Hilary Duff's Younger character, Kelsey Peters, is a lot like the actress herself: cheerful, bubbly, fashionable, and smart. She's very young to be an editor and even ends up moving up to publisher. She is a bookworm at heart who welcomes the challenge of working in such a tough, cut-throat industry.
Kelsey isn't perfect, and since she's still so young, she makes a lot of big mistakes throughout the course of the show, which has aired for six seasons so far. While the character seems to mess up in almost every episode, there are a few moments when she made the wrong decision that stand out the most.
Cheats On Thad
Liza and Josh may be the main romantic focus on Younger, but Kelsey has an active love life, too. At the beginning of the show, she's dating Thad (Dan Amboyer), and they even get engaged. He's not a nice guy, however, and Kelsey doesn't exactly treat him properly, either.
She cheats on him with her writer, Anton Bjornberg (Thorbjørn Harr), and truly has zero guilt or any negative feelings about the whole thing.
Has Affairs With Authors
After Anton, Kelsey continues to have affairs with authors, like the young political dynamo whose book she wants to publish. This is incredibly unprofessional and it's hard to believe that she would really keep doing this.
Kelsey doesn't seem phased by anything that she does and she never worries about her professional status, but she definitely should.
Freezes Lisa Out After Learning Her Secret
Liza Miller's (Sutton Foster) big secret sets off a love triangle with Charles and Josh, and it also affects her friendship with Kelsey, which has almost become a sisterhood.
Kelsey is so hurt and upset with Liza that she totally freezes her out, and that just doesn't seem like a mature way to handle the situation.
Competes With Zane
From the moment that she meets him, Kelsey can't stop competing with Zane Anders (Charles Michael Davis), but this isn't the cute flirtation that she thinks it is.
Instead, Kelsey becomes mean-spirited and impossible to deal with. She should respect Zane more and understand that publishing is a tough business and there is going to be natural competition. She's not the only editor around.
Plays The Publishing Game Too Recklessly
Kelsey is definitely a tough, independent woman but sometimes, she can land herself in hot water. It seems like at any party or event she goes to, she could put her foot in her mouth at any point, and she sometimes makes decisions based on feelings rather than what the most logical thing to do would be.
Posts About A Deal To Her Instagram Stories
Near the end of season 6, Kelsey is thrilled that she has landed a big deal for Millennial that will basically save the entire company. It couldn't possibly be any better... except when she tries to message Zane with a video in her bra where she's saying "Guess who got the money, honey,” she puts it on her Instagram stories.
This is one of the worst things that this character has ever done, and even after she apologized and explained what happened, the damage had already been done. It's hard to come back from something like this.
Drinks Too Much When Working
When Kelsey posts her embarrassing video to her Instagram stories, she's been drinking a ton, and this is something that she does regularly.
Whether she's out with friends on a weeknight or taking a work trip, Kelsey doesn't put a lid on her alcohol consumption. This is bad news as being too drunk or hungover to focus isn't what people expect of someone in such a high position.
Kisses Josh
In the fourth season, Kelsey and Josh (Nico Tortorella) kiss. It wasn't a huge shock as they had been flirting for quite a while before that moment.
Even though Kelsey says that she can't let things go further, she still kisses him, and that's not the right thing to do. She should never have put herself in that position; not if she cares about Liza as much as she says.
Not Standing Up To Quinn Early Enough
Quinn Tyler (Laura Benanti) seems like the publishing company's last hope as she becomes their biggest investor. But she's using the company, too, as she makes them publish her harsh memoir and she uses the publicity to launch a political campaign.
Kelsey is one of Hilary Duff's best roles because she has such a spunky and spirited personality. But she doesn't stand up to Quinn early enough and she totally falls apart when she becomes publisher. She acts like a scared child and this is one of the worst things that she could ever do as enough people already don't take her seriously.
Wanting To Leave Millennial
Liza and Kelsey have one of those BFF relationships that people dream of, so the fact that Kelsey considers leaving Millennial at the end of season 6 is pretty devastating.
This is a horrible thing for Kelsey to think about, as the company has given her so much. They took a chance on her when she was young and when no one thought that she could become an editor. She shouldn't just jump ship.