A Viral Gilmore Girls Alternate Ending Theory Has Divided Fans

With viral fan theories, continuity errors, easter eggs, and behind-the-scenes tidbits still doing the rounds online today, the legacy of Gilmore Girls lives well beyond its ’00s heyday. The show originally aired for seven seasons between 2000 and 2007, and the four-episode revival series, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, was released on Netflix in 2016. As fans might recall, the revival ended with Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) telling her mother Lorelai (Lauren Graham) that she is pregnant. Now, the show’s former set costumer, Valerie Campbell, has theorized that the pregnancy revelation might have been intended for another character.

Speaking on TikTok, Campbell — who worked in the show’s costume department between 2001 and 2007 — points out that series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino wanted Gilmore Girls to continue beyond Season 7. However, the beloved drama was abruptly canceled ahead of Season 8.

“At the end of Season 8, which we never got to see, Lorelai would still have been at an age that would have been appropriate for her to have a baby,” Campbell explains. “What if the final four words of the show, which Amy knew from the very beginning, were not meant for Rory to say, but instead they were meant for Lorelai to say?”

Campbell goes on to claim that series creator Sherman-Palladino likely wouldn’t have wanted to make Rory pregnant in her planned eighth series, adding: “23 is really young. Most people would be off going to college, doing career things, and making a life for themselves.” In the viral clip, Campbell concludes that it “actually makes more sense” that Lorelai would be the one revealing she is pregnant at the end of Season 8, should it have gone ahead.

Fans were quick to share their thoughts on Campbell’s latest theory, and many agreed that this hypothetical Season 8 ending “makes total sense.”

“I love this theory. It makes me sad she and Luke never had kids. Luke would have been a great father,” one fan commented, while another wrote: “I had always wished it was Lorelei. It would’ve added such a different twist to the show.”

However, others took a different view. “I actually thought it would be more sense for Rory to pregnant that early because it’s more of a parallel to Lorelei’s story,” one fan also commented.