Before Twilight's Team Jacob vs. Team Edward and The Hunger Games' Team Gale vs. Team Peeta, there was Team Dean vs. Team Jess vs. Team Logan from Gilmore Girls. During the show’s seven-season run, Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) had serious relationships with three different guys whom fans will forever fight over and debate about who truly belonged with Rory in the end. One Gilmore Girls alum is finally making his stance on the debate and the answer is not one that many would think. Jared Padalecki has weighed in.
Jared Padalecki, most known as Sam Winchester in The CW’s Supernatural for 15 seasons and most recently as Cordell Walker in the network’s Walker reboot, was once known as Dean Forester, a shy but lovable guy who captured Rory’s heart and became her first love. The two had a tumultuous relationship throughout the first few seasons and while it seemed like Dean was perfect for her, he turned out to be not-so-perfect.
The Walker star told Glamour that he’s surprised when fans tell him that they're Team Dean, considering everything that his character had done on the show. Jared Padalecki did share his somewhat surprising pick, though, saying:
I laugh when people are like, ‘I’m Team Dean.’ Dean cheats on his wife! And Rory didn’t help. Rory had some issues. You know, she was a kid growing up and trying to navigate her way in a weird world without a really solid father figure and with a kind of kooky, neurotic mother. I’ll say this: Yes, I’m Team Rory. I think Rory was trying to live her life, and she wasn’t malicious. She wasn’t one of these mean girls who were like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna start a rumor about this person or that person. I’m gonna try and ruin this life.’
Jared Padalecki acknowledged that Rory was no saint over the full run of Gilmore Girls, but she had her issues. Choosing Team Rory over Team Dean certainly certainly makes sense if Dean cheating on his wife is a deal-breaker for fans when it comes to his character! Padalecki went on to explain why he's still Team Rory even if he knows she's not perfect:
Did she make some mistakes? Fuck yeah! Of course! We all do. She probably hurt some people, she probably got hurt. But I think she was just trying to live her life and figure it out. She wasn’t outwardly trying to hurt people. So yeah, call me Team Rory.
Gilmore Girls ran for seven seasons from October 2000 to May 2007 on The WB/The CW, then came back for a revival miniseries titled Gilmore Girls: A Year In the Life on Netflix for four episodes. Both runs are available to stream now on Netflix and Jared Padalecki can be seen on Walker on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
