TV-Series :: Gilmore Girls :: Character Guide

Lorelai Victoria Gilmore was born in to an affluent family and a lifestyle that she hated. When she was only 16, Lorelai became pregnant, and after refusing to marry the father, Christopher, Lorelai ran away from her controlling parents to raise her daughter, Lorelai "Rory" Gilmore, on her own.

Determined to make it on her own, Lorelai was able to find a job as a maid at Stars Hollow's Independent Inn, and while Rory was growing up the two lived in the Inn's potting shed. Since then, Lorelai has moved up the ranks at the Inn, becoming manager with the help of her quick wit and matching charm, and bought a home for her and Rory to live in. After the Independence Inn burnt down, Lorelai’s long-time dream of opening her own inn started to become a reality. As season 4 came to a close, Lorelai, with the help of her best friend Sookie, official opened The Dragonfly Inn.

After everything they’ve been through together, Lorelai and Rory are best friends. They share the same likes and dislikes, eyes, and even have the same coffee addiction. Lorelai tries to avoid the traditional parent role, by being more of a best friend than mother, but when it’s absolutely necessary, Lorelai plays the ‘mom card’. Despite typically getting along perfectly, Rory and Lorelai have hit some rough patches. At the end of season 4 and beginning of season 5, Lorelai had to deal with the aftermath of Rory sleeping with her married ex-boyfriend, Dean, and most recently, Lorelai had to cope with Rory dropping out of school and moving in with her grandparents.

Lorelai, determined to make it on her own, shut her parents out of her life. However, 16 years after she ran away, Lorelai reluctantly returned home to ask her parents for money in order to send Rory to Chilton, a prestigious, yet expensive private school. Emily and Richard gladly gave her the money, but on one condition – she and Rory would attend dinner every Friday night. Since that day, Rory and Lorelai have faithfully attended Friday night dinner, though sometimes kicking and screaming the entire time.

During the last six seasons, Lorelai had many romantic interests, ranging from Rory’s English teacher, to the diner owner who has pined for Lorelai for several years. Season one brought Lorelai’s first suitor, Max Medina, a Chilton teacher. After breaking up, then rekindling their romance, Max proposed to Lorelai, and she accepted. However, Lorelai realized she couldn’t marry him and broke the engagement off. Lorelai as also had an on-and-off relationship with Christopher Hayden, Rory’s father, but with Chris’ reluctance to commit and the unexpected news that his ex-girlfriend was pregnant, a long romantic relationship never took off. Soon enough, Jason “Digger” Stiles, a family friend, entered Lorelai’s life, but the two broke it off after Jason and Richard’s bad blood interfered with their relationship. Now, Lorelai became involved with long-time friend Luke Danes, who has been in love with Lorelai from day one. Though their relationship hit some rough patches, they managed to stay together and in the last scene of season 5, Lorelai proposed to Luke. However, Luke's hesitance to commit fully to Lorelai led Lorelai to rekindle her relationship with Christopher and break off her engagement to Luke. After dating Christopher, the two married in Paris and are living together in Stars Hollow.

Now, Lorelai continues to be best friends with Rory, continuing to work to ensure that Rory has more than she ever did.