hen and Karen one of the best and most underrated couples.

Miranda and Ben – Grey’s Anatomy

Couples have thrived, crashed, and burned on Grey’s Anatomy. There are so many of them that you lose count, but Ben and Miranda are still going strong.

They’re probably the most stable couple in the show’s history.

We’ve witnessed their love from the beginning, from the flirting and courting process to their marriage, and everything that has come after.

It’s hard not to love their love.

Even at their worst, when they separated, they were fighting for their marriage; the love between them never died.

They’ve been through everything you can imagine in a marriage, and they always come out of it holding hands on the other side.

Ralph Angel and Darla- Queen Sugar

If you love the type of angst that hurts so good, Queen Sugar’s Ralph Angel and Darla are the couple for you.

Life tore them apart and brought them together over and over again, but no matter what obstacles they faced, they always found their way to one another.

They share two children together, Blu and Tru, and seeing them navigate the fraught issues of raising one child to ultimately being a strong familial unit as two was a beautiful sight and a strong example of the Black nuclear family.

The soft-spoken farmer and gentle recovering addict have both overcome trauma, the criminal justice system, and so much pain, but their love story isn’t limited to it, which makes all the difference. 

They’re strong individuals on their own, but they are stronger when they are together. Their love story tugs at your heartstrings, and their resilience is inspiring.

Dre and Rainbow – Black-ish

We can be grateful to Blackish for so many things, but one of the big ones is giving us a modern take on the iconic Black love found in ’90s sitcoms.

They embody the Martin and Gina, the Kyle and Maxine, the Sinclair and Overton — the Dwayne and Whitleys of our era.

As we’ve mentioned, you don’t find couples like them much anymore. And hell, we haven’t found many of those coupoles in comedic spaces since the series finale.

They have the happy, kooky family, and they balance each other out.

Their love is one built on partnership and mutual understanding, and in many cases, it’s their differences that make them such a strong pairing.

Sure, they’ve had some tough times, but for the most part, they’re made for each other. 

Ruby and Stan Hill – Good Girls

Ruby and Stan are that couple. The others on Good Girls can’t relate.

One of the best parts about the series is watching Ruby navigate a healthy marriage, parenthood, and her life of crime.

She got into the business for her family, and Stan eventually understood it when he was willing to do anything to help and support their sick daughter, too.

They’re such a refreshing couple, and they’re the bright spot on the show.

In the face of infidelity and messy relationships from two-thirds of the Good Girls, we can always count on Ruby and Stan to be the firm, enduring couple with so much real, genuine love that it jumps off the screen.

Spencer and Olivia – All American

It’s been a long journey to get us to Spencer and Olivia, especially tying the knot.

And they have a truly beautiful love story.

From virtual strangers to becoming each other’s confidant, All American‘s Spencer and Olivia are one of the best, sweetest friends-to-lovers romances onscreen, especially in recent years.

Both nurturers, the beauty of their relationship was in how they took care of each other, giving the other what they needed and deserved, and rarely received from those around them.

From taking bullets to taking vows, they’ve had a beautiful, meaningful journey.

Lil Murda and Uncle Clifford – P-Valley

Lil Murda and Uncle Clifford are one of the most unique love stories in recent years, let alone Black love stories.

What makes this P-Valley couple so special is that it embodies some of the integral aspects of Blackness. Their love was rooted in radical acceptance, vulnerability, and emotional honesty.

They were tender, flawed, and in the quietest moments, deeply joyful.

All the while challenging concepts of Black masculinity and queerness, and what it truly means to love out loud.

In the perfect world, their love story is one we’d get to explore even deeper, you know, if P-Valley Season 3 could ever see the light of day.

Ericka and Jacob – Brilliant Minds

Sometimes, pairings are here for a good time, not a long one.

That’s the best way to describe the relationship between Jacob and Ericka on Brilliant Minds.

The two oozed so much chemistry, starting off as something akin to rivals and blossoming into a really engaging friendship and hints of romance, too.

At the root of their connection was a deep understanding of one another and an ability to be vulnerable and lay bare with each other.

They understood one another in ways that most others didn’t, and their dynamic was simply something beautiful to witness.

The real heartache with this pairing was that they had so much possibility, but the timing was presumably off, and Jacob has since followed his passion elsewhere.

Even knowing that, there’s something about these two, and knowing they could find their way back to each other again.

Janine and Gregory – Abbott Elementary

Black nerds need love, too!

Janine and Gregory have one of the greatest sitcom romances of the modern era, and it’s rooted in the fact that they truly, deeply understand each other and meet each other exactly where they are.

It’s almost like they’re made just for one another, as it’s hard to envision them finding their perfect match outside of each other.

Quirky, cute, and just the perfect amount of awkward, they’re such a refreshing look at a different type of love story you typically see onscreen, specifically for Black characters.

One of the greatest joys of Abbott Elementary is watching these two learn to navigate new stages in their serious relationship.

Justin and Keisha – Forever

There is a shocking lack of Black protagonists in YA love stories, even as the YA genre is having a renaissance.

It’s one of many reasons’ Forever’s Justin and Keisha is such a special love story.

Their relationship is built on consistency, communication, and emotional honesty. It makes them such an aspirational pairing.

They’re the definition of “holding space” for each other. There’s a quiet maturity to their love that works for all ages, and a softness that doesn’t obscure their strength, individually and together.

Keisha and Justin show up for each other, and they never stop. It just doesn’t get better than that.

Calvin and Tina- The Neighborhood

Calvin and Tina are probably single-handedly still keeping the married Black sitcom Couple alive.

They have all the flavor and hilarity of previous sitcom couples, whether from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, or 2000s, before they became a rarity onscreen.

They bicker, clash, and drive each other insane, but they also love each other deeply, loudly, and comedically to our absolute delight.

Calvin and Tina feel like watching their favorite aunt and uncle on screen, and that relatability makes The Neighborhood one of the most resonant series out there.

Decades of marriage don’t come easy, and there will always be hurdles and tough spots, but they embody the grit, humor, and joy that’s at the quintessence of Black love

Ava and O’Shon – Abbott Elementary

Abbott Elementary doesn’t just have one Black couple that makes us smile, but two.

For years, it seemed like Ava was the acquired taste who might not find a romantic match of her own, because to outsiders, she was the woman who was “too much.”

But then O’shon came around and showed her that she wasn’t.

No matter what she threw his way, or her attempts to push him away, he was always there, solid, standing comfortably in who he was and encouraging her to see him for who he was, too.

O’Shon doesn’t treat Ava like she’s too much to handle, and he gets past all of her walls and defenses, allowing Ava to be her full self and evolve in a healthy relationship. It’s a beautiful sight all around.

Alex and Elle – Cross

We have to believe that Elle and Alex will find their way back to each other on Cross.

But whether they’re romantically linked or just in an indefinable space, for a show that’s hailed as unapologetically Black, this particular love story is, too.

Their love is one of steadiness, safety, and light. Alex goes to dark places, and she serves as his grounding force and a safe space for him to be vulnerable. She’s an anchor.

And Alex would go to the ends of the earth in his quiet devotion to Elle. He values her deeply, even when he doesn’t always know how to show it.

Their relationship is built on partnership and overcoming some of life’s hardest moments.

Nyla and James – The Rookie

It’s true that The Rookie is filled to the brim with great couples and potential ships.

And for the most part, Nyla and James have been one of the most consistent. They were always a fascinating dynamic that came with a level of conflict.

Nyla is an LA police detective and total badass, but again, she’s a woman who carries a badge. And James has always been a social rights activist and community organizer.

Naturally, it means they were destined to clash on various occasions, and sometimes they still do within their marriage.

But that’s what makes their relationship so rich.

They can butt heads, have some arguments that really make us concerned for the fate of their marriage, but when push comes to shove, they stick by each other in the hardest, most traumatic moments, and there’s beauty in them, actually showing what “for better or for worse” really means.

Peggy and William – The Gilded Age

We had some bumps in the road for these two on The Gilded Age, but that’s what makes their love story all the sweeter.

Peggy and William are tender and quietly radical for their time, given that they’re navigating a world with strict racial, class, and status lines.

But there’s a refreshing hopefulness to their romance precisely because of what theyre’ overcoming.

William sees Peggy’s brilliance and ambition without ever trying to contain it, and Peggy trusts William’s steadiness even when it leads to complications.

Their connection is a reminder that Black love has always been about resilience, dignity, and choosing each other in a world that rarely made space for it.

Wade and Luna – The Rookie

We’re just going to ignore the fact that The Rookie has been randomly testing the most stable couple in its universe.

Anyway, the beauty of Luna and Wade is that they feel like the blueprint for navigating marriage for the long haul, especially given their line of work.

Luna never felt like the nagging wife who didn’t understand her husband’s job, and most of the time, Wade didn’t take her for granted. When he realized the wrongs he had done, he learned how to make things right.

They communicate with each other, even when they aren’t on the same page, and it’s that ability alone that makes them such a standout couple onscreen.

Alice and Will – Bridgerton

When it comes to love stories on Bridgerton, they’re undeniably chaotic.

That’s why Alice and Will Mondrich feel like the steady calm in a world of ridiculousness.

They’re the epitome of “moving on up” as they go from working class to a higher social status in a world that prioritizes that more than it does, yet they never lose their humility amid their pursuit of ambition.

Alice brings the head as much as the heart to their dynamic, loyal, and unwavering strength, support, and wisdom. And Will is resilient, driven, and undeniably devoted to his wife.

The respect and reverence between them is awe-inspiring.

Over to you, TV Fanatics.

Are there any couples missing? Which of them inspires and moves you the most?

Do you enjoy the positive representation? Hit the comments below.

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