Get out your cooling devices because it’s about to get hot on TVLine: Our annual roundup of the year’s sexiest TV scenes is here, and it’s guaranteed to elevate your heart rate.
Our 2020 picks include the traditional fare like long-awaited hookups and steamy make-outs from series such as 9-1-1: Lone Star, Normal People and Virgin River. But sometimes, no physical touching is even hotter, as The Queen’s Gambit and The Good Fight proved with their pointed stares and loaded dialogue. And in the case of two shows, all it took was a sultry dance sequence to fog up our screens.
Four dramas — Good Trouble, The Bold Type, Elite and Grey’s Anatomy — were also among our selections for the second year in a row, albeit featuring three new pairings and one repeat couple. (It’s not our fault that Amelia and Link insist on turning on the heat every year on Grey’s!) And does a list of sexiest scenes even exist if Outlander isn’t on it?
Review all the hot-and-bothered moments below, plus press PLAY to rewatch some of them (or maybe wait, if you’re reading this in an office environment). Then hit the comments with your picks for the scenes that got you all flustered in 2020!
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9-1-1: LONE STAR
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox Some ‘ships start out as slow burns, while others — like cop-firefighter power couple Carlos and TK — were hot from the jump. (Season 1, Episode 2)
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THE BOLD TYPE
Image Credit: Freeform screenshot Jane and Ryan’s problems in the bedroom definitely, um, came to an end after their steamy romp at a sex club. (The lacy lingerie and Ryan’s abs also probably had something to do with it.) (Season 4, Episode 4)
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THE BOYS
Image Credit: Courtesy of Amazon Prime Becca and Butcher were reunited, after eight long years, and it felt so good. Like, quickie-in-the-backseat, need-a-cigarette-afterward good. (Season 2, Episode 4)
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DANCING WITH THE STARS
Image Credit: ABC screenshot Chrishell Stause and pro partner Gleb Savchenko may have gotten eliminated on this very episode, but they got the ballroom windows plenty foggy on their way out. With an intimate Viennese waltz set to Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain,” the pair displayed Season 29’s most sizzling chemistry — and with that superlative going for them, who even needs a Mirrorball trophy? (Season 29, Episode 8)
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ELITE
Image Credit: Netflix screenshot Netflix’s teen drama continued its tradition of eye-popping threesomes (hello, Carla/Polo/Christian!) with Polo’s second polyamorous hookup, during which Cayetana directed every kiss and movement between her boyfriend and Valerio, before joining in on the action. (Season 3, Episode 4)
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THE GOOD FIGHT
Image Credit: CBS All Access screenshot While researching a case involving a playwright’s questionable source material, Liz and Caleb read a section of the script involving an interracial couple engaging in rough sex. As the dialogue became more and more sexually charged, the co-workers struggled to suppress their heightening arousal. The scene contained zero nookie, but it nonetheless left us very satisfied. (Season 4, Episode 4)
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GOOD TROUBLE
Image Credit: Freeform screenshot After two seasons of fighting their feelings for each other, Mariana and her boss Evan gave in to their attraction during a late-night rendezvous at the office. And in case you needed confirmation that what they were doing was hot but oh-so-wrong, the pair got it on to the sounds of India.Arie’s appropriately titled “In Good Trouble.” (Season 2, Episode 18)
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GREY'S ANATOMY
Image Credit: ABC screenshot This is a social distancing campaign we can get behind: After returning from the hospital, Link stripped down to his boxers and intended to keep his distance, but Amelia couldn’t wait for him to get COVID tested to have sex. “Who says we can’t do this six feet apart?” she countered with a sultry smile, before taking off her robe and unhooking her bra. Link didn’t say much after that, but we’re pretty sure he was thinking, “Challenge accepted!” (Season 17, Episode 3)
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HELSTROM
Image Credit: Hulu screenshot “Your vows. I don’t—” “I haven’t taken any.” And with that, the last barrier keeping brooding exorcist Daimon from gaining Biblical knowledge of nun-in-training Gabriela slipped away. (Point of order: We’re talking about their very hot kiss in the living room, and not the abomination of a bedroom scene that followed after Gabriela was overtaken by a demon.) (Season 1, Episode 8)
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KILLING EVE
Image Credit: BBC America screenshot After three seasons of dancing around each other, Eve and Villanelle hit the dance floor for a waltz that started out as a lark but quickly turned romantic. The two shared an intimate nuzzle… and even dreamt of a potential future together. (“We’d consume each other before we got old.” “That sounds kind of nice.”) (Season 3, Episode 8)
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LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
Image Credit: HBO screenshot Given the death-defying experiences they shared in just the first two episodes alone, it was a given that Leti and Tic had formed an intense bond, and quickly. And yet these two beautiful people had kept each other at arm’s length… until the prospect of Tic leaving town, coupled with his jealousy of the men paying Leti mind at her house party, changed things in a very hot second. Furious and fast (and a first for one of them), the hook-up gave new meaning to “housewarming party.” (Episode 3; watch the start of it above)
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NORMAL PEOPLE
Image Credit: Hulu screenshot Hulu’s swoon-worthy Irish romance gave us plenty of sex scenes to choose from, but Connell and Marianne’s first time together was the sweetest (and the hottest): a long, lingering encounter where the young lovers shared a giggle and tentatively felt out each other’s bodies before letting their mounting desires take over. (Season 1, Episode 2)
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OUTLANDER
Image Credit: Starz screenshot A scene in which Claire and Jamie start out by sniffing each other — and naming what they smell — and wind up having precarious relations against an open window shouldn’t have been so damn hot, but somehow, it just was. (Season 5, Episode 11)
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THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix “Do you want me to play?” Yes, Beth Harmon was referring to the chess board that rival-turned-journalist Townes had pointed her to during an impromptu hotel room photo session. But as Townes inched ever closer to his subject, at one point observing, “You’ve grown up, Harmon,” we waited with bated breath, ready for either to make their well-considered opening move. Alas, the mood hit a stalemate when Townes’ “friend” Roger came bounding in. (Episode 3)
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VIDA
Image Credit: Starz screenshot Nico and Emma were just spending a lazy morning in bed, enjoying each other’s company and bodies, as Chavela Varga’s “Macorina” played in the background. The tender, unhurried, adoring way they touched and gazed at each other filled one of the series’ most intimate moments. (Season 3, Episode 1)
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VIRGIN RIVER
Image Credit: Netflix screenshot The Netflix drama treated eager fans to a pair of love scenes in its second season, the latter of which found Jack and Mel getting down to business by a roaring fire. Sure, it was shockingly tasteful by Netflix standards, but sometimes less is more. (Season 2, Episode 10)
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WYNONNA EARP
Image Credit: Syfy screenshot The reunion between Waverly, fresh from an unplanned trip to the Garden of Eden, and almost-fiancée Nicole wasted no time getting #WayHaught. Upon confirming that Nicole was the real deal and no devious doppelgänger (as one is prudent to do in Purgatory!), Waverly pulled her love into a kiss that segued into bodies embracing and intertwining, grinding…. Set to the ethereal “Ghost,” by Adeline, the languid montage took great pleasure in testing the limits of a basic cable coupling. (Season 4, Episode 2)
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YELLOWSTONE
Image Credit: Paramount screenshot In arguably the unlikeliest — and sweetest — love scene of 2020, Mia offered Jimmy some sexual healing in the wake of his devastating fall from a bucking bronco, dropping trou in his hospital room and, as she put it, wiping the “virgin” off of his “scared virgin face.” (Season 3, Episode 4)
