Whether they're polishing off your yoghurt without asking, helping themselves to your best party dresses or letting their freeloading SO "just hang out" at your place 24/7, at its worst, living with flatmates can be a serious drag. And it's often more troublesome to get rid of them than to just grin and bear their shoddy behaviour until your lease runs its course.
At least bad flatmates provide an endless source of entertainment (who doesn't love hearing others' tales of passive-aggressive notes and raucous sex sessions?), and films and TV shows are ripe with dreadful roommates who will make you feel slightly happier about your own ghastly houseshare tales.
Here, we've chosen some of the most terrible onscreen flatmates, whose creepy, selfish and downright weird behaviour we wouldn't wish on anyone. We've also included some of the best examples, because they make us believe the perfect roomie is out there, somewhere...
WORST: Eddie from Friends
When Joey moves out to live alone, Chandler gets a nasty surprise with Eddie (Adam Goldberg) who replaces him in season 2. They have nothing in common – he hates Baywatch, foosball and sports, and dehydrates fruit for fun – and he's creepy AF. The final straw? Chandler catches Eddie watching him sleeping, and even then he repeatedly "forgets" that he's been ordered to move out. Nightmare.
BEST: Winston from New Girl
Sure, he’s a little bit “off the wall” and his relationship with his cat Furguson is um, an interesting dynamic, but if it’s good intentions and laughs you want, Winston Bishop of the New Girl loft is your man. From pranks that aren’t pranks, to remembering meaningful moments from Nick’s childhood, Winston is the friend we wish we all had. Thrilled he ended up with Aly, who unexpectedly turned out to be as much of an oddball as him.
WORST: Jeremy from Peep Show
Mark (David Mitchell) and Jeremy (Robert Webb) are another pair of grown men sharing a flat who couldn't be more different. "Jez", an unemployed "musician", lives in Mark's spare room in Croydon, stealing his food, turning the boiler up and, er, poisoning Mark and locking him away while he holds a magic mushroom party. As one does.
WORST: Spike in Notting Hill
All Will (Hugh Grant) wants to do is woo a gorgeous movie star (Julia Roberts) but his flatmate – the slobby Spike (Rhys Ifans) – doesn't exactly help him make a good impression. He eats expired mayonnaise with a spoon, parades around the place in his dirty pants and alerts the paparazzi to the couple's whereabouts. But he's loyal and his heart's in the right place, so it's not all bad.
WORST: Gil and Brynn in Bridesmaids
Annie's (Kristen Wiig) life is going badly enough as it is, what with her business failing, boyfriend walking out and her having lost all her savings, without the annoying behaviour of her outrageous roommates Gil (Matt Lucas) and Brynn (Rebel Wilson). The brother and sister duo are annoying, read her diary, and eventually end up evicting her.
BEST: Heather in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom) has more than her fair share of, er, issues, so thank god for her roommate and friend Heather (Vella Lovell). The wisecracking, perpetually chilled out Heather may only be fresh out of college and have her own quarter-life crisis to deal with, but she's the perfect sounding board for Rebecca's relationship woes. And it helps that she's always up for taking part in the show's impromptu musical numbers.
WORST: Paris from Gilmore Girls
Rory (Alexis Bledel) and Paris (Liza Weil) start out as high-school academic rivals and eventually become friends, but this isn't enough to ensure everything runs smoothly when they live together at Yale University. Paris means well, but isn't the most considerate roommate and often takes over the space. She's a drama queen, throwing out Rory's things in an act of spite when her friend replaces her as editor of the Yale Daily News.
WORST: Melody and "Bevers" from Broad City
Abbi's roommate Melody is rarely anywhere to be seen in their apartment – unlike her slovenly boyfriend, Matt "Bevers". Whether he's eating Abbi's food straight from the fridge, letting it all hang out, masturbating in the living room, or throwing out her "expired" bath products, he's making his presence as a godawful pseudo-flatmate very much felt.
WORST: Hedy in Single White Female
When Allison Jones (Bridget Fonda) splits from her fiancé Sam and welcomes a new roommate, Hedra "Hedy" Carlson (Jennifer Jason Leigh), she gets a lot more than she bargained for. Hedy grows jealous as Sam comes back into the picture and so she tries to become her flatmate. If you find your roomie dressing like you, seducing your partner and killing your pet, it might be time to think about moving.
BEST: Bertie From Love
This may sound harsh but I really hated Netflix’s series Love. However, there was one ray of sunshine amongst the joyless Mickey and Gus’s of the world - and that was ebullient, effulgent flatmate Bertie. Bertie is the kind of person you want to live with (until she starts bringing Randy home) fun, caring and considerate but kudos to the writer for not just making her the supportive BF. she’s got grit too, and some of the best lines ("Free is my favourite flavour.")
WORST: Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock
He may be able to deduce what you had for breakfast this morning based on a stain on your collar and a palpable air of dissatisfaction but my god, is Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) a terrible flatmate. Pity poor Watson, who comes home to find Sherlock firing his pistol at the wall – because he’s "bored" – then goes to the fridge for a snack and is greeted by a severed head. We pity Mrs Hudson too, his sweet, kind landlady, who does nothing but cater to Sherlock’s demands and receives only sneering disdain in return. The piles of dirty cups and plates all over their bougie central London pad are evidence that the great detective is just too high functioning to function.
WORST: Titus in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
There is a hell of a lot to love about Titus but sharing a cramped New York basement apartment with him is not one of them. The flamboyant but not-so-successful actor is a moving melodrama and maudlin in the extreme (remember when he momentarily decided life was too much and he was going to live as a bed?). He's also self-obsessed, vain ("I'm pretty but tough, like a diamond. Or beef jerky in a ballgown."), likely to burst into shrieking song at any moment (if you haven't heard season 1's "Peeno Noir " drop everything NOW). He's lazy as hell, never shares pizza and his perfect night in involves "listening to Diana Ross albums alone, while I do stretches to alleviate my gas." He's still the best thing about the show though.
WORST: Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network
Yes, Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) may have ended up making his roommates a few bob but he really screwed them over on his way to the top. After being dumped by his girlfriend, Zuckerberg starts Facebook in his dorm room, recruiting his roommates and friend Eduardo (Andrew Garfield) to work on it. Sure, everyone ended up a hell of a lot richer, but several lawsuits didn't do much for the friendships.
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