Bubbly cheerful Kelly Kapoor is one of the most positive and charismatic characters on The Office. On the surface, she seems a little vapid. Most of the time, she is happy and content too. However, true fans of the series probably noticed over time that Kelly's life isn't always as easy as it seems.
Kelly is obviously involved in a terrible relationship with Ryan throughout the series, but she struggled through more than just this toxic drama. She faced insecurities about her appearance, workplace harassment, and possibly even a tragic death in the family. Kelly definitely hasn't had as easy of a life as it might seem.
She Hates Her Middle Name
When a new receptionist is hired who's name is also Kelly, it causes some confusion in the office. The new receptionist asks if she can go by her middle name, which is Erin. Kelly then screams, "Well, you know what my middle name is? Rajnigandha - and I hate it...I HATE it!!!" It's maybe not the most tragic thing about her, but there has to be a reason why Kelly hates her middle name so much. Could it have been something in her past?
She Followed Dangerous Weight-Loss Trends
In the episode "Weight Loss," the Scranton branch attempts to lose weight for a corporate competition. Unfortunately, Kelly almost becomes severely ill after going on a "cleanse diet." She also ingests an unknown object after eating a "tapeworm" that Creed gave her.
Kelly's diet reaches such unhealthy levels that she passes out in the office and has to be on an IV drip for 2 days. Although the series never explicitly states whether or not Kelly struggles with eating disorders, it's pretty scary to see how much pressure the office workers put on her to lose weight.
Michael Makes Fun Of Her Ethnicity
Michael can be a huge jerk and wildly inappropriate throughout the entire series. The way he treats Kelly is no exception. As many fans know, Michael has been seen to stereotype and make incorrect assumptions about her ethnicity.
At worst, he flat out makes fun of her - to the point where she slaps him in the episode "Diversity Day." It does explain why she could get frustrated with him.
Her Romantic Relationships Are Unhealthy
Ryan Howard is Kelly's on-again-off-again boyfriend throughout the series. Although he is awful to her and doesn't take her seriously, Kelly is constantly head over heels infatuated with Ryan. Even when she dates other people, Kelly can't seem to move on from him. For example, she dates Darryl just to make Ryan jealous.
Kelly also stole her boyfriend's dad's boat when she was fourteen, kissed Dwight in the "Christmas Party" episode, and misinterpreted a Valentine's Day card from Andy. All of this seems to point toward Kelly having rather unhealthy and tumultuous romantic relationships.
Her Sister... Died?
In the episode "Michael's Birthday," Kelly discusses Princess Diana's funeral saying, "that was the saddest funeral ever... that and my sister's." This moment is glossed over in the series but according to this statement, Kelly presumably had a sister who passed away.
She seems able to talk about this incident rather casually, so perhaps it was something that happened a long time ago. But of course, the fact that she lost a sister is still incredibly sad.
She Seems At Odds With Her Family
When Kelly invites her coworkers to a Diwali celebration, a rare glimpse of her family shows that Kelly seems rather at odds with them. Her younger sisters giggle and tease her about her relationship with Ryan.
Kelly's parents also seem disappointed with her choice of partner. It's understandable that they were dismayed with Ryan's plan to spend his money on travel and an Xbox. However, they seem intent on Kelly having an arranged marriage with an Indian doctor, instead of allowing her to make her own decisions.
She Has Insecurities About Her Physical Appearance
On the surface, Kelly appears to be one of the most confident employees at Dunder Mifflin. She often flaunts her looks to get what she wants or impress Ryan. However, there are a few small moments that show Kelly might have some underlying insecurities about her appearance.
For example, in the episode "Prince Family Paper," the office is involved in a debate over whether or not Hilary Swank is hot. Kelly tearfully exclaims that Hilary Swank has to be hot because "if Hilary Swank isn't then neither is she." It is an issue that wasn't explored much on the show so one can assume it was glossed over by the office workers.
She Went To Juvie
In the episode "Lecture Circuit," Dwight confronts Kelly after discovering that she went to juvenile detention when she was fourteen. Kelly then confesses that she stole her boyfriend's dad's boat as a teenager after he dumped her.
She yells that her time in juvie was, "the worst year of my life" and is very upset that Dwight brought it up. It's easy to feel bad that Kelly went through that at such a young age.
Jim And Dwight Let Her Down
Although Kelly can be mean sometimes, she definitely cares about her friends at the office. Unfortunately, her coworkers, Jim and Dwight, let her down on several occasions.
In the episode "Customer Survey," she is so upset that Jim and Dwight missed one of her parties over the summer that she tampers with their customer surveys. In "Lecture Circuit," they also forget to plan her birthday and do a disappointing job of making up for it. Considering she viewed Jim as one of her best friends, it wasn't hard to sympathize with the customer service representative.
She Ends Up With Ryan
Most fans of The Office loved the series finale and felt that it was a happy ending for most of the characters. However, Kelly in particular kind of got the short end of the stick. Time and time again, Ryan casts Kelly aside when he doesn't want her and treats her terribly when they are together.
In the finale, it seems that Kelly is finally in a healthy relationship with Ravi. However, she chooses to leave him to run away with Ryan yet again. As much as it would be nice to imagine that Ryan changed and their relationship will finally work, it's hard to believe that he won't disappoint her again.