Why is Taylor not Team Conrad in The Summer I Turned Pretty?
Disliking your best friend’s boyfriend is nothing new when it comes to navigating the difficult push and pull between friendships and relationships. There have been many a time when I’ve wished that the guy my friend was dating would stop sleeping over four nights a week, and using my expensive shampoo at every shower. But it can be months before your mate realises it’s time to dump him.
In The Summer I Turned Pretty, it’s even messier. The romantic love triangle becomes a more complicated shape once besties and brothers get involved.
TSITP has seen Isabel “Belly” Conklin (played by Lola Tung) battling her feelings for Fisher brothers Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Conrad (Christopher Briney) for three seasons now. With Belly’s brother Steven (Sean Kaufman) and best friend Taylor Jewel (Rain Spencer) often being drawn into the ‘who will she choose?’ confusion.
Taylor has always been Team Jelly, rooting for Jeremiah and Belly to work out. But now fans are speculating there might be more to it. Theories are coming out with the idea that Taylor may actually actively dislike Conrad, and that is why she has always been against Team Bonrad.
Why does Taylor dislike Conrad in The Summer I Turned Pretty?
So, what happened between Taylor and Conrad for there to be bad blood? @merelymeredith on TikTok says that the biggest reason Taylor hates Conrad in the books is actually left out of the TV show.
Taylor doesn’t show up at Cousins for Belly’s 16th birthday. She is only spoken about in flashbacks of Belly’s 14th birthday. That’s because Taylor isn’t the lovely and supportive friend that she is in the show, but instead she’s selfish and “boy crazy” in the books.
In the book flashbacks of Belly’s 14th birthday party, Taylor talks as if she weren’t there, wondering which Fisher brother she wants. And of course, Taylor wants Conrad because she’s drawn in by his black cat demeanour and likes a challenge. But Conrad shrugs off her advances and bruises Taylor’s ego, and she ends up getting with Jeremiah instead.
But it’s this blow that stays with her, as a festering dislike for Conrad, from being a teenager all the way through to their college years. Taylor will always then favour Jeremiah because of their brief beach make-out session and the fact that Conrad rejected her.
@merelymeredith No one can hold a grudge like Taylor Jewel @the summer i turned pretty @Prime Video @Jenny Han #thesummeriturnedpretty #taylorjewel #bellyconklin #tsitp #cousinsbeach #thesummeriturnedprettyseason3 #wellalwayshavesummer #teamconrad #teamjeremiah #conradfisher
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Taylor is Team Jeremiah in The Summer I Turned Pretty
Taylor’s unwavering support for Belly and Jeremiah to be together can then be seen throughout the series. In season three, when Taylor bumps into Jeremiah after the news came out that he cheated on Belly in Cabo, she shouts at him on campus: “I have always been on your side. I was the freaking CEO of Team Jeremiah. Now to find out that you’re a scummy little fucking hot tub cheater. It’s insane.”
@thesummeriturnedpretty Taylor from the top rope 😳
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Fans also think Taylor is pregnant in The Summer I Turned Pretty
Disliking Conrad isn’t the only Taylor theory TSITP fans are talking about. As series three unfolds, they also think that she could be pregnant.
Taking to TikTok, fans are speculating she’s expecting because Taylor is moody and hungry in the coffee shop early on in the season, and she has a strange look on her face when she’s helping her mum with her salon debts, and Lucinda says, “But I’m the mum,” with the camera then immediately panning to Taylor’s stomach. Taylor quickly changes the subject and awkwardly sniffs. And in the latest episode, Taylor is seen to be the only one without an alcoholic drink at Belly’s bridal shower.
@nevajeansmith tell me i’m wrong #taylor #tsitp #thesummeriturnedpretty #taylorjewel #taylor #theory #thesummeriturnedprettyseries #thesummeriturnedprettyseason3 #getonthefyp #viralvideo
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Fans of TSITP will know that Taylor doesn’t get pregnant in the books, but Taylor and Steven’s whole relationship doesn’t happen in the books either. Taylor’s character arc in the series has way more depth to it, making her role in the story even more interesting.
And while the theory that she doesn’t like Conrad has some legs, whether she’s with child is one left to be seen as the last episodes of season three air.
