‘Ted Lasso’ Star Jodi Balfour on Jack & Keeley’s Relationship Impasse

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers through Ted Lasso Season 3, Episode 8, “We’ll Never Have Paris.”]

Ted Lasso introduced a new couple in Season 3 as Keeley (Juno Temple) got close to boss, Jack (Jodi Balfour), but things took a turn in Episode 8 after a private video of Keeley leaked online.

Part of a mass hacking, a private video Keeley sent to Jamie (Phil Dunster) when they were together was released, making her the topic of news articles condemning the sexual nature of it all. Needless to say, the event put an obvious wedge between Keeley and Jack, with the latter not claiming Keeley as her girlfriend in front of acquaintances and canceling public engagements out of embarrassment.

By the end of the episode, Jack and Keeley don’t see eye-to-eye about the video. While Keeley is upset it went public, she isn’t ashamed for making it, whereas Jack tries forcing her to put a statement out to say otherwise. Their relationship reached an impasse that isn’t likely to be solved, and we caught up with Balfour, who is opening up about the apparent breakup, working on Season 3, bringing Keeley and Jack’s relationship to the screen with Juno Temple.

(Credit: Apple TV+)

When it comes to Jack and Keeley’s fight, it boils down to a disagreement over a leaked video. Is there a right and wrong person in this scenario?

Jodi Balfour: I’m team Keeley on this one.  I actually think that line that Keeley has to Rebecca in her office where she says, “Is there anything I can do?” And Keeley says, “change society’s mind” or “make society different from where women are overly sexualized their entire life and then shamed for whenever they come across as sexual.” It’s devastating what happens to her and the way Jack responds. In my mind and in order to climb inside of Jack’s point of view and inhabit it and not judge it, I really believe that you’re watching someone react from a place of conditioning. I want to believe there’s a more evolved version of her waiting to emerge, and in an alternate reality, they don’t break up from this. Jack has a lot to learn from Keeley.

Jack doesn’t claim Keeley as her girlfriend; is that because of her sexuality or the video leak?

We had conversations about this. In my mind, Jack is out, but she chooses her girlfriends very carefully. She’s out in the most palatable way to her father. She is the least offensive to the people that are offended. She presents herself in the most digestible way because, clearly, as we see toward the end of the episode, she’s still absolutely governed by what other people think. Particularly what her father thinks. So, at that moment, the friend comment is about what’s going on in the media.

Is that the reason she canceled their public engagement as well?

Yeah. This push-pull between what she wants and what she’s so afraid of disrupting, which is this safety she has in this very rich elite world that she’s only ever known. It’s really sad. It’s this tactic of hide and be quiet until people move on to something else rather than just stepping into full ownership of who you are and all your complexity.

(Credit: Apple TV+)

Is this the final straw for Jack and Keeley’s relationship?

Yeah, I always hoped Jack means what she says [when she says] she “doesn’t know.” So it’s not “this is the end.” I think Jack is just so gripped by fear and her modus operandi at that moment and can’t see past her own Jack-ness to see and hear Keeley and consider a different way of looking at it. I’ve always held out hope; whether we get to see it or not, there is a reconciliation there because I really do think that they were falling in love, and that connection was true.

How does it feel to be a part of such a prominent LGBTQIA+ storyline when it wasn’t something as heavily explored in past seasons?

You know, it’s not lost on me how broad an audience this show has. And so I suppose quietly, without any expectation, the hope is always that people watch the show that may not watch any other shows that have any kind of queer representation in them and are exposed to something in a way that shifts their interest, understanding, or compassion, that brings us closer together than further apart. The best-case scenario is a really gradual but positive impact on somebody.

Throughout the series, little breadcrumbs hint at Keeley’s bisexuality. How does it feel to bring it into the light?

It delighted me, even if it doesn’t necessarily end well for them. I think they’ve done a sneaky but good job at sort of laying the foundations for Keely’s bisexuality. And it was, I think, fun for all the fans of the show, myself included, to see her explore that side of herself.

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What has it been like building this relationship with Juno this season?

She’s just the warmest, coziest human. It was immediately easy to find our way in, and I’ve been a fan of hers as an actor for a really long time; it was just so fun to be in scenes together. The scene work was like really enjoyable. She’s such an actor’s actor. A delight of a human to be around.

If it’s really over between Jack and Keeley, who are you rooting for in the Keeley-Roy-Jamie love triangle?

Hmm. This is hard because I really always have been Team Roy. But honestly, the feminist in me wants her to be on her own for a second. Let Keeley just be with Keeley, you know?

Ted Lasso, New Episodes, Wednesdays, Apple TV+