Chicago Fire: Counting all of Kelly Severide’s many love interests

1. Renee Whaley

When we first met Kelly Severide, his romantic life was already a source of drama. Fans learned that he had been engaged to Renee Whaley (Kelli Barrett) before Chicago Fire began, and life got a little complicated during season 1 when Renee’s brother Eric (recurring guest star Shane McRae) brother was reassigned to Firehouse 51.

Eric assumed that something Severide had done was the reason why Kelly and Renee had never made it to the altar, when in reality Severide called off the wedding when he discovered Renee
had cheated on him with an ex-boyfriend. Not wanting to see her reputation damaged despite having a perfectly good reason to, he had kept that a secret from Renee’s family and let himself take the blame.

But after an intense argument, Severide finally told Eric the truth, and admitted that he still had feelings for Renee. Yet that would cause him more pain than anything else, because Chicago Fire revealed that life had not been kind to Renee after the breakup. She had become estranged from her family, was working as a stripper and was fighting a drug addiction.

When he tracked her down, Severide once again chose to guard Renee’s secrets and told her brother that she was doing well—a move that backfired when Renee attempted suicide. In the end, Kelly’s commitment to helping his former fiancée despite her betrayal paid off when she reunited with her family, but one could point to Renee Whaley as the reason why Severide has never gotten close to seriously settling down again.