Blog | love

The winner of this week's Fan Favorite Friday poll is Sean and Emma's first date, as seen in "Friday Night." (Eclare's first date was a close second.) Watch the full episode of "Friday Night" online:

Sean and Emma are my all-time favorite Degrassi couple, and I love getting to revisit the episode where they first got together. It's crazy to think that even a soulmate-level relationship like theirs begins with the line, "Maybe we could hang out."

Next week, we've got another poll coming your way! Like Degrassi on Facebook so you won't miss out.

This week's Facebook poll asks you to help us choose the best Degrassi episode about a first date. Vote now, and we'll put the winning episode online Friday!

Our Twitter followers chose this week's topic and nominated their favorite episodes. Your voting options include these tumultuous first dates:

Holly J and Declan

Eli and Clare

Cam and Maya

As I'm writing this, Emma and Sean's first date (from way back in season one) is leading by a few votes. I'm surprised that Manny and Craig's first date isn't getting much support. I loved the way "Take My Breath Away" showed the same date from two different perspectives. Vote for your favorite first date now, and come back on Friday to watch the full episode featuring the winning date!

Want to help us choose the episodes listed in future polls? Follow @TeenNick and @degrassinsider on Twitter.

Behind the scenes of Life With Boys Torri Webster (Tess) shares a story about trying to text a crush:

Hey, what's your boy-catching style? Take the quiz to find out.

Two episodes of Life With Boys premiere tonight, starting at 8pm et!

Our new intern, Jonathan, took a look at the "Misguided Motives with Boys" episode of Life With Boys, and he has a question for you. (If you haven't seen that ep yet, watch it here.)

Jonathan takes a look at Life With Boys

Remember when you were too young to spell and your parents would tell you that if a boy was mean to you, he likes you? It sounds crazy, but they weren't lying. The girls who were the meanest to me in grade school ending up confessing their love for me sometime before my high school graduation -- I kid you not! This is exactly why Tess' genius brother, Sam, should not have fallen for Kaylee's attempt to get him to do her science project. Sam doesn't need to do extra work to impress her. Even if she doesn't realize it yet, deep down inside, she might already have feelings for him.

Even though Tess and Sam shared a womb, they are definitely two different creatures! Forget their genders for a second. Overall, are you more attracted to people like Tess, who are aggressive and strong? Or would you prefer someone like Sam, who's super smart?

What matters more to YOU -- strength or smarts? Vote in the comments!

Don't forget: Two new episodes of Life With Boys premiere Wednesday, starting at 8pm et!

In this video, we asked Torri Webster (Tess on Life With Boys) and Madison Pettis (Allie) which of them is more boy-crazy:

Are you boy-crazier than Torri and Madison? Take the How Boycrazy Are You? quiz to find out!

Behind the scenes of Life With Boys, we asked Madison Pettis (Allie), "What do you do when boys crush on you?" Watch her answer:

Two new episodes of Life With Boys premiere on TeenNick tonight at 9 and 9:30pm et / 6 and 6:30pm pt. The first episode, "Double Trouble with Boys," includes a guest appearance by Emily Osment!

Don't forget: You can watch full episodes of Life With Boys online after they air. Go to the video page, and click on "full episodes."

In this Life with Boys promo, Tess (Torri Webster) says there's a simple trick to get boys to like you:

Do you agree with her advice (even if she doesn't seem to follow it AT ALL in that clip)? I get what she's saying, but if you act like you don't care, the person might also think you're not interested, and that's no good.

My best love advice is very similar to the classic relationship tip, "Be yourself." That can be tricky advice to follow if you have low self-esteem, so here's another way to think about it: Don't pretend to be something you're not. If you change yourself (or fake an interest in something) to impress someone else, they're going to figure it out eventually... and who wants a relationship that's based on a lie? Nobody.

What's the best love advice you've ever received? Got any tips for attracting a crush? Please share them in the comments for those of us who are love-challenged.

p.s. Life with Boys is coming to TeenNick in February, but you can sneak a peek at a special holiday episode tonight at 9pm et!

In this Alien Surf Girls clip, Amber tries to explain crushes to Kiki and Zoey:

How would you explain a crush to a space alien -- or anyone who'd never felt one?

Watch the full episode of "Crushed" online now, and let Alien Surf Girls invade your life, Monday to Thursday at 8:30pm et on TeenNick!

Every year, thousands of recently graduated high school seniors face the same question: Should we break up before we head off to college?

Eric on Undeclared is perhaps the most vivid (and funny) example of why the answer tends to be yes:

True, not every boyfriend is as psychotically clingy as Eric and his "dreaming of you" pillow cases... but then again, I'm sure many boyfriends and girlfriends have surprised themselves with how psychotically clingy they sounded when trying to cope with hundreds of miles of distance, the specter of a thumping college hook-up scene, and their fear of the unknown.

It's never all that popular to say so, because it's hard to hear for some couples, but a lot of colleges even go so far as to tell all their freshmen during orientation: just break up.

The reasons why? Well, basically because the likely scenarios are: one of you cheats and feels horrible about it and takes way too long to admit it because it's so easy to hide it from so far away; you're in totally different surroundings and grow apart anyway; or you're so chained to your long-distance relationship that you don't experience all that college has to offer.

We all know the odds are against anyone ending up with their high school bf/gf long term... but what we don't often hear is that: many of those who DID end up with their high school sweetheart took a break at some point and saw other people and figured out that they really were right for each other. AND many of those who never took that break from their high school sweetheart end up having a crisis at some point in their marriage over the fact that they've never really been apart and don't know what else is out there. Even if they're right for each other... they just don't know for sure because they've never tested it.

Sermon over... I mostly just think Eric is hilarious. And I also think it's veddy interesting that Jason Segal seems to play variations on this lovesick boyfriend character a lot.

Alli's nose, meet Clare's beeswax.

This may or may not have just been some Munro-lust working its way into people's judgment about the E-Clare break-up, but this post on the Degrassi board got me thinking...

"Who Does Alli Think She Is? Excuse me, but Eli and Alli haven't even talked this whole season, yet Alli has had such a big influence on Eli and Clare's relationship!! Like don't try and put ur 2 cents in Alli!" - Kira<3'sMunroChambers

I know in real life, friends can get put in some pretty uncomfortable predicaments when they donate their opinions about a friend's relationship. Such as:

1) You tell your friend that their bf/gf is bad for them; they get angry at you instead of the bf/gf... even if you're right. Sometimes because you're right -- because it's too hard to admit.
2) Your friend complains and complains and complains about their bf/gf. They finally break up. You say things like "good riddance" and "they were never good enough for you" and "I always hated them." Then they get back together... and now you're the friend who hates their bf/gf. Oy.
3) You tell your friend, "I don't know, the way they did that to you seems pretty manipulative/shady/whatever." Next fight your friend has with their bf/gf, they're like "Well my friend YOUR NAME HERE says that that was manipulative." Guess who gets an earful from the bf/gf next time you bump into each other?

But... think about Alli's side of that E-Clare thing. Your best friend is in a relationship she doesn't want to be in anymore, but is having trouble ending it because she feels guilty, doesn't want to hurt him, etc. Isn't it kind of the job of a friend to say, "Hey, you need to look after yourself here"... to support your friend who's having trouble doing something difficult but necessary?

So... what do you say when a friend is going through something with their bf/gf. Weigh in? Keep your mouth shut? How do you handle it with YOUR friends?