While Shameless follows the Gallagher family in all their schemes and misdeeds, the show also puts a serious emphasis on the love lives of Frank’s children – especially Fiona’s. She has a knack for making reckless and impulsive decisions, which extends to her romantic partners. In the world of Shameless, Fiona’s boyfriends are bound to be just as reckless as she is.
Over the years, all of Fiona’s boyfriends add up to quite the motley of personalities. From Steve in season 1 to Ford in season 9, all of Fiona Gallagher’s love interests from Shameless seem to share a few qualities. More often than not, it’s the same drive that the Gallaghers possess when it comes to making a space for themselves in their cut-throat surroundings.
Updated on August 29th, 2021 by Svetlana Sterlin: Fans have long been divided over which character is the best of Fiona Gallagher’s boyfriends. Some are genuinely good people with whom Fiona wouldn’t mind settling down for the long run, while others are never intended to be more than a one-time fling. Fiona’s love interests in Shameless are usually spontaneous people like her, but sometimes they catch her attention for other reasons and they each deserve to be analyzed on their strengths and weaknesses.
10 Robbie
Everything about Fiona’s relationship with Mike is toxic and it’s one of the biggest secrets that a character keeps in Shameless. Not only does she dislike him, but she’s almost afraid of him. She’s nervous around him for a reason, and she knows that their meetups are wrong. She feels bad for cheating on Mike, and even worse because her relationship with Robbie is purely physical.
For his part, Robbie knows exactly what he’s doing with Fiona. He knows that she’s seeing Mike and that he’s ruining both her relationship and her career. Essentially, Robbie destroys everything she has going for her at that point in her life. He’s the worst of her lovers on the show for this reason.
9 Craig
In the end, Craig is revealed to be almost predatory. He uses Fiona’s high school crush on him to hook up with her, which is worrying on many levels. First of all, he cheats on his wife for a few moments with Fiona, but the way he uses her is also concerning.
Craig doesn’t add any value to Fiona’s life. If anything, he holds her back and encourages her to keep distracting herself from her real issues. One of the most unpopular opinions about Fiona is that she’s too focused on men, but this is a theory that is supported by her fling with Craig. He’s also not a very considerate person, and compared to the other boyfriends Fiona has in Shameless, he’s not her best choice.
8 Tony
Tony is one of the few characters from the South Side who displays a solid set of morals. Outside of his police duties, he’s a kind, well-mannered, and traditional sort of person who tries to treat Fiona the best way he knows how.
Despite his sweet demeanor and how much he endears himself to the fans, Tony’s desires never align with Fiona’s. Fiona is just looking for a casual relationship with him, while he wants to show her off to his mom and probably marry her down the line. Also, Tony later comes out as gay, so their relationship was never going to mean anything significant.
7 Gus
At first, Gus seems like a good person who really cares about Fiona. However, their relationship is doomed from the start. Not only do they move way too quickly, but they don’t communicate very well and quickly become bitter towards each other. Had they taken the time to think about their relationship, things may have worked out.
Gus is very different from Fiona, but she appears to like that about him. He’s soft-spoken, calm, and introspective, which grounds her. Their relationship could have been a great change of pace for both of them. However, Gus reveals a more spiteful side of himself later on, which is all fans need to know that he and Fiona aren’t good for each other.
6 Ford
Few fans would say that Ford was their favorite boyfriend of Fiona’s. He lies to her about his whole wife situation and lacks much of the intrigue Fiona’s other partners have. However, Ford supports her rental property endeavors and sticks by her through some rough times.
When compared to Fiona’s other boyfriends, Ford is pretty forgettable. However, what isn’t forgettable is how badly he hurts Fiona. Learning that he’s married–which is one of the biggest secrets on the show–is the last straw for Fiona, and she spirals hard. On one hand, he helps her grow and put herself first, but he’s also a total fraud.
5 Sean
For a while, Sean seems like the perfect match for Fiona. He has a troubled history, so he understands her upbringing more than anyone else Fiona has ever dated. However, he’s still recovering from his addiction, which gets in the way of his happiness. For this reason, many fans consider him to be one of the best characters introduced after season 1.
Between their shared understanding, life goals, and chemistry, these two seem like a great match. Sean really appears to be doing his best at recovery, which is admirable. However, he doesn’t tell Fiona when he relapses. When Frank tells her the truth, Fiona knows she can never trust Sean again. Before their fateful wedding day, Sean treats Fiona better than most of her other romantic partners.
4 Adam
When it comes to rebounds, Adam isn’t Fiona’s worst choice. He’s attentive and open-minded, and he really seems to make Fiona happy for the short time they’re together. They might’ve worked out in the long term had things not gotten complicated with Jimmy.
Adam seems like a good person, and his personality complements Fiona’s. The few scenes they share together are lighthearted, happy, and unproblematic. Unfortunately, things don’t last because Fiona isn’t really in love with him. When Jimmy finds a way back into her life, she goes right back to him.
3 Steve
Initially, Fiona doesn’t think that her relationship with Steve is going to be anything serious. However, he persists in making advances until Fiona accepts her feelings for him. Steve’s persistence is borderline obsessive and had Fiona not been interested in him, it would’ve been highly problematic.
Over Fiona’s nine seasons on the show, Steve is the love interest who leaves the greatest impression. They’re both very invested in each other, and Steve proves his commitment time and again by voluntarily getting involved in the Gallaghers’ lives and living in their rundown house. However, Steve’s downfall is his dishonesty.
2 Jimmy
Technically, Steve and Jimmy are the same person, but there’s a clear difference between his behavior after Fiona discovers the truth about him. When Jimmy reveals himself as the son of wealthy parents and med-school dropout, the Gallaghers wonder why he’s still hanging around the South Side.
His devotion to Fiona may be seen as admirable, especially when he’s teased for being something like a househusband. While Fiona is out managing her affairs, Jimmy takes care of Liam, maintains the house, and tries not to get killed by Estefania’s dad. All in all, Jimmy has a little too much on his plate to be totally present for Fiona, but he’s more caring and considerate than Steve. Fans always felt that Jimmy was gone from Shameless too soon.
1 Mike
Mike embodies everything Fiona really wants in her life – at least, at the time she meets him. After the whirlwind that is her relationship with Jimmy, she needs some normalcy in her life, and Mike gives her that. He’s also very kind and treats Fiona with the respect that not many of her other boyfriends do.
It makes sense that Mike and Fiona don’t last, no matter how great their relationship may be; Mike is simply too ordinary for the life Fiona leads. She craves adventure, which is why she is so drawn to Steve. But as a romantic partner, Mike is easily Fiona’s best. He could have provided her with a happy, steady, and secure life, and they both clearly liked each other.
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