Sophia Michaels
As the “Ted Lasso” series finale approaches, fans are celebrating a major win for the AFC Richmond team. Except it has nothing to do with soccer. After weeks of waiting on the edge of our seats to cheer for the inevitable rekindling of Roy Kent and Keeley Jones’s fizzled relationship, our dreams have officially come true: on May 16, after nearly an entire season apart, the pair found their way back to each other in true Roy and Keeley fashion.
When Do Roy and Keeley Break Up on “Ted Lasso”?
Like all good things, Keeley and Roy’s love story takes time to blossom. In season one, Keeley is still deeply entangled with her then-partner, Jamie Tartt. As Keeley’s relationship with Jamie starts to sour, fans notice subtle glances and pointed “hellos” between Keeley and Roy that hint at the desire for something more than friendship.
“I definitely know they would have a spectacular future together.”
Leading up to their romance, even the cast got in on the speculation. “You know, it’s one of those Sliding Doors situations. It’s not one way or the other way, or any which way,” Juno Temple, who plays Keeley, told POPSUGAR in 2021. “I definitely know they would have a spectacular future together. I believe they’d be great parents and they’d be great growing old together, and maybe that will be their journey . . . but I don’t know!”
Fans don’t see the pair acknowledge their feelings for each other, however, until episode seven, when they share a sweet kiss in the hallway of their hotel.
Once they become official, Roy and Keeley’s romance quickly becomes a fan-favorite plotline. Some of their most powerful moments as a couple shine through when they work together to take care of Roy’s niece, Phoebe, and when they support each other through personal struggles, like Roy’s knee injury and subsequent career hiccup. All good things come to an end, though, whether fans see it coming or not.
In Roy and Keeley’s case, their breakup came as a shock to many viewers, who turned to social media to scream-whistle like Roy Kent into the void as soon as it happened. “the more i think about it the more i realise there was absolutely no reason to break up roy and keeley this season,” one Twitter user wrote.
Despite fan pleas, the writers kept the pair apart, even writing in Jack, a new love interest for Keeley who ultimately ends up ghosting her after a misunderstanding involving work.
Do Roy and Keeley Get Back Together on “Ted Lasso”?
In episode 10 of season three, Roy finally makes the move fans have been waiting for. During a school drop-off, he runs into Phoebe’s teacher, Ms. Bowen, who flirted with him in season two. Their encounter makes Roy realize why he broke up with Keeley in the first place: unresolved personal issues that he projected onto Keeley.
Finally admitting this to himself, he decides to write an apology letter to Keeley, who intercepts him as he’s delivering it and makes him read it aloud. After a soft “thanks” from Keeley, the camera cuts to a different scene. Though, later, we see Roy emerging from Keeley’s back room wearing nothing but her pink robe, implying the two slept together.
“keeley was at her lowest point in this episode and then roy showed up and read his letter . . . ‘You’re keeley f*cking jones’,” one fan wrote on Twitter. “she will always be amazing and she really needed to hear that and especially from the love of her life. he loves her no matter what!”
Some fans, though, have found the reunion less than satisfying. Roy shows growth in realizing he was letting his emotions interfere with properly expressing himself to Keeley, but it does little to prove he won’t repeat these patterns moving forward. Additionally, with Keeley still reeling after her breakup with Jack, it may be too soon for her to reenter a long-term relationship without processing her feelings.
As with any relationship — including the romance between Rebecca and the Dutch stranger — Roy and Keeley’s future remains uncertain. Still, with only two episodes left in the series, many fans are hopeful the pair will use this time to strengthen their relationship. Until the series finale on May 31, we’ll be reliving all of our favorite Roy and Keeley moments and savoring every extra-long episode before they’re gone.
