Best of 2025: Romantic Scenes features spoilers for various shows. Please be advised if there’s something you don’t want to know.
From held gazes to serious steam, our Best of 2025 Romantic Scenes cover all kinds of romance on our screens this year! We’ve watched new relationships bloom, old relationships take new steps, and fan favorites get a moment in the spotlight. And it has all made us positively gleeful!
This year, romance on the small screen definitely outpaced its big-screen counterparts. But big or small — we love our romance anywhere we can find it. Here are the scenes that made us feel all the feelings throughout the year!
For more end-of-the-year coverage, be sure to check out our Best of 2025 Performances, the Best of 2025 Found Families, the Best of 2025: Romantic Relationships, and the Best of 2025 TV Episodes.
Alexander Blake and Eliza Scarlet
Miss Scarlet
Were we deeply skeptical of Miss Scarlet‘s rebrand, complete with a new leading man? Absolutely. But by the time the credits rolled on Season 5, we were all-in for Alexander Blake, the reserved new inspector with whom Eliza inevitably butts heads (and begrudgingly respects). And, it seems, so is Eliza. The sweet scene where she brings him and his daughter cake from Ivy and Barnabas’s wedding — and where both Alexander and Eliza opt not to cut the moment short — shows the tender caution with which they’re breaking down each other’s walls. Season 6, here we come!
Kat Landry and Elliot Augustine
The Way Home
Season 3 sees the childhood besties-turned-lovers making a go of it. That is, until time travel, exes, and their own personal traumas again threaten to tear them apart. Their steamy hookup in Episode 4 pushes the boundaries of what Hallmark will show, and Elliot’s pond-jumping in Episode 9 is a major grand gesture. But the real romance comes in the final moments of the season, where they finally agree to see and love each other as they truly are — not defined by the pain of the past. It’s a love that has matured with time, and we can’t wait to see what’s next.
Max Mitchell and Cole Ellis
Wild Cards
Wild Cards just might be one of the most fun shows on TV right now. And a huge part of that is down to just how dang giddy it makes us to ship Max and Ellis! Following Season 1’s fake “first kiss,” this season sees the pair lock lips for the first time for real in one of our Best of 2025 Romantic Scenes (although, of course, there’s still a catch). Unwittingly drugged, the pair confide in each other in an intimate fireside scene. When Max promises Ellis that she’ll “be [his] cricket” — a callback to a memory of his brother — the kiss that follows is more than just attraction, but a promise of its own.
Tobias Bell and Gabin Roux
Étoile
Amazon’s ballet comedy may have been painfully short-lived. In its single season, though, it gave us a ship we couldn’t help loving (several, in fact). There’s something special about the “oh, it’s you” kind of ship, and that’s exactly what we got when prickly, allergic-to-emotion choreographer Tobias met Gabin, an ambitious dancer with a chip on his shoulder. As Gabin performs a hastily rechoreographed piece, Tobias watches, awestruck. And when he charges out on stage to sweep Gabin into a kiss in front of a worldwide audience? It’s the stuff rom-coms are made of.
Cassian Andor and Bix Caleen
Andor
In Season 2, Andor seriously deepened the doomed relationship between Cassian and Bix, to powerful effect. Because of the time jumps throughout the season, not everything is blatantly spelled out — but we don’t need it to be, not for our Best of 2025 Romantic Scenes. As Cassian prepares to leave on another mission, he leads Bix into a ritualized hand “dance” from Ferrix. Largely improvised by the actors themselves, it’s sensual, bittersweet, and laden with meaning. It’s all very Romeo and Juliet: “For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch / And palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss.”
Gregory Eddie and Janine Teagues
Abbott Elementary
We’ve shipped these two since Abbott Elementary began, and they’ve grown into one of the best sitcom couples of modern TV. It’s been a joy to see a romance that doesn’t play around with needless breakups and contrived drama. Instead, they gave us one of our Best of 2025 Romantic Scenes when they finally dropped the L-word! It wouldn’t be them without some goofy misunderstandings first (placing a smoothie order… it’s a long story). But when Gregory sweetly and sincerely tells Janine he loves her — and when she reciprocates — you can’t help but sigh and melt a little!
Clark Kent and Lois Lane
Superman
Sexy superheroes are so back. The heart of the rebooted Superman is the sparky romance between Clark and Lois, and the movie smartly skips over all the secret-keeping and meet-cutes to drop us right into the “define the relationship” stage. When Lois comes home to find Clark cooking breakfast-for-dinner in his rolled-up shirtsleeves, it swiftly turns into a sizzling makeout scene as he hoists her onto the counter (hooray for height differences!). The chemistry crackles as much as the dialogue in the scene that follows. It’s so intimate and so hot, you almost feel like you should look away (but you can’t).
Clark Kent and Lois Lane
Superman
Yes, we’re cheating and putting two scenes from Superman on our Best of 2025 Romantic Scenes list — but you try choosing between them! Where the kitchen scene was intensely intimate and sexy, this final kiss is pure superhero magic. After saving the day, Clark and Lois reunite in public while he’s still in “Superman.” But then they retreat to the interior of a damaged mall, Clark trailing behind Lois with a pleased grin. When they charge into each other’s arms for a kiss — then levitate, still liplocked, as Lois reciprocates Clark’s “I love you” — it’s an instantly iconic image.
Peggy Scott and William Kirkland
The Gilded Age
Peggy went through it for two straight seasons on The Gilded Age! Usually given the heavy, social commentary storylines, Peggy finally got to be a romantic leading lady in Season 3. From their earliest acquaintance, Dr. William Kirkland is awed by Peggy. Although he needs a moment to wrap his head around just how tough her past has been, his love for her wins out. When he sweeps her into a dance at the Newport ball, then proposes to her right there under the glittering lights, it’s the fairytale moment Peggy deserves — and a natural fit for our Best of 2025 Romantic Scenes!
Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser
Blood of My Blood
It’s an Outlander prequel, so you already know it’s going to be angsty and steamy! Forbidden lovers Ellen and Brian sneak away from a festival to handfast their union, despite knowing the dangers. It’s classically romantic — and then becomes classic Outlander sexytimes when they consummate their vows in an abandoned chapel. “Ruin me,” Ellen whispers, in a line straight out of a romance novel, and boy does Brian obey!
Finn Walsh and Suzette Devereaux
Providence Falls
The center of Hallmark’s time-travel drama was the star-crossed romance between aristocrat Cora and thief Liam. But amidst the angst, we couldn’t help falling for Cora’s modern-day pal Suzette and would-be soulmate Finn. As the pair gets wrapped up in the multi-era mysteries, they form a closer bond. And when a flirtatious moment gets cuts short, Suzette calls after Finn, telling him she still wants to know how their date would end. In a perfect rom-com move, he strides back over, pulls her into a kiss, and then tells her, simply, “That.”
Belly Conklin and Conrad Fisher
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Forget about love triangles and growing pains. From day one, it’s always been Belly and Conrad — it was just a matter of how we would get there. The soapy-yet-cozy teen drama pulled off its endgame in a fittingly epic way. When Conrad visits Belly in Paris, there’s a moment where it almost seems he won’t fit into her life anymore. But, of course, he does, and the show’s final sequence proves it. A romantic nighttime stroll turns into a scorchingly hot hookup full of intimate close-ups. It all leads to a last-minute chase and a declaration three seasons in the making. How could it not be one of our Best of 2025 Romantic Scenes?
Morgan Gillory and Adam Karadec
High Potential
We know we’re in for a slooooow burn with High Potential‘s dynamic duo. But we’re old-school procedural fans: we can wait. In the meantime, we’re savoring the subtle moments where these characters, almost as if by accident, let slip how much they care. While working a case, Morgan and Karadec clash (as they so often do). But on a car ride, just the two of them, Karadec checks in because he knows she’s not okay. “I know your silences,” he tells her. It’s one thing to understand what someone says — and something on entirely another level to understand the gaps in between.
Emily Lane and Sam Wilner
Mistletoe Murders
Sometimes, tropes are a good thing! That’s definitely the case with this romantic cozy mystery, which throws partners-in-crime-solving Emily and Sam into a trope-tastic scenario: forced proximity + emotional confessions under life-threatening circumstances. Sam admits his regrets over not asking Emily out; they both allow themselves a touch more honesty and vulnerability. Of course, they make it out of their sticky situation, but not before they share a soft kiss that speaks volumes.
Kate Wyler and Austin Dennison
The Diplomat
The show makes it clear: Kate’s twisted soulmate is estranged hubby Hal, and her steamy fling is spy Callum Ellis. But in terms of gasp-out-loud romance? It’s her and longtime counterpart Dennison. She awkwardly propositions him after splitting with Hal, and just when she thinks she’s blown it, he pulls her into a kiss that’s been seasons in the making. Granted, their almost-hookup on a desk is cut short by a reminder of just what a terrible, dangerous idea it is. But the sheer longing between them has a different kind of frisson than her other love interests. It’s romantic precisely because it can’t happen.
Elphaba Thropp and Fiyero Tigelaar
Wicked: For Good
The film version of “As Long As You’re Mine” is less frantic than its stage counterpart. But it’s no less romantic — and definitely one of our Best of 2025 Romantic Scenes! It starts with a mirror scene hypercharged with tension, as Fiyero removes Elphaba’s cloak, then his own coat and suspenders. From there, it’s a slow coming-together, with tentative yearning building to playful, sexy embraces. Fiyero’s teasing “under your spell”! Their giggles after their first kiss! And, yes, their bittersweet, romantic post-coital murmurs. Every note and every gaze are filled with both seize-the-moment heat and beautiful tenderness.
Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov
Heated Rivalry
A lot of the buzz around this romance-novel-turned-TV-hit centers (unsurprisingly) on the sex scenes. With good reason! But one of the earliest episodes also makes it clear that this is a Romance with a capital R. After their habitual hookups taper off for several months, on-ice rivals Shane and Ilya see each other again at an awards show. When Ilya finds Shane in the bathroom, their banter starts out sexual at first, but slowly melts into something more vulnerable and tender. There’s forehead touching, and Shane’s head resting on Ilya’s shoulder, and a kiss that’s much softer than everything that came before. It’s the first real hint that this is going to be about feelings, not just… another word that starts with F.
Joan and Larry Cutler
Eternity
Think the classic rom-com “running through an airport” trope is outdated? I present to you one of our Best of 2025 Romantic Scenes: running through segments of the afterlife! Joan has to choose who to spend eternity with: Luke, her first husband, who died young, or Larry, her second husband, with whom she spent most of her life. Although she initially chooses Luke (with Larry’s urging), she can’t help but miss Larry more and more. In the end, she breaks the rules and barrels through every obstacle to find Larry. Their reunion is subtle and restrained, and all the better for it. After a life together, they understand each other — they don’t need grandiose speeches.
What are your favorite romantic moments of 2025? Let us know in the comments below.