The Walking Dead boss: Why Daryl has never been in a relationship on the show

Entertainment Weekly

"Daryl’s such an interesting character that way because in some ways, when it comes to romantic relationships, he’s not a person that I think trusts easily, and a lot of that has to do with his backstory, which is filled with so much trauma," says showrunner Angela Kang. "He was physically abused, as well as in other ways. There’s sensitivity there for him. And I think he’s also just a person who it’s hard for him to trust anybody enough to connect with them really, really deeply. It’s a long, slow process for him in a lot of ways to get into any kind of a romantic thing, whereas I think most people these days think of it as just like, 'Oh, you could have fun with somebody, and you can have sex with them and then it doesn’t have to mean anything.' Daryl’s just not wired that way, and that tracks with conversations that Norman (Reedus) and I have had. He doesn’t attach to people lightly enough that he can give it a chance easily, you know? So I think that that’s really a big part of it." ALSO: The Walking Dead may have just started the beginning of the end.