History Main / TheMissusAndTheEx

* ''[[ComicBook/DCPride2022 DC Pride: Tim Drake Special]]'': Tim is hesitant to introduce his boyfriend Bernard to his ex Stephanie, at first because he's adjusting to knowing he's bi and unsure if his relationship with Bernard will be more than a couple of dates and later because he knows they're likely to be rather excitable together. In the end, he does bring Steph to meet Bernard, which Steph is quite excited about.

[[caption-width-right:300:Making love was [[HaveAGayOldTime a lot less energetic]] during UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode days.[[note]]It means "sweet-talk" instead of "sex"[[/note]]]]

* In the Colleen [=McCullough=] novel ''The Touch'', the male protagonist's wife Elizabeth and mistress Ruby meet at an event and instantly hit it off. Despite initially resenting each other, the two end up feeling sorry for each other--Elizabeth for having left everyone she knows and loves to move halfway around the world to marry a man she's never met and doesn't love, and Ruby for having to watch the man she loves with another woman while their relationship must be conducted in secret because she's a madam.

** 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]].

* ''[[ComicBook/DCPride2022 DC Pride: Tim Drake Special]]'': Tim is hesitant to introduce his boyfriend Bernard to his ex Stephanie, at first because he's adjusting to knowing he's bi and unsure if his relationship with Bernard will be more than a couple of dates and later because he knows they're likely to be rather excitable together. In the end he does bring Steph to meet Bernard, which Steph is quite excited about.

* In Kyle Rayner's ''ComicBook/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.)

* ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'' is pretty much entirely about this, as Scott gets in a relationship with Ramona and then has to deal with her seven exes, who have formed the League of Evil Exes.
** As the above is not complicated enough, right before starting to go out with Ramona Scott is dating recurring character Knives Chau, his earlier ex Kim Pine plays in the same band as Scott, and Envy Adams, [[TheOneThatGotAway the one whose break-up with Scott left him devastated]], [[TheExsNewJerkass is now dating one of the Evil Exes]] [[spoiler:and was just as devastated as Scott by the break-up, she just hid it better and got OnTheRebound faster]].

* ''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. Ultimately, the two don't fight at all, instead bonding over how much Aphra sucks.
* In ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', Rewind and Prowl's rare interactions are rife with this - Rewind being [[OfficialCouple Chromedome's husband]] and Prowl his implied ex-boyfriend. Rewind also enjoys making fun of Prowl, and gets snippy with Chromedome for mentioning certain romantically-charged things Prowl said to him in the past.

* [[https://www.deviantart.com/morloth88/art/Bad-Seats-725005809 One page]] of ''Webcomic/DisneyHighSchool'' had this with Zeus, Hera and Alcmene, at a talent show where Hercules is performing. [[TruerToTheText Unlike in the movie]], the comic portrays Alcmene as Hercules' [[RelatedInTheAdaptation biological]] mother and thus Zeus' ex-wife.

* In ''Fanfic/LuckyNumberThirteen'', Christian's ex-submissive Sharon intentionally seeks out Ana, the woman he's currently trying to seduce, to warn her about what Christian can be like. Sharon says she knows this is a weird situation, but she feels she has to tell Ana about how Christian treated her before she gets hurt. Ana is initially a bit wary and jealous, but agrees to hear Sharon out. [[spoiler:They end up becoming quite friendly with each other and Sharon agrees to help Ana break up with Christian]].

** ''Hitorijime Undone'': Downplayed in that they never officially dated, but the story ends with [[spoiler:Akina being taken in by her childhood friend Kouta, who's feelings she rejected, and his new wife Hiyori to become their daughter's nanny, which Hiyori agreed to specifically to rub their happy life in Akina's face as revenge for breaking Kouta's heart]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ReignOfTheSupermen'': Lois Lane and Wonder Woman meet with each other to discuss about the events of the last few months, although Diana expected that Lois would come to talk about Superman's death. Diana confesses that she never saw Lois as a rival, because she was in love with Kal-El, but Lois is Clark Kent's true love. They become good friends shortly after that.

* In ''Film/GodToldMeTo'', Pete's girlfriend Casey meets his soon-to-be-ex-wife Martha, who tells her things Pete never did, like the fact that she had three miscarriages [[spoiler:due to Pete's reality warping powers and his desire to not be a father]].

** ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' gives a hilarious twist in that the missus is Stormbreaker, a massive battle axe, and the ex is Mjölnir, a warhammer. Stormbreaker is clearly jealous that Thor is trying to get Mjölnir back and even throws tamtrums, forcing Thor to try and comfort his weapon as if it were a jealous lover. [[spoiler: In fact, it's implied that the reason Thor can't stop the Bifrost in the climax is because Stormbreaker is refusing to cooperate out of spite.]]

* ''Film/TicketToParadise'': Paul, Georgia's current boyfriend, is the pilot who flies her and her ex-husband David to Bali, leading to awkwardness on the plane. Paul returns to Bali in the third act, leading to even more awkwardness... [[spoiler:especially because Paul proposes, to David and eventually Georgia's distate.]]

* in the ''Literature/ApprenticeAdept'' novel ''Juxtaposition'', Lady Blue crosses over into Photon (posing as her Photon self, Bluette), to warn Stile of a new plot against him. With him at the time is his bodyguard and ex-lover [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Sheen]]. Stile has just enough to worry about the potential awkwardness of the situation (the two women know all about each other), when Lady Blue tells her how she has nothing but love and admiration for one who'd done so much to keep ''their'' beloved safe. They end up weeping in each other arms, while a confused Stile can only look on.

* In ''Literature/TheSuitcaseKid'', Carol and Simon are both forced to interact with each other's new partners, Bill and Carrie respectively, due to them sharing custody of their daughter Andy. None of them get along well. Bill and Simon tend to get into fights, including nearly getting into a fist fight on one occasion, and Simon tells Andy he doesn't know what Carol sees in him. Carrie doesn't directly interact much with Carol, while Carol often mocks her for being a hippie, criticizes her home and lifestyle, and even calls her a "dirty slut" (it's strongly implied that Simon cheated on Carol with Carrie, though she might also have cheated on him with Bill).

* ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'' featured an [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggerated example]]. After realising Don had had relationships before her, Sally tracked down Don's ex. The ex then mentioned another ex and so Sally tracked her down. Pretty soon Don was innocently walking in to the Solomon's home to find Sally along with every woman he's ever dated all in one place laughing together (about him).

** The situation is reversed in "As You Were", when Riley unexpetedly returns with his new wife Samantha. Even though Buffy is utterly jealous of Sam, she admits that she can't bring herself to hate her because she's nice and sweet. Buffy and Riley depart in better terms at the end.

* ''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.

** 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":

* 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]].

** A running gag is that Chandler's obnoxious Janice keeps showing up, even once Chandler happily dates Monica.

* 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]].

* In ''Series/MadMen'', Betty can't stand the idea of Don Draper rebuilding his life with another woman(despite being remarried herself), and she is particularly mean and malignant whenever his new wife Megan is involved or crosses her path.

* 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.

** 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.

* ''Series/QueenSugar'': Nova and Calvin run into Calvin's ex-wife Hailey at his grandfather birthday party. Hailey makes it clear that she's still angry about the affair and divorce. This leads to a confrontation in which Hailey insinuates that Calvin is only with Nova because he has a RaceFetish and Calvin tells Hailey that he never really loved her.

* 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.

* ''Series/TheSpencerSisters'': Darby previously dated Lucas, who's now engaged to Lindsay. When they cross paths again since Darby's working on cases Lucas and Lindsay are connected to, this causes some tension. Lindsay is jealous of Darby and suspicious, as she suspects Lucas might have lingering feelings for her. It's implied that Darby at least does still like Lucas. Lindsay gets over this however, partly as Darby is now connected to Des, another man, but also due to Darby's helping her out greatly.

* In ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'' 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 an episode of ''Series/WithoutATrace'' when a mobster'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.

* 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.

* In the song "Trubbel" (''Trouble'') by Swedish songwriter Olle Adolphson, this pattern is combined with class issues. Working-class A and B are happy together, but then B has an affair with middle-class C. A is naturally upset, but then finds out that B has already been dumped by C. A finds this unforgivable and goes to visit C with a hammer hidden in the coat. However, C turns out to be a genuinely nice person, courteous and friendly, and A is just as charmed as B had been. A and B decide to settle for each other and for being lower-class people. The reason for the ABC routine here is that the lyrics are cleverly written to be not only fairly timeless, but also (with very slight changes) [[TheCoverChangesTheGender applicable to either gender]] combination[[note]]non-heterosexual variants should be possible but are yet unseen[[/note]]. In the original lyrics, A and C are males; in the most well-known cover they are females.
* The [[Music/TheBeautifulSouth Paul Heaton + Jacqui Abbott]] song "New Fella" is about the realisation that your current and ex partner are ''both'' jealous idiots.

* 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).

* 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.]]

* Ginger from ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'' invokes this trope in the Thanksgiving episode "Ten Chairs" where she invites Jonas (her mother's ex-husband) to the Thanksgiving dinner where Lois's fiancee Dave will also attend.

** Tenzin, his wife, Pema and ex-girlfriend, Chief Beifong whose past was so hostile that [[WomanScorned Lin]] tried to ''arrest'' Pema in addition to causing an untold amount of damage and was still ''proud'' of it years after the fact though everyone's at peace with each other enough that Lin was entrusted to look after the former's children when things got dire in the present.
** Mako ends up feeling awkward and (rightfully) guilty in Book 3 considering how epically he [[EpicFail failed]] with ''both'' girlfriends in the LoveTriangle, who are now closer than ever while he'd been sleeping under his desk and want him to get over it already to join them as a team again. It takes his brother, Bolin guilt-tripping him over family just to get him out of his funk.

* 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.

[[caption-width-right:292:Making love was [[HaveAGayOldTime a lot less energetic]] during UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode days.[[note]]It means "sweet-talk" instead of "sex"[[/note]]]]

* 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.]]