The most devastating breakups on Disney Channel shows proved that despite the network's lighthearted
nature, there were still real emotions involved. So keep watching to remember all the relationship
endings that had you bawling your eyes out back in the day!
Perhaps the most defining Disney Channel Original Movie of all time is High School Musical.
It was a musical, obviously, but also a love story and a tale of two worlds clashing, all
told from the perspective of high schoolers. So naturally enough, it was pretty melodramatic.
The ultimate love story of the HSM trilogy was between star athlete Troy and star nerd
Gabriella, as played by Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens.
In High School Musical 2, their relationship was put to the test when Troy had to choose
between performing in the talent show with Sharpay or standing up for Gabriella, and
he chose Sharpay.
"But if along the way, you act like someone you're not, pretty soon that's who you become."
Gabriella ended things with him by singing the truly depressing song "Gotta Go My Own
Way" and returning to him the necklace he gave her at the start of summer. Of course,
the two eventually find their way back together, but that doesn't mean the breakup was nothing
short of devastating, or that fans weren't seriously upset.
On Wizards of Waverly Place, the Disney Channel did away with the perfect good-girl main character
by offering up Alex Russo instead. While she was rebellious and sarcastic, her older brother
Justin very much wasn't. His relationships usually tended to take a backseat to his sister's,
but when it came to his fling with Juliet, fans were definitely invested. Justin was
a wizard, while Juliet was a vampire, so they had a hard go of it right from the start.
But they still fell hard for each other, despite their parents being enemies.
It seemed like all was well, that is, until it wasn't. When a showdown between Juliet
and Alex's boyfriend Mason left Juliet in the body of an old lady, she and Justin ended
things. It's a pretty sad moment, despite the odd situation, as Juliet and Justin seemed
so perfect for each other. But circumstances were sadly beyond their control, and they
couldn't avoid breaking up.
The Disney Channel wasn't exactly known for its diversity during its early years, but
when it launched That's So Raven, that started to change. The show featured a woman of color
in the lead role, but it didn't rely on that distinction, as it also had a wacky and hilarious
premise. Raven's psychic abilities allowed her to see glimpses into the future, but even
she couldn't have foreseen that her relationship with high school sweetheart Devon wasn't meant
to last forever.
In the original series, Raven and Devon seemingly ended up together for good. But when the spinoff
Raven's Home premiered in 2017, viewers were shocked to discover that they were now divorced.
At least the actors were able to take this development in stride. As Raven-Symoné explained
to Seventeen,
"They were high school sweethearts, but things change. People marry their high school sweethearts,
and then they grow up and things change, and they get divorced and things are good because
there's still friendship there."
She may have a point, but that doesn't make it any less devastating that Raven and Devon
couldn't make things work forever.
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody didn't feature too much romance. But when the title twins,
as played by Dylan and Cole Sprouse, grew up a bit in the spinoff The Suite Life on
Deck, they had love on their brains. For Cody, his romantic interest was Bailey, played by
Debby Ryan, a girl on the ship who shared his nerdy interests.
At the end of the first season, Cody and Bailey went from platonic friends to boyfriend and
girlfriend, and things seemed to be going well for the most part. That is, until the
Season 2 finale, when they were supposed to celebrate their one-year anniversary at the
Eiffel Tower in Paris, only to both be overcome by jealousy. They fought on what was supposed
to be a magical night and ended up agreeing that they should break up. It was devastating
for fans, and for Cody and Bailey themselves, as they really were the perfect couple while
they were together.
"If you don't appreciate what I was trying to do here, then maybe we should just break
up."
"Maybe we should."
"Is that what you want?"
As the Russo children on Wizards of Waverly Place were all either teenagers or pre-teens
when the show started, it only makes sense that a large part of the series would focus
on their love lives. Alex, as played by Selena Gomez, went through many crushes and dates
over the course of the series, but when she met Mason, things seemed a bit different.
And indeed they were, mostly because Alex soon found out that while she was a wizard,
Mason was a werewolf, and that kind of complicated things.
During one particularly intense conversation, Mason confessed that he was still in love
with the vampire Juliet, who then bit Mason, thereby turning him into an actual wolf, thus
effectively ending Alex and Mason's relationship. It was complicated, but as Alex was so devoted
to Mason, it was also unfortunate to watch. The two eventually ended up together in the
end, but their temporary breakup was nevertheless a total tearjerker.
While many Disney Channel original shows center on younger kids or teens, Jessie by contrast
told the story of a young woman on the precipice of her professional life. As played by Debby
Ryan, the title character moves to New York City to pursue a career in entertainment,
but she ends up nannying for a wealthy family to pay the bills. She also meets a cute boy
named Brooks, and the two eventually fall in love and even get engaged.
But before their wedding, Brooks learns that a work opportunity is going to force him to
move to Africa. He and Jessie then speedily get married, but it doesn't take very long
for Jessie to realize that she isn't actually ready to leave her life in New York behind.
So they end things at the altar in one of the most devastating Disney Channel breakups
ever. This wasn't some mere high school romance. It was an actual engagement and almost a wedding,
thus making it all the more tragic.
Hardcore fans of Boy Meets World got to relive their childhoods when the Disney Channel launched
the spinoff Girl Meets World in 2014. The new show followed Cory and Topanga's daughter
Riley as she grew up and learned about life, in much the same way that her dad did in the
original series. One of the most intriguing ongoing storylines involved Riley and her
best friend Maya in a bit of a love triangle with their friend Lucas, as they both had
romantic feelings for him.
"Let's play."
"Let's find out who belongs with who."
"Don't do it! Nobody do it!"
Lucas and Maya ended up dating for a while, but they eventually ended things, and it was
pretty devastating. Maya claimed that she never really had any feelings for Lucas, and
he broke up with her for Riley. It was hard to watch, especially because not everyone
believed that Maya was telling the truth. The chemistry between Sabrina Carpenter and
Peyton Meyer had many fans convinced that Maya and Lucas were truly the couple that
belonged together. With such a strong connection and deep friendship, it was undeniably sad
to see them break up.
When The Suite Life of Zack and Cody premiered, both Zack and Cody were so young that the
idea of being interested in girls grossed them out. But as time went on and their adventures
continued in the spinoff The Suite Life on Deck, the twins really started to lean into
romantic relationships. For Zack, that meant finding love with his girlfriend Maya.
The two of them start off as friends. Though Zack is incredibly interested in Maya, she's
not so sure about him due to his reputation as a player. But he eventually wins her over,
and they date for quite a while. Towards the end of the series, when they're about to graduate
from high school, Maya reveals that she's moving to Africa and that she and Zack have
to break up. It was an intense ending that no one saw coming. And since Zack was never
the type to be in a relationship in the first place, watching his first real one end was
pretty devastating.
One of the most popular Disney Channel original series of all time was Hannah Montana. It
launched Miley Cyrus' career, and gave tweens and teens of the late 2000s something to define
their formative TV viewing years. One of the show's most exciting story arcs involved Miley
finding herself in an intense relationship with heartthrob actor Jake Ryan, who ended
up breaking her heart when he cheated on her. What made this particular split even more
devastating was the fact that the actors themselves hated that it happened. In 2016, Cody Linley,
who played Jake, told MTV,
"I think that it was just such a match made in heaven. I even thought that we were going
to be together, and it was so sweet, cause Miley was I think kinda bummed that they wrote
my character out."
He also noted that there were only two ways the relationship could've gone, so in the
end he was just happy to have been on Hannah Montana at all.
"If it makes you feel any better, someone stole my clothes, so I have to fly back to
Phoenix like this."
Sonny with a Chance starred Demi Lovato as the title character, who lands her dream job
on a sketch comedy show. While on the show, she meets Chad, a fellow actor who's both
narcissistic and charming. And of course, she falls for him. The two have a fairly normal
relationship, that is until Sonny and her castmates beat out Chad for an award, and
they're not very gracious about it. Then he demands a recount and ends up winning instead,
and he's not very gracious either.
When Sonny and Chad end things, Sonny is clearly distraught, as she points out that people
in a relationship should be supportive and not so competitive. Chad's reaction to winning
really rubbed her and viewers the wrong way. Not only was the breakup devastating, it was
also pretty realistic, making it that much more heartbreaking.
Anyone who remembers the melodramatic feelings they had in middle school will know the pain
of an unreciprocated crush. Heck, there are plenty of us who still experience those emotions
well into our adult years. So we can easily relate to the world of the Disney Channel,
where unreciprocated crushes are kind of the norm. For example, on Andi Mack, the title
character has a longstanding crush on her friend Jonah.
When Andi reveals her true feelings, it's a little uncomfortable. At first, Jonah doesn't
seem interested in her, but when he fears he might lose her, the two start dating. But
after Jonah goes off to camp, Andi concludes that she's fine with him just being her friend
and they break up when he returns home. It's never easy when such an intense crush doesn't
end well, so Andi and Jonah's breakup was especially sad. But at least they stayed friends!
Even though Lizzie McGuire lasted only two seasons on the Disney Channel, it's remained
iconic for its many fans to this day. As played by Hilary Duff, Lizzie goes through some awkward
developments, thus allowing viewers to relate to the tortures of middle school, all while
having plenty of laughs at all the silly things she and her friends get up to. But in Season
2, she's grown up a little bit, and she even lands her first boyfriend, a paperboy named
Ronnie.
Lizzie is obviously smitten, but her best friends Miranda and Gordo get annoyed by how
much she talks about him. But when Ronnie dumps Lizzie, Miranda and Gordo are totally
there for her. A heartbroken Lizzie wasn't something viewers were used to seeing, but
the relationship and even the breakup helped to make the show more relatable. After all,
everyone remembers their first heartbreak.
"There's nobody prettier than you, or more fun to be with."
"Your forgot smarter."
"Yeah, well, I was including myself in that one."
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