On Grey’s Anatomy, it was Mark Sloan who was considered to be the guy who had a list of women he had meaningless interactions with, but we should spare a thought for Alex Karev. This guy has also seen a long list of short hookups, which makes his noteworthy relationships stand out.
In this list, we’re considering characters who were prominent on the show and had a romantic encounter with Karev. However, you’ll be very surprised to find out Alex has only had a true connection with a small handful of women. Here is Grey’s Anatomy: All Of Alex Karev’s Relationships, Ranked.
Leah Murphy
Karev planned on hooking up with every intern he could when he had made up his mind to leave Seattle Grace, and he followed through with this by getting together with almost every one of them.
Leah Murphy was the clingiest of the lot, as she developed a kind of obsession with Karev after being with him on a couple occasions. It was clear he was never interested in her in the slightest, though, as he took to ignoring her calls and even stopped acknowledging her presence.
Olivia Harper
It seems whatever relationship Olivia had with a man, she ended up both liking and hating him. With Alex, Olivia held something of a grudge for over a decad,e as she was shown to be bitter about how he treated her simply for pleasure when she returned to Seattle.
Back when they were working at the hospital, Olivia and Alex had a physical-only relationship, where Alex would approach her for some fun and, given Olivia’s severe loneliness, she would oblige. The few times they got together ended disastrously, with either of them catching diseases, or Olivia causing Izzie to break up with Alex.
April Kepner
They only had one brief (and awful) romantic encounter, where Alex attempted to make himself feel better by hooking up with April, who turned out to interested — a surprise, given that this would’ve been her first time.
Even though the interaction ended horribly when Alex stormed out, they had a nice friendship going on later on where both of them defended the other when the time came for it. Unlike most of Alex’s former flames, April never had any hard feelings toward him; he even apologized to her, which is a huge deal for this guy.
Callie Torres
Surprisingly, these two didn’t have much to do with one another even though they were main cast members together for ten years. However, it was revealed in a flashback that they had hooked up briefly in earlier days — an interaction they both clearly enjoyed.
We’ve got Alex and Callie’s “relationship” ranked high purely because they didn’t have any angst or mixed feelings regarding their dalliance. This makes us believe they would’ve had a very good romance had they wanted to. Plus, Alex foregoing on a hook up with Leah in Season 9 over simply being around Callie to console her when she was crying was a touching moment he isn’t known for.
Lexie Grey
Like Karev, Lexie had been with a fair amount of people who worked around her, meaning they had their interests aligned with what they wanted — which was basically not being in a real relationship.
However, their romance was always troubled due to Alex being in love with Izzie the whole time. In Season 6, Lexie thought Alex might genuinely think of her as his romantic partner, only for him to call out to Izzie when he got shot and Lexie was by his side. There was definite chemistry between Alex and Lexie, but both were always in love with others when they were together.
Rebecca Pope
There was so much wrong with Rebecca, or Ava, or whatever name she thought she needed to be called, as she messed with Alex’s emotions for a year. After her facial surgery was a success, Rebecca decided to have an affair with Alex despite being married and having a child.
During this time, Alex became a lot more considerate and even took a second job just so he could afford a place he and Rebecca could have. He was nurturing and clearly in love, but the relationship was always meant to be disastrous, seeing as Rebecca pretended to be pregnant, then tried to take her own life. It was the right decision by him to get her admitted, even though he was less selfish than he’d ever been before meeting her.
Lucy Fields
This was the most normal and realistic relationship Alex had on the show, which obviously makes it quite unspectacular. Lucy’s role was basically to show that Alex could finally have a relationship without having Izzie at the back of his mind, but she just didn’t make him fall in love with her.
It had elements of romantic comedy, as Alex and Lucy’s meet-cute moments were entertaining to watch. Still, they didn’t have deep feelings for one another in the end, as Lucy took another job and headed out. But we do appreciate her giving Alex a less complicated relationship on the show.
Addison Montgomery
When it comes to Alex’s “one that got away,” it certainly would have to be Addison. The problem here was that Alex was too much of an immature jerk — there’s one on every show — to realize there was potential for love with Addison, as he inadvertently broke her heart instead.
However, their short storyline was rich with superb chemistry, as each interaction was teeming with tension that had to be defused. They were both challenging in personality, as well as having many doubts over their careers and futures; this would’ve made them the perfect couple. Sadly, Alex just didn’t take things seriously.
Jo Wilson
Starting from Season 9, Jo has cemented herself firmly as Alex’s main love interest throughout the show, and they’re still involved with each other years later. As far as settling down is concerned, Jo managed to give Alex a real marriage and repaired his faith in having a true romance.
We still can’t give it the top spot due to the nature of this relationship revolving around weird drama. Almost all of their stories have included either assault, lies, and a severe lack of trust. And while they’ve managed to overcome all that, one does feel as if there’s going to be trouble in paradise soon.
Izzie Stevens
It has to come down to the actress leaving the show that caused Izzie to dump Alex so unceremoniously, as her reasons to divorce went against her established characterization. Before that, Alex and Izzie’s coupling was one of the best parts of Grey’s Anatomy.
It was Izzie who brought out Alex’s caring and compassionate side, as well as making him finally shed his rude attitude toward people — especially George. Izzie herself grew more of a backbone due to Karev, and we saw this when she started taking challenges and confrontations head-on after they became a couple. Most of all, it was Alex’s grand gesture of romance to marry her when she was on the brink of death that will remain a timeless moment for the show.
