AppleTV’s critically acclaimed comedy-drama Ted Lasso (2020-) follows Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), an American football coach who is unexpectedly hired to coach a professional soccer team in England despite having no experience or knowledge of the sport. The show has been praised for its heartwarming and feel-good storytelling, its exploration of themes such as leadership, teamwork, and resilience, and its memorable characters.
One of those characters is Keeley Jones (Juno Temple). She begins as a stereotypical socialite/football girlfriend dating hotshot Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster). Keeley develops close friendships with many of the team members and the team’s owner, Rebecca Weltong (Hannah Waddingham). Keeley is charming and smart and soon begins to wish for more than her toxic relationship with Jamie.
She eventually breaks up with Jamie and begins dating Jamie’s former teammate, Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein). She uses the skills she’s learned as a model and socialite to become the team’s marketing and public relations manager before starting her PR firm. Jack Danvers is among the investors in her PR firm.
Jack is a young heiress, and there is pretty instant chemistry between the two of them. Jack showers Keeley with expensive gifts, including a first edition of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (1811). Although Rebecca points out that Jack is love bombing Keeley, she seems to be falling pretty deeply in love with Jack until an old sex tape of hers leaks. Jack demands that she apologize for the tape, but Keeley refuses, saying that she is not ashamed of the tape.
Keeley doesn’t come out or seem especially confused by her attraction to Jack. She’s more concerned about the optics of dating her investors than dating a woman. Although some of the people around her seem mildly surprised that she is dating a woman, no one is particularly worked up about it.
Watching Keeley grow from an underestimated, naive footballer’s girlfriend to a confident bi businesswoman is one of the many delights of Ted Lasso.