History Main / TheMissusAndTheEx

* In the bio movie, ''Frida'', Frida is enraged to find that her new husband's Diego has his ex wife residing with him. But despite initial drunken tensions, Frida and the ex eventually befriend each other with the latter even giving Frida marital advice. This reflects some TruthInTelevision with the real Frida's amiable relationship with her.

* Vixen (GreenLantern's girlfriend) and Shayera (GL's ex) get put on a team in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' "Hunter's Moon". They end up getting along pretty well.

* In ''Film/TheGravedancers'', Allison is uncomfortable around her husband Harris's former girlfriend Kira, whom Harris is still good friends with. The situation becomes even more tense when Allison learns that Harris and Kira kissed during the alcohol-fuelled wake in the cemetery.

* In an episode of ''Series/WithoutATrace'' when a monster's mistress and son disappear, the agents are surprised that his wife not only knew about her, but that the two of them were friends, with the wife being a second mother to the boy.

* In ''Film/TheGravedancers'', Allison is uncomfortable around her husband Harris's former girlfriend, whom Harris is still good friends with. The situation becomes even more tense when Allison learns that Harris and Kira kissed during the alcohol-fuelled wake in the cemetery.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Much of the tension in ''Fanfic/TwentyFiveMDistanceBetwee Us'' arises from Peach (Mario's current love interest) meeting Pauline (Mario's ex-girlfriend). The story is mainly from Pauline's POV at that. The two end up becoming friends in the end.

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[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in ''Literature/TheImmortals'': Daine and Numair aren't in a relationship—they aren't even aware of their feelings yet — but when one of Numair's exes, Varice Kingsford, shows up, it starts getting awkward, and Daine gets jealous.

** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E4TheSontaranStratagem The Sontaran Stratagem]]", Donna and Martha meet. The Doctor worries there will be a repeat of the events of "School Reunion", but since Donna has no romantic attachment to the Doctor and Martha got over hers, the two become pretty friendly and pick at the Doctor a bit, who ends up wishing they would fight.

* On ''Series/{{Home Improvement}}'', Jill meets Tim's ex-girlfriend Stacey, whom Tim never officially broke up with. Jill is less than pleased by this news, but she and Stacey get along well enough that it makes Tim nervous.

* ''Series/{{Suddenly Susan}}'', when the titular Susan meets her new boyfriend's ex when she comes by the house to pick up their children. They get along fine, but Susan is unnerved when she notices how much they resemble each other. Her fears prove well-founded--a few episodes later, she stops by the house and finds the woman there, the early morning hour and the SexyShirtSwitch that she's pulling making it obvious that they slept together. Poor Susan realizes that she's nothing more than a ReplacementGoldfish and that he clearly is still in love with his ex and ends things.
* In ''Series/{{Two and a Half Men}}'' Alan's young, hot girlfriend Kandi starts complaining about him to his ex-wife Judith. They go out, get drunk, and Kandi moves in with Judith. In the next episode it gets worse, or at least weirder.

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[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Film/Venom2018'': They're not friends, but Eddie is on civil terms with his ex-fiancée's new boyfriend Dan, and Dan tries to take care of Eddie when the Venom symbiote appears to be damaging his health.

* Episode 2.4 of ''Series/AshesToAshes'' in which Jackie Queen shows up claiming to be pregnant with Gene's baby. Barely hidden hostility ensues between her and Alex ("are you sleeping with my future husband?"), with Alex looking horrified as Gene proposes, until [[spoiler:Jackie reveals it isn't his,]] and they're best buds.

* In ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', Rewind and Prowl's interactions are rife with this - Rewind being [[OfficialCouple Chromedome's husband]] and Prowl his implied ex-partner.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Shiniez}}'', Alan's brings Marion to meet his ex Allison and she wrongly assumes they were trying to set up a threesome. They become good friends for a while afterwards.
* In a flashback in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', Lucrezia is well aware of this trope, and deliberately subverts it. After announcing to [[FriendsWithBenefits Klaus]] that she intends to marry his best friend, who has proposed to her, she ''[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20041210#.VvQvNeKLTIV drugs him]]'' and sends him away to make sure he can't mess up her future marriage. [[spoiler: Since WordOfGod says he ends up in Skifander, which is a ''lost city'', she wanted to be very sure indeed.]]
--> '''Lucrezia:''' I'm afraid I simply ''can't'' have you around ''complicating'' things. If only by being ''such'' a temptation... I'm afraid you really ''will'' have to go.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E3SchoolReunion "School Reunion"]] has the trope-naming instance: Rose and Sarah Jane. They have a funny argument, but quickly become friends. As the quote also shows, Mickey is delighted to see it; mainly because Rose was ''his'' girlfriend before she unceremoniously ditched him for the Doctor.

-->-- '''Mickey Smith''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E3SchoolReunion "School Reunion"]]

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--> '''John:''' Why did you do that? [...] Sending my girlfriend and my ex on the same mission?
--> '''[[ComicBook/MartianManhunter J'onn]]:''' Difficult as it may be for you to believe, I don't take your love life into consideration when I make command decisions.

[[folder:Real Life - Historical]]
* The much married UsefulNotes/HenryVIII faced this dilemma after divorcing Anne of Cleves and marrying Catherine Howard. Anne had been given a generous settlement and the official status of 'Royal Sister' meaning there was no reason at all why she shouldn't come to court for the holidays. However contemporary accounts make it clear that Henry stayed away until he heard that the two women were getting along, only then did he join the party. By evening he was feeling comfortable enough to retire early leaving his Missus and Ex alone together.

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[[folder: Theater]]
* ''Theatre/BlitheSpirit'' is all about this, with the added twist of the ex being dead.

[[folder: Video Games ]]
* Happens in ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'' when Nathan and Chloe unexpectedly run into Elena in war torn Nepal, causing the latter to introduce herself to Chloe as 'last year's model'. However, Nathan and Chloe aren't in a relationship per se (they seem to be more "friends with benefits" than anything).
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': If you romanced Ashley in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', then romanced Tali in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' and bring them both along on the Geth Dreadnought mission, things get, um... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYhG3AjMthU tense]]. Alternately, if you commit to Tali beforehand, both women quickly realize it's a fight that neither wants and instead share eager anticipation in fighting Geth. If you romanced Liara then Tali, Liara mentions that Tali's suit has [[ADateWithRosiePalms a built-in vibrator]] if you bring Liara along (Tali being required if she's alive).
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[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life - Historical ]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

* [[ComicBook/StarWarsDoctorAphra Doctor Aphra]] has to deal with a situation like this during the ''Catastrophe Con'' arc, when her current flame (Imperial inspector Magna Tolvan) and her hostile ex (Rebel associate Sana Starros) both show up to rescue her from Acressker Prison. As Aphra's prison buddy Lopsat points out, it's extremely awkward. Though unusually for this trope, the two don't fight, instead bonding over how much Aphra sucks.

[[folder: Film ]]
* ''Over My Dead Body'' is similar. The Ex (Eva Longoria Parker) being deceased.

* The initial dynamic between Erin, Abby and Holtzmann in ''Film/Ghostbusters2016'' plays like a ([[LesYay mostly]]) non-romantic example of this trope. Although not (explicitly identified as) girlfriends, Erin and Abby were friends and research partners until Erin 'dumped' Abby to develop her own career, which led to initial awkwardness when Erin later re-entered Abby's life only to discover that she'd found a new, younger, cooler partner in Holtzmann, who she even seemed to get on better with. Played with in that, outside of the initial bad feelings, Erin and Abby rather quickly manage to rekindle their old friendship and, outside of some initial protectiveness and teasing, Holtzmann never seems that hostile to Erin and ''actually'' seems much fonder of [[ShipTease flirting incessantly with her]].
* In the bio movie, ''Frida'', Frida is enraged to find that her new husband's Diego has his ex wife residing with him. But despite initial drunken tensions, Frida and the ex eventually befriend each other with the latter even giving Frida marital advice. This reflects some TruthInTelevision with the real Frida's amiable relationship with her.

[[folder: Jokes]]

[[folder: Literature ]]
* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', one of the heroes accuses the villain of having stolen her girlfriend, and the villain intentionally taunts her with this. The hero had earlier told Jerin that her girlfriend left her because her face was disfigured, so it is not clear whether the accusation is genuine, or just meant to serve as distraction.
* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in Creator/TamoraPierce's ''Literature/TheImmortals'': Daine and Numair aren't in a relationship—they aren't even aware of their feelings yet—but when one of Numair's exes, Varice Kingsford shows up, it starts getting awkward, and Daine gets jealous.

* In the Creator/AgathaChristie novel ''Towards Zero'', Neville Strange brings his current wife Kay to visit his relatives at the same time his ex-wife Audrey is also visiting them. Neville actually did this on purpose, claiming that life would be so much simpler if Kay and Audrey could be friends. [[spoiler: Actually he's doing it in order to murder Audrey in revenge for her leaving him; Kay's presence is entirely superfluous to his plans]].
* Another Christie example comes in the Literature/MissMarple short story "The Case of the Caretaker": Harry Laxton introduces his wife Louise to his "old flame" Bella, now married to the village chemist. [[spoiler: Also, the friendship between Louise and Clarice Vane may qualify: Harry is in love with Clarice and murders Louise in hopes of marrying Clarice after she's dead]].

* ''Literature/TheElenium'': In [[spoiler:a DeadPersonConversation]] in the ''Tamuli'' sequel series, Kurik is pleasantly bemused to learn that his wife and the prostitute with whom he had the HeroicBastard Talen have met, sorted out their differences, and moved in together as a single family.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

** In the trope-naming instance: Rose and Sarah Jane in the above-quoted episode. They have a funny argument, but quickly become friends. As the quote also shows, Mickey is delighted to see it; mainly because Rose was ''his'' girlfriend before she unceremoniously ditched him for the Doctor.

** Amy Pond has a similar conversation with River Song in the fifth season, even though it is not entirely clear just ''what'' kind of relationship River and the Doctor have ([[TimeTravelTenseTrouble or will have, or have had]]). And it's pretty clear that Amy isn't in it for the "long-term" like Rose or Martha might have been. Given that Amy's marriage is [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow a long time ago]] [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble tomorrow morning]], it's understandable. Turned out that [[spoiler:River was Amy's daughter, and she knew it]], so in retrospect, the sub-text is subverted.
** Neither one is anything close to a love interest, but a couple of deleted scenes from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield "Battlefield"]] provide an example of the companion not warming up to an older one right away: TheBrigadier manages to offend Ace by referring to her as "the latest one," and a line about how looking after the Professor is her job reveals that she may feel a bit threatened. By the end of the serial the Brig has managed to prove that he can be trusted to take care of the Doctor and the two bond over a nice big explosion. In the Brig's case, at least, it's less "mutual hostility" on his part and more "old-fashioned stuffy social awkwardness":
--->(''after Ace has stormed off in a huff'')\\
'''The Brigadier:''' Oh dear. Women, not really my field, Doctor.\\
'''The Doctor:''' Don't worry, Brigadier; [[DeadpanSnarker people will be shooting at you soon]].
** Another occasion where "missus and the ex" is invoked in almost those terms is "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor The Name of the Doctor]]" in which the Doctor's current companion, Clara Oswald (who has entered into an unconventional subtle romance with the Doctor) encounters the Doctor's wife, River Song - who is actually dead, but whose consciousness has been retained inside a supercomputer (long story). The Doctor, when asked by Clara if River is his "ex", replies in the affirmative. Other than an awkward moment in which Clara, who has heard of River before, indicates she thought River was a man, the two get along fine and River is directly responsible for keeping Clara alive at the climax of the episode.
* A more tragic example comes from ''Series/WaterlooRoad''. An ex-girlfriend of Earl Kelly's showed up and Maxine chucked Earl when she discovered what he was doing to the previous girlfriend's baby (selling it). [[spoiler:Maxine was shot dead by the end]].
* Series/{{NUMB3RS}}: Don Eppes' history causes this to happen a few times.
** The primary example is Robin Brooks and Liz Warner. Though Liz eventually admits that she always knew that her relationship was Don was really a rebound after [[OneTrueLove Robin]] [[TheOneThatGotAway broke up with him]].
** An earlier episode has a version of this by proxy, when an officer working a case mentions having known Don's (dead) ex-girlfriend, with Liz being the Missus in this situation.
--->'''Don:''' Hey, what was that look you gave me when Malloy mentioned Nikki Davis?\\
'''Liz:''' Right, like, "Why is it all your girlfriends are people you've worked with?"
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'':
** In the episode "Ex-File", Gibbs has to deal with the combination of his current girlfriend Lt. Col. Hollis Mann, his third ex-wife and his former lover [[SexyMentor Jenny Sheppard]]. [[HeroesWantRedheads All redheads]].
** Gibbs friendship with FBI Agent Fornell is complicated by the fact that Fornell married and then divorced one of Gibbs's ex-wives. When Fornell and the ex-wife think about getting back together they both seek Gibbs's advice despite him vehemently insisting that they keep him out of it.
** Gibbs is none too pleased, as usual, when ex-wife Diane shows up at a crime scene, even moreso when ''another'' ex-wife joins her, and looks flat-out horrified at the realization that the two are friends.
* This is how the first season of ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' ends, the characters in question being Meredith, Derek, and Addison.
* In ''Series/{{Two and a Half Men}}'' Alan's young, hot girlfriend Kandi starts complaining about him to his ex-wife Judith. They go out, get drunk, and Kandi moves in with Judith. In the next episode it gets worse, or at least weirder.

* In at least one episode of ''Cheaters'', the girl being cheated on and the other girl became friends, much to the horror of the cheating boyfriend.
* In ''Series/OneTreeHill'', Karen (the ex of Dan, who got her pregnant and then left her) becomes friends with Deb (Dan's wife, whom he met after dumping Karen... and got her pregnant three months later).
-->'''Dan:''' You haven't worn out your welcome (at the cafe) yet?
-->'''Deb:''' No, in fact Karen made me her partner.
-->'''Dan:''' I hope you mean ''in the business''.
* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'':
** An episode has Lilith Crane tangling with Frasier's first wife, children's entertainer Nanny Gee (Creator/EmmaThompson).
** Carla and Nick Tortelli's second wife Loretta were the "striking up a friendship" variant.
* This happened in the ''Series/DreamOn'' episode "Three Coins in the Dryer". Martin imagined all kinds of craziness about them viciously fighting each other. It turned out that they were indeed rather awkward and uncomfortable with each other, but perfectly nice to each other. Martin's ex-wife only reacted with a friendly detached amusement that they had so obviously been having sex.
* Episode 2.4 of ''Series/AshesToAshes'' in which Jackie Queen shows up claiming to be pregnant with Gene's baby. Barely hidden hostility ensues between her and Alex ("are you sleeping with my future husband?"), with Alex looking horrified as Gene proposes, until [[spoiler:Jackie reveals it isn't his,]] and they're best buds.
* Happened on ''Series/TheXFiles'', though it encompassed a season and a half instead of just an episode. And while Mulder and Scully were not a couple at the time, when Mulder's ex-partner and ex-lover shows up and tries to steal him away, Scully does not take kindly to that. It doesn't help that the ex-partner is evil, and in cahoots with Mulder and Scully's arch-nemesis. Mulder ditches Scully several times for Fowley, and ignores all evidence pointing to the fact that she's evil. Seeing Scully's claws come out, though, made it all worth it.
* The entire premise of ''Series/{{Reba}}'', where Reba's husband cheats on her, gets his mistress pregnant, and marries the mistress. The highly obnoxious DumbBlonde mistress wants to be friends with Reba, but Reba doesn't want anything to do with her. HilarityEnsues.
* There was an episode of ''Series/ForeverKnight'' in which Nick, the vampire cop, is about to get hot and heavy with Janette, the French vampire who is his sometimes friend/lover, sometimes enemy going back centuries, and Natalie, his human best friend/love interest/something walks in. There's no explosion, instead Natalie is nervous, Janette seems fascinated, and says to Natalie, "We must get together and... talk." We see the look on Nick's face and it's clear that this is ''not'' an idea he finds pleasing!
* Played with in ''{{Series/Eureka}}''. Sheriff Carter enters the diner and sees (or rather the audience sees) Allison Blake (the missus), Tess Fontana (the ex and the missus' best friend), and Nathan Stark (the missus' ex-husband, and bane of Carter's existence) all sitting at a table waiting for him. Amazingly, he doesn't instantly run. In a subversion however, [[spoiler: only Carter and Allison are real. Allison can see Tess, and Carter can see Stark, but neither of them can see both]].

* Leonard from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' deals with this trope in the episode "The Engagement Reaction" when Priya, his current girlfriend, and Penny, his ex, become friendly. He doesn't see a problem with it until Raj brings it to his attention.
* Happens (in a loosest sense) in the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' episode ''Trash''. [=YoSafBridge=] is currently married to Monty when the pair of them encounter Monty's war buddy Malcolm Reynolds, whom she had previously married. Like most The Missus and the Ex scenarios, this doesn't work out well for her, however in this case it's because her marriage to Mal was part of a scam and all logic suggests she's pulling some sort of con on Monty as well. She's clever enough to realize immediately that her feminine wiles, however considerable, will also be entirely useless against the "[[BandOfBrothers War Buddy]]" brand of loyalty that Mal and Monty have towards each other, and immediately resorts to pulling a gun.
* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', Dr. Cox comes in to find his ex-wife Jordan chatting to his new girlfriend. He greets them with "Well, isn't this horrible."
* ''Series/{{Merlin 2008}}'':

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** In episode "New Moon Rising", Willow is just starting to slide into relationship territory with [[TheWoobie Tara]] when her werewolf ex-boyfriend Oz comes back into town. Things simmer for a good chunk of the episode since Oz, having missed his Willow's SuddenlySexuality, doesn't realise that he's in one of these situations. When he finally gets wise, he freaks out and kinda tries to eat Tara. It's a thing.
** It pops up in Willow's WhatDoTheyFearEpisode a few episodes later, where Willow is clearly freaked out by Tara and Oz whispering together and giggling at her.
** From the same season, Riley and Angel meet and come to blows. It really ends up like a dick-waving competition.

* ''Series/{{Ringer}}'' has a couple of episodes featuring the Ex and the Missus' Twin Sister Pretending to be the Missus.
* Occurs in the ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'' episode, "The Storm" when Drake's [[GirlOfTheWeek girlfriend of the week]] and two ex-girlfriends are at the same house party together. They constantly giggle at each other while saying Drake's name, which makes Drake freak out more.
-->'''Drake:''' I can't have my current girlfriend and my ex-girlfriend in the same house. You want the universe to explode!?
* ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' had a Thanksgiving Special in which Denise invited Martin's ex-wife to join the family for dinner. Everyone in the house (especially Martin) was on edge anticipating a horrible blow-up. However, when the ex arrived, Denise was genuinely glad to meet her and the two quickly became friends with no drama at all. It was especially sweet to see Martin's daughter, Olivia, spending time happily with her birth-mom and step-mom together.
* An unusually non-romantic example occurs in the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "[[Recap/MonkS8E10MrMonkAndSharona Mr. Monk and Sharona]]", when Monk's first assistant, Sharona, comes to visit and meets his new assistant, Natalie. Although neither woman has romantic feelings for Monk, they both care about him and very protective of him, which leads to a lot of friction.
* In ''Series/MadMen'' Betty can't stand the idea of Don Draper rebuilding his life with another woman and she is particularly mean and malignant whenever his new wife Megan is involved or crosses her path.
* In ''Series/{{Castle}}'', Castle makes the mistake of inviting his ex-wife to stay at his place to help tend to his sick daughter while Beckett, now his girlfriend, also happens to be staying there due to her apartment being fumigated. Needless to say, the atmosphere gets quite tense quite quickly. [[spoiler: Beckett and Meredith end up becoming quite friendly, however.]]
** In an earlier episode, before Castle and Beckett hooked up, Castle's NewOldFlame Kyra Blaine briefly interacted with Beckett. Toward the end of the episode, she went off to marry her fiance, bade Castle a heartfelt farewell, smiled at Beckett and said, [[EverybodyKnewAlready "He's all yours."]]
* In ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', we have Sophie and Maggie, with the writers/producers referencing the trope by name in at least one audio commentary in the season four episode "The Last Dam Job." Interestingly, they also tease the idea of Maggie and Sophie being involved when Nate isn't around.
* It happens all the time on ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' as Robin and Ted broke up but remained close friends, and later the same happened with Barney and Robin. Sometimes it's a GirlOfTheWeek who's either friendly with Robin or frustrated with Ted/Barney, or she may be a steady girl-friend. The most drastic example was [[spoiler: Victoria]] telling Ted that he has to cut off all contact with Robin or she will break up with him. Ted chooses [[spoiler: Robin]]/
* ''[[Series/DoctorInTheHouse Doctor on the Go]]'' features a gender-inverted version in the episode "For Your Own Good". Dr. James Gascoigne's father has been admitted to St. Swithin's Hospital with a head injury, and Mrs. Gascoigne turns out to be an old flame of the Professor of Surgery, Sir Geoffrey Loftus. The elder Gascoigne seduced his future wife away from Loftus while the latter was away on holiday several decades earlier; Loftus and Mrs. Gascoigne have a chance encounter in the corridors of the hospital, their first meeting since their relationship ended.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'': This becomes an issue at the end of the third season when Captain Sheridan's wife ([[ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated who everyone thought was dead]]) shows up at his quarters while he's spending the night with Delenn. [[spoiler: As it turns out, Anna was changed by the Shadows, and Sheridan knew it, and both of them were dead by the end of the season. Sheridan [[UnexplainedRecovery would get better]] in the next season, but Anna was gone for good.]]
** And in the fifth season, Delenn is unhappy to learn that Sheridan has arranged for his first wife, Elizabeth Lochley, to assume command of the station[[note]]Garibaldi [[LampshadeHanging openly muses]] about just how many wives Sheridan has had.[[/note]]. Delenn and Lochley have no problem working with each other, but Delenn is upset because Sheridan didn't ''tell'' her about the prior relationship.
*** LaserGuidedKarma if you ask me given Delenn's history of withholding information.
* In Season 2 of ''Series/{{Vikings}}'', Ragnar Lothbrok takes on the princess and mystic Aslaug for his wife, after conceiving a son with her. Ragnar's first wife, Lagertha the shieldmaiden, leaves him with their firstborn son. Lagertha returns a few times in season 2, and now Ragnar gets to enjoy all the awkwardness of sitting between them at the dinner table.
* On ''Series/{{Rush 2014}}'', Dr. William Rush goes to a medical conference where he encounters his ex-girlfriend Dr. Sarah Peterson. Sarah is there with her new boyfriend Dr. Griffin Wagner. Rush still has strong feelings for Sarah but is trying to let her go so he makes a token attempt to befriend Griffin. Griffin is a great guy and a splendid doctor but he is very insecure about his relationship with Sarah because he heard so many things about the wild and exciting William Rush and knows that Sarah is not yet fully over Rush. After a few drinks Griffin tries to show that he can be as spontaneous and unpredictable as Rush and performs a dangerous stunt that almost gets him killed. Rush saves his life but the two men get arrested. Much to Sarah's chagrin, they end up bonding over the experience.
* On ''Series/{{Home Improvement}}'', Jill meets Tim's ex-girlfriend Stacey, whom Tim never officially broke up with. Jill is less than pleased by this news, but she and Stacey get along well enough that it makes Tim nervous.
* ''Series/{{Suddenly Susan}}'', when the titular Susan meets her new boyfriend's ex when she comes by the house to pick up their children. They get along fine, but Susan is unnerved when she notices how much they resemble each other. Her fears prove well-founded--a few episodes later, she stops by the house and finds the woman there, the early morning hour and the SexyShirtSwitch that she's pulling making it obvious that they slept together. Poor Susan realizes that she's nothing more than a ReplacementGoldfish and that he clearly is still in love with his ex and ends things.
* This crops up a few times in the first season of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', made doubly complicated by the fact that Oliver is DatingCatwoman both times.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In "Galaxy's Child", Geordi has a truly unique case as both the Missus and the Ex are the same person; one is the holographic counterpart of Dr. Leah Brahms from the earlier episode "Booby Trap", the other is the actual Leah. Things get very tense [[OtherMeAnnoysMe when the real Leah finds the holographic Leah]] repeating the earlier episode's closing lines "[[AccidentalInnuendo Every time you look at this engine, you're looking at me. Every time you touch it, it's me.]]", and accuses Geordi of being a StalkerWithACrush.
** GenderFlipped in "Second Chances" between Troi and the two Will Rikers. Similar to "Galaxy's Child", both the Mister and the Ex are technically the same person; one is the Riker we've come to know over 6 seasons on TNG and had given up on his relationship with Troi to further his career. The other is the Riker who was stranded on Nervala VI for 8 years and still has strong feelings for Troi.

* [[ComicBook/StarWarsDoctorAphra Doctor Aphra]] has to deal with a situation like this during the ''Catastrophe Con'' arc, when her current flame (Imperial inspector Magna Tolvan) and her hostile ex (Rebel associate Sana Starros) both show up to rescue her from Acressker Prison. As Aphra's prison buddy Lopsat points out, it's extremely awkward.

->''"Oh mate, [[TropeNamers the missus and the ex!]] Welcome to every man's worst nightmare."''

* In Kyle Rayner's GreenLantern run, his ex-girlfriend, Donna Troy, showed up at his art gallery showing, leading to tensions between Kyle and then-girlfriend Jade. (Donna and Jade, when they both became Kyle's exes, eventually went on to be teammates in the Outsiders and the Justice League... with further ramifications whenever Kyle enters the mix.)