Credit: ParamountWell, Zillennial tweens, it finally happened: Carly Shay and Freddie Benson of iCarly, after 15 long years, are finally, officially, together.
It took a long time. It was evident by the middle of the original Nickelodeon series, starring Miranda Cosgrove, Nathan Kress, Jerry Trainor, and Jeanette McCurdy, that the creators of the show intended to pair Sam and Freddie together, an enemies-to-lovers story that they saw through to the end, despite the apparent mismatch in their personalities (and the fact that Sam, even when they were dating, was mean to Freddie.)
Still, in one episode – “iSave Your Life” – Carly and Freddie briefly date after Freddie save Carly from a speeding taco truck. Jealous of her friends, Sam plants the seeds in Freddie’s head that Carly only liked him because he saved her life, and she felt bad he got injured. In response, Freddie broke up with Carly, saying that they could talk about getting back together if she still felt the same way in a while.
Carly and Freddie Are Finally, Actually Together on ‘iCarly’
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They didn’t get back together as teenagers, but on the most recent episode of the rebooted iCarly on Paramount+, “iMake New Memories,” Carly and Freddie finally make it official. Carly even references the taco truck rescue, telling him:
“You said we should wait until the whole hero thing wore off, but…Freddie, you’re still my hero, you’re the person who I can always count on.”
Freddie, for his part, also sort of apologized for all of his anger about being in the “friend zone” with Carly all these years:
“I need you to know: Being your friend is not a consolation prize. It is the best thing that I get to be.”
Don’t worry, though: They still kissed. Three times.
The Creddie Kiss That Was Completely Improvised
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It was teased earlier in the season, but now it’s officially confirmed: Carly and Freddie are dating for real.
Cosgrove said that getting Carly and Freddie together was always a dream of hers, and it links back to her days growing up on Lizzie McGuire, watching Lizzie and Gordo dance around their feelings.
“When I was little, I always wanted Gordo with Lizzie…I think a part of me always hoped that Freddie and Carly would end up together just because it’s so romantic, the idea of knowing somebody ever since you were young, being best friends, kind of going back and forth liking each other, but the timing always being off.
But the timing wasn’t off this time. It was so good that they could completely improvise a kiss on set that wasn’t in the script.
The initial kiss happens as planned, but the second kiss was just a cute idea that the writers had on set: Freddie would do one of his classic countdowns to the second kiss after Carly suggested they should do it again.
It wasn’t in the script at all. We did it in one take the very last time and we were both really unsure about it. Some of the writers came over and they were like, ‘We have this idea, it might be too much, but just give it a shot for one take…’ We were both like, we don’t know if this is gonna work, but we’ll try it. And it ended up being the last line of the episode.
(That’s not true: The last line of the episode is actually Carly saying, “I don’t wanna kiss anymore,” but don’t worry, it was because of something Freddie’s mom said.)
Are Carly and Freddie Just Gonna Break Up Again?
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Miranda Cosgrove promised fans that, even though they’re only on the third episode, there won’t be any fizzling this season; a lot more Creddie is coming up, including an episode where the new couple has to deal with about 50 cats. She said she’s elated to see the other side of will-they-won’t-they finally and knows fans must be even happier.
I’m excited for the people that do ship them and want them together. They waited 15 years, I’m excited for them to finally get what they’ve been waiting for and I hope that it lives up to their expectations.”
We’ll have to wait and see. For now, you can watch the first three episodes of the third season and the rest of the iCarly reboot on Paramount+.
Are you happy about Carly and Freddie finally getting together? Do you like how they did it? Let us know in the comments below!