Blanche Devereaux/Relationships

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"It's like we say in St. Olaf, Christmas without fruitcake is like St. Sigmund's Day without the headless boy." This article is incomplete. You can help the Golden Girls Wiki by expanding it.

This is a full list of Blanche Devereaux's relationships. For a list of her romances, see Blanche Devereaux/Romances.

Main

Dorothy Zbornak

Blanche's relationship with Dorothy is mixed with envy and condemnation on both parts. Dorothy envies and condemns Blanche's comfort and confidence in her sexuality, while Blanche envies Dorothy's intelligence and singing talents, among other things. And yet, both she and Dorothy at times isolate themselves from Rose, ganging up on her when the latter says anything particularly foolish, and taking turns hitting her on the head with a newspaper or magazine. Their relationship is also symbiotic: in one of the last episodes in the series, Dorothy admits that Blanche has helped her be comfortable with her own sexuality, while Dorothy herself has always served as Blanche's other voice of reason.

The bonds of their friendship were tested early on in the series, when Blanche expressed a brief interest in Dorothy's new boyfriend Elliot Clayton and he made a pass at her. When Blanche told Dorothy what had happened, Dorothy didn't believe her and thought that she was jealous that Dorothy had asked Elliot out first.

Rose Nylund

Blanche and Rose are involved in the same activities, be it auditioning for a play or doing community service projects. Though Blanche is annoyed at times by Rose's constant storytelling, she sees her as both her best friend and a surrogate sister. Blanche critiqued her for doing long stories that were pointless, when Rose won tickets for a Frank Sinatra Concert she told Blanche the full story and in anger Blanche told a reduced version to Dorothy. Rose did audition for stage plays as well as Blanche and she would be angry if Rose got her part. However Rose could surprise Blanche; in the episode "Old Boyfriends", when Rose can't remember a boyfriend from the past, Blanche questions how many boyfriends she had, only to be floored by the revelation that Rose had fifty-six boyfriends. When Rose talked about her and Charlie's sex life, claiming they made love three times a day and Blanche said "Good Lord, no wonder you still mourn that man".

In a later episode, Blanche was accused by Rose of sleeping with Roses' late husband Charlie when Rose stumbled across photos of what appeared to be Charlie and Blanche in the same bed. Rose is so angered that she believes the fling happened between the two that she can't even look at Blanche. Even in Blanche's diary, it suggests that the fling may have happened. It is only when Dorothy looks at the rest of photos within the album does the truth come out: the remaining pictures were of Blanche and, thankfully so, another man. The photo of the "affair" was a double exposure and the "Charlie" was, indeed, somebody else.

Sophia Petrillo

Blanche sees Sophia as both a mother figure and as a mean old lady, while Sophia sees her as one of her daughters and, very vocally, a streetwalker. For example, in the very first episode of the series, Sophia had bluntly told Blanche "You look like a prostitute".

Due to knowing each other for several years and their close bond, Blanche has come to see Sophia as a second mother and even admitting they had late night talks a few times a week. Although Blanche does genuinely care for Sophia, she does not like how Sophia refuses to feed her ego and vanity as well as constantly mock her sex life. When Sophia refuses to go along with Blanche's delusion that she is much younger than she actually is, Blanche often threatens a rent increase to get her to go along with it. Despite this, they do care about one another very much.

Immediate Family

Parents

Curtis Hollingsworth

Blanche and her father share an embrace; "Big Daddy" (1986)

Blanche's father and role model.

When Blanche was a child, Curtis called her "the bad seed" on account of her sister Virginia hurting herself and blaming Blanche for it. However, in Ebb Tide, Blanche admits to her late father how terrible she had been as a child and teenager and was well aware of the stress and trouble she caused her parents but always felt her father's love through it all.

Much to Blanche's shock and disapproval, Curtis later married a young widow named Margaret Spencer, years after her biological mother passed away from Alzheimer's disease. While she believed he was doing it simply to be with a young woman who made him feel young again, she eventually accepted that they did love each other and gave her blessing for the marriage.

Unfortunately, Blanche was not at her father's side when he passed away because she was attending a ball in Miami and did not go to his funeral because of a prior argument with her sister, Virginia. Blanche regretted this afterwards and resolved to try and rethink her priorities in life. She and Dorothy eventually went to the cemetery where Curtis was buried, where she said hello to her deceased parents and prayed at their resting places.

Subsequent to Big Daddy passing away, it was revealed that he and Blanche's long-lost African-American nanny, Viola Watkins, had an affair with him that lasted for nearly fifty years, which Blanche was exceptionally upset and almost disgusted with.

Elizabeth Ann Hollingsworth

Blanche and her mother on their final Mother's Day together; "Mother's Day" (1988)

“Blanche, there are days where I can't remember who I am. But trust me, I remember every stunt you ever pulled! That's how I got half the gray hairs on this eighty-five year-old head!”

— Elizabeth and Blanche reminiscing on Mother's Day; "Mother's Day" (1988)

Elizabeth was Blanche's biological mother, and one of her namesakes. Elizabeth gave Blanche lots of advice during her childhood; the most notable being that no true lady ever tells her age, which means that she is likely the reason why Blanche has gone to such length to ensure that nobody knows how old she really is.

On Christmas Day 1949, Elizabeth and Curtis were tipped off by Old Man Montgomery that Blanche was attempting to elope with a much older man named Deck Bovenlough. Elizabeth and Curtis somehow ended up at the chapel before Blanche did -- and when faced with Blanche's staunch decision about marrying Deck, Elizabeth pretended to give them her blessing, knowing that Blanche would instantly lose interest in Deck if Elizabeth showed positive interest in him. True to her theory, Blanche broke up with Deck and went home with her parents. When asked if she was angry, Elizabeth replied that this had been the best Christmas Day she'd ever had.

As Elizabeth's health began to decline, she was placed in a Virginian convalescent home to live out her final years. While it's unknown how often she visited her otherwise, Blanche visited Elizabeth every Mother's Day to reminisce about times gone by. Blanche would tell most of the stories as Elizabeth's memory began to go, but in an ironic twist on what would be their final Mother's Day together, Blanche mixed up the dates in a story she was telling, while Elizabeth remembered them perfectly.

Siblings

Charmaine Hollingsworth

“Rose: I thought you had a sister, Charmaine.
Blanche: Oh, you can't count her! Why, she's an awful, selfish, neurotic woman who made me and Virginia miserable our entire lives!”

— Blanche describes Charmaine to her roommates, "Transplant" (1985)

Blanche's eldest sister, who allegedly made the childhoods of Blanche and Virginia miserable for their entire lives. When Blanche and Charmaine were in high school, a jealous Charmaine challenged Blanche to a cheer contest to determine which one of them would be the new cheer captain. The two performed in front of the entire school, and by Blanche's own admission, she didn't perform very well. Though Charmaine had blown the contest out of the water, Blanche was picked as the new cheer captain -- not for her ability to cheer, but because she wore black lace panties with a French word written on the backside. Blanche had no qualms about

In "High Anxiety", Blanche discusses how a man made a pass at her, and she told Charmaine, the only person she could trust, about what had happened. Charmaine went over to the man's house with a gun and threatened to shoot him in the head if he ever tried it again. When Dorothy expressed shock at Charmaine's hostility, Blanche realizes she forgot to add that the man was Charmaine's husband.

In Charmaine's only physical appearance, "Sisters and Other Strangers", Charmaine reveals that she is now the author of a book entitled Vixen: Story of a Woman. Based on the description of Vixen, Blanche believed that the character was based on her and her sexual escapades. It is later revealed that book is loosely based Charmaine's sexual escapades, and the sisters make up when they realize they have more in common with each other than they realized.

Virginia Warren

Blanche and her sister Virginia; "Transplant" (1985)

Blanche's youngest sister, who is a year Blanche's junior. As a child, Virginia was a prudent and spoiled brat with whom Blanche shared a mutual loathing and sibling rivalry. Most famously, Virginia once knocked the Christmas star off the tree and told Blanche to poke it with her finger, only to plug it in immediately as she did so. Once she had electrocuted Blanche, Virginia ran to their father and told him that Blanche had electrocuted her instead. According to Blanche, Virginia had a habit of wanting what Blanche had and would take whatever opportunity she could to steal it -- including stealing Blanche's poodle skirt and Blanche's boyfriend of two dates. While the two of them were in college, Virginia and Blanche pursued the same boy, a quarterback named Ham Lushbough. One night at a party, Virginia took Ham to bed and slept with him, but she was apparently so bad in bed that Ham was deterred from ever sleeping with her again. Much to Blanche's chagrin, Ham mistook Virginia for Blanche, and thus rejected all of Blanche's advances well after college.

Blanche's dislike of Virginia deepened when she stole her boyfriend Tom, despite only having gone on two dates with him. She was then made to be Maid of Honor at Tom and Virginia's wedding, and she had to wear a green dress that "made (her) look like a swamp frog".

However, "Transplant" saw a turn in their relationship. When Virginia went into life-threatening renal failure and had a handful of months to live, she flew unexpectedly to Blanche's home in Miami to ask her for help -- specifically, asking her to donate her kidney to save her life. At first, Blanche was in denial that Virginia would ask for help, believing her sister was looking for something to steal again. However, through much encouragement and immensely helpful talks with the other girls around the famous kitchen table, Blanche thought really hard, changed her mind, and offered her kidney to her sister. However, in the end, Blanche's kidney was not the right fit for Virginia being the kidney's vessels were "too petite". Thankfully, there was a nearly-perfect candidate for a kidney transplant from a retired Mormon schoolteacher. Blanche later admitted that while she was glad to not be losing a kidney, she was even more glad that the situation had given her a chance to reconnect with Virginia.

Unfortunately, the girls' relationship became strained once more after their argument following their father's death, in which Virginia accused Blanche of being too selfish and self-centered to say goodbye to her own father without expecting something in return or being the center of attention; the whole family apparently sharing Virginia's view, as Blanche had been too focused on being the star of a ball in Miami to leave back home when Curtis had called and had no knowledge of his passing until after it had occurred.

Clayton Hollingsworth

Blanche and Clayton; "Scared Straight" (1988)

Blanche's youngest brother, Clayton had a close relationship with Blanche when they were children, and in adulthood, they were the only ones to maintain a strong sibling relationship. In "Scared Straight", Clayton comes to visit Blanche so he can come out to her, but he was initially afraid to do so as he was worried it would cost him his relationship with his sister. Clayton attempts to act straight initially and even blurted out that he slept with Rose the night prior. In the wake of the conflict this causes, Clayton musters up the courage and tells Blanche he's gay, whether she accepts the truth or not. Being that Blanche is from the south, their deeply rooted Southern and conservative traditions and mindsets take hold. Blanche, at first, does not accept that her younger brother was gay and believed he was just confused or going through a phase. In time, Blanche accepts Clayton for who he is. As it turns out, Clayton decides to get propose to his boyfriend, a policeman named Doug.

“Blanche: I don't really mind Clayton being homosexual, I just don't like him dating men.
Dorothy Zbornak: You really haven't grasped the concept of this "gay thing" yet, have you, Blanche?"
Blanche: Well, there must be homosexuals who date women.
Sophia: Yeah. They're called lesbians.”

— Blanche discussing her brother's orientation with her friends; "Scared Straight" (1988)

Initially, Blanche didn't agree with the gay lifestyle, despite the fact that her baby brother Clayton was gay. Because homosexuality was greatly frowned upon in the Southern United States, Blanche was rather confused and troubled by Clayton's sexual orientation. When Blanche refused to accept Clayton's coming out, it nearly destroyed their sibling relationship until Sophia got her to understand that Clayton wanted the same rights Blanche and George had to display their love regardless of what others thought. Blanche realized she couldn't bear to lose her relationship with Clayton and accepted him as he was.

Thad Hollingsworth

During The Golden Palace, it is revealed that Blanche has an autistic older brother, Theodore "Tad" Hollingsworth, who had spent most of his life in a mental institution in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Blanche would take yearly trips to Tennessee to visit him in the institution, and though Blanche is initially annoyed at Tad coming to visit, she is uncharacteristically gentle and patient with Tad, who tells Rose that Blanche is his favorite sister. When Tad announces that he's fallen in love with Rose, Blanche attempts to ship him back to the institution, but Rose pushes back and gets her to admit that she had felt ashamed of Tad's condition. Blanche realized that she loved her brother no matter his condition, and the two of them were able to reconcile for the rest of his visit.

Spouse

George Devereaux

Blanche and George, reunited in a dream; "Mrs. George Devereaux" (1990)

For the majority of Blanche's life, she was happily married to George Devereaux. They met on Christmas Eve at a dance while Blanche was in college. While she and George were starting to become intimate, they went for a drive in George's Packard and ran out of gas on the way home. They both knew that this was the moment, and they slept together for the first time.

Blanche married George sometime during the early 1950s. They married in a church with five-hundred guests in attendance, and Blanche didn't wear any underwear. On their tenth wedding anniversary, George took Blanche for a drive in his Packard again and they ran out of gas in the same spot they had a decade earlier. He told Blanche to go look behind a tree, where she found a romantic candlelit picnic set up as a surprise.

In 1976, George was hit head-on by a drunk driver while on his way home from work. His wife Blanche is home alone when the police called her, and while she was running to answer it, she tripped over a pair of George's shoes and exclaimed that she hated him. When Blanche answered the phone, a policeman on the other line asked her if she was George's wife, and she is put her on hold for an hour. When the policeman comes back, he informs Blanche that he's the only one in the station and, as he eats Doritos, flippantly informed her that George was dead.

In "Mrs. George Devereaux", Blanche had a dream that George came back from the dead. It was said in this dream that George said he faked his death after his business partner's embezzlement. As much as Blanche wanted to believe it was true, it was all a dream. On set, Rue McClanahan said that George was the love of Blanche's life and that her promiscuity was, in fact, a desperate search for someone who could love her the way George had.

There is an inconsistency relating Blanche going to a pedicure on the same day following George's passing. Another time, Blanche mentioned George passed away by stepping on a land mine. Yet, in another episode, George died instantly in a car accident while Blanche was at home, and then a police officer phoned her regarding the awful news. 

Children

Rebecca Devereaux

Blanche had a falling out with Rebecca over her decision to drop out of school to pursue a modeling career in Paris. When Rebecca returned four years later, she was overweight and engaged to an emotionally-abusive man named Jeremy. Blanche tried to convince Rebecca to break up with Jeremy, and Rebecca once again accused her mother of trying to control her life and stormed out. On the way to the airport, she realized her mother was right and returned to her mother and told her she dumped Jeremy.

A few years later, Rebecca lost the extra pounds and to visit Blanche, where she revealed that she was going to have a baby through artificial insemination. Blanche made no secret of her disapproval of her daughter having a baby out of wedlock and raising the baby without a father. Blanche and Rebecca visited a fertility clinic with Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia joining them, and she called the doctor "a sperm pusher" and told everyone she didn't want "a test tube for a son-in-law." Rebecca decides to leave, and Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia talk to Blanche about her behavior, and reminded her that Rebecca is a grown woman who could make any decisions she wanted with her own life. Blanche realized that her own pride wasn't worth risking losing relationships with her daughter and grandchild and decided to accept Rebecca's decisions.

While Rebecca was pregnant, she decided to have her baby in Florida instead of at home with her own doctor so Blanche, Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia could be there for the baby's birth. They joined Rebecca when she decided to visit a birthing center as an alternative. Rebecca said: "Hospitals have a rigid way of doing things." After they hear screams and then a horrible shriek from a mother giving birth, they decide that the hospital is a better option. Blanche still feels embarrassed about the decisions Rebecca made, and Rebecca decides to leave the next morning, taking her baby with her. That night, Rebecca experiences contractions and she's taken to the hospital, and Blanche is with her in the delivery room when she gives birth to a baby daughter, Aurora Devereaux.

Rebecca later visits again with Aurora (a name Blanche hates because it's not "musical" or "Southern" enough and she even called her "Oreo"). Unfortunately, Aurora is the catalyst of one more major conflict between Rebecca and Blanche when Blanche meets a man named Jason while babysitting Aurora. Jason assumes that Blanche is Aurora's mother rather than her grandmother, and Blanche is so flattered that she fails to correct him. When Jason finds out the truth, he breaks off their relationship as he cannot be someone dishonest, and Rebecca accuses Blanche of using her granddaughter to "land a man" and decides to leave and never speak to her mother again until Sophia convinces her to reconcile so Aurora doesn't grow up without having her grandmother in her life.

Janet Blackmore

In Beauty and the Beast, Blanche describes her relationship with Janet as being one filled with tension and fights since Janet was a young child. She admits that their fights only became worse as Janet got older until they eventually stopped talking altogether with their reunion taking place due to Janet's daughter Melissa being born.

Michael Devereaux

To be added.

Douglas Devereaux

To be added.

Matthew Devereaux

Matthew is mentioned in Season 2, Episode 24, "To Catch a Neighbor". Furthermore, Matthew makes another on-screen appearance in Season 1, Episode 17, 'Say Goodbye, Rose' of The Golden Palace.

Grandchildren

Aurora Devereaux

Blanche's granddaughter by Rebecca. Although Blanche was not happy about how Aurora was brought into the world, she eventually got over her pride and happily welcomed Aurora. However, Blanche's pride caused her to pretend her granddaughter was actually her own child in order to get a man's attention. This would backfire terribly for Blanche when the truth came out and she dumped by her newest beau and Rebecca threatened to permanently sever ties with Blanche because of the stunt. Fortunately, things would work out when Blanche apologized and agreed to never use her granddaughter in such a way again.

David Blackmore

Blanche's rebellious grandson. When David went to visit Blanche for a few days, she right away noticed how he acted out but discovered it was because of a troubled homelife with his parent's frequently arguing and not paying attention to him. Wanting to give him the support he needed and make up for her own mistakes with her own children, Blanche wanted to allow David to live with her should his parents not realize their priorities. Although his family would attempt to work through things to better their relationships, Blanche still allowed David to return to her home if he ever needed to.

Melissa Devereaux

Blanche's granddaughter by Janet. Although Blanche does love Melissa and wants to bond with her, Blanche can't help but push her own beliefs and needs onto Melissa. During a visit to Miami, Blanche had Melissa accompany her to welcome back returning sailors and had the young girl address her as "Sis". When Blanche continued to struggle for things they could do together, she took a drastic step by entering Melissa in a children's beauty pageant while ignoring how unhappy Melissa was with it. It wasn't until Melissa stormed off the stage that Blanche finally saw how miserable she had made Melissa and made amends while promising they can do things more enjoyable for her.

Extended Family

Aunts and Uncles

Lucas Hollingsworth

Blanche's uncle who married Dorothy in the series finale. Blanche admits that Lucas is her favorite uncle but, like she does with many others, she has no problem pushing him aside in favor of a sexual encounter. When Lucas and Dorothy attempted revenge by pretending to be engaged, Blanche became borderline unreasonable of their union and changes they claimed they would do to Hollingsworth Manor. However, she came to realize her selfishness once more and gave her blessing.

Nieces and Nephews

Lucy Warren

Blanche's niece who is just as promiscuous as Blanche due to influence and blossoming into a beauty after awkward years. The two have a fun relationship while Blanche sees much of herself in Lucy. Because of this, she does right away notice how quickly Lucy becomes involved with a man and runs off with them to different locations. When Blanche confronted her about this and realized Lucy wanted to be like her when it came to having men's attention, Blanche makes Lucy understand that she should not depend on others to love her when she should focus on loving herself and attending college.

In-Laws

Jamie Devereaux

George's brother. Blanche's brother-in-law and former classmate, the two were shown to have had a close relationship. During a visit to settle his late mother's estate, Jamie and Blanche spent so much time together that Blanche misguidedly believed Jamie was in love with her and even mistakenly called him George a few times. Jamie got her to understand that she was directing her love for George onto him in hope of feeling like George was still alive. Fortunately, they continued their close relationship.

Mother Devereaux

Blanche and Jamie have described her relationship with her mother-in-law to be very hostile with the two women hating each other until the very end, mainly because Mother Devereaux did not approve that Blanche was not a virgin when George married her.

Michael Blackmore

Blanche's son-in-law and the husband of her daughter Janet.

Friendships

Anderbeau Johnson

In her youth, Blanche had a friend named Anderbeau Johnson, who at the time was dating a boy named Clyde Whitehead. One day, Clyde decided he wanted to "see (Blanche's) cheerleading sweater from the inside", and it's implied that he attempted to get her shirt off. When Blanche told Anderbeau what had happened, Anderbeau refused to believe her and cut ties with her.

Enemies

Stanley Zbornak

“Stan: Blanche, I sense some hostility.
Blanche: Good, because I hate you.”

— Blanche expressing her dislike of Stan; "The Stan Who Came To Dinner"

Similar to her roommates, Blanche did not approve of Stan approaching the women for money for either his own needs or get rich quick schemes. She agreed with the others that he was a yutz but also had somewhat of a flirty relationship with him as she did go on two dates with him and enjoyed his lustful gazes.

Barbara Thorndyke

To be added.

Frieda Claxton

Like many others in the neighborhood, Blanche loathed Freida because of her bitter personality and disapproval of Blanche's sexual encounters. Although not saddened when Freida died, Blanche did agree to help arrange her funeral when learning Freida had no one who cared enough to help and to support Rose.

Site Navigation

[v · e · ?] The Golden Girls characters Main Cast Leading Ladies Blanche Devereaux  •  Dorothy Zbornak  •  Rose Nylund  •  Sophia Petrillo Recurring Cast Miles Webber  •  Salvadore Petrillo  •  Stanley Zbornak Family Members Blanche's Family Aurora Devereaux  •  Charmaine Hollingsworth  •  Clayton Hollingsworth  •  Curtis Hollingsworth  •  David Blackmore  •  Elizabeth Hollingsworth  •  Jamie Devereaux  •  Janet Blackmore  •  Lucas Hollingsworth  •  Lucy Warren  •  Rebecca Devereaux  •  Theodore Hollingsworth  •  Virginia Warren Dorothy and Sophia's Family Angelo Grisanti, Jr.  •  Angela Petrillo  •  Angela Vecchio  •  Don Angelo Grisanti, Sr.  •  Gloria Harker  •  Jim Harker  •  Kate Griffiths  •  Michael Zbornak  •  Phillip Petrillo Rose's Family Alma Lindstrom  •  Bridget Nylund  •  Brother Martin  •  Charles Nylund, Sr.  •  Gunter Lindstrom  •  Holly Lindstrom