Why Did Darlene Divorce David? – Celebrity
Matthew Elliott
Updated on January 17, 2026
Since her mother’s death, Darlene has taken the role similar to her mother. Darlene was born in 1977 in the town of Lanford.
Though Darlene’s parents remained supportive during Season 9, Roseanne frequently teased Darlene about her pregnancy symptoms and David about his excess empathy. Darlene went into unexpected early labor in her seventh month and gave birth to her dangerously-premature daughter.
Darlene Conner, played by Sara Gilbert, is the second eldest child to Dan and Roseanne Conner; sister to Becky, D.J., and Jerry Conner; wife of David Healy; and mother of Harris and Mark Conner Healy. Since her mother’s death, Darlene has taken the role similar to her mother.
Darlene also gets her first period this year and feels as if she has to give up her old life and start wearing make-up and dating boys but some timely words from Roseanne convince her that she can still play sports but becoming a woman would actually be more of a benefit than a hindrance.
What did David tell Darlene about Harris’ birthday?
So when it came time to celebrate Harris’ birthday, David surprises Darlene by telling her via text that he would be making a rare appearance at the party, causing Darlene to rustle up every pent-up thought — some good, most of them bad — and emotion over his abrupt abandonment of his family.
Though David’s years-long absence caused a rift in the Conner household, he did have one key supporter in the family: Darlene’s mother, Roseanne ( Roseanne Barr ), with whom he remained in contact with over the years. So when it came time to celebrate Harris’ birthday, David surprises Darlene by telling her via text that he would be making a rare appearance at the party, causing Darlene to rustle up every pent-up thought — some good, most of them bad — and emotion over his abrupt abandonment of his family. Riled up by the notion of David coming back into her life, Darlene is a little less than amused by the whole situation, revealing a little nugget about what he’s been doing all this time.
David,” the return of The Big Bang Theory ‘s Johnny Galecki as Darlene’s on-again, off-again beau meant we were finally going to get answers to why Darlene ( Sara Gilbert) and David were no longer happily married — and the real story behind what led Darlene to move back into her parents’ home …
What did Darlene call Neil?
Darlene facetiously called Neil her “soulmate” when telling David about him, which was mainly a response to David’s use of the word when talking about how happy Blue makes him.
Whenever Roseanne ‘s revival hit ABC earlier this year, quite a few of the sitcom’s most familiar elements got changed up to reflect modern times. Perhaps the most effectively heartbreaking revision involved Sara Gilbert’s Darlene being separated from Johnny Galecki’s David. Sadly, The Conners got just two episodes into its spinoff run before it brought Johnny Galecki back to seemingly bring a legitimate end to their decades-long relationship. At least they can try and enjoy their other relationships now, right?
Darlene and David may very well both want to end their marriage for good, since their togetherness has always caused complications to arise.
At least they can try and enjoy their other relationships now, right? Fans were likely pumped to see that Johnny Galecki was returning to ABC for The Conners, and everyone probably hoped for the writers to have found more ways for Darlene and David to rekindle their feelings for one another.
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Neil had better put his best foot forward if he ever visits Darlene within the Conner family household. At least if he wants to start off on Dan’s good side. Before the episode ended, David and Dan had another one of their classic conversations that looked about as comfortable as overalls made out of piranhas.
Why did Darlene end up with David and Mark end up with Becky?
Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) explains that what we’ve been watching for the last few seasons was actually the story from a book she’s written — she had Darlene end up with David and Mark end up with Becky because she thought they suited each other better.
In the new episodes, Darlene and David have two children together: teenager Harris (Emma Kenney) and her younger brother, Mark (Ames McNamara), who is named after his late uncle. Unfortunately for any Darlene and David shippers out there, the reboot begins with Darlene moving back in with her parents after she and David separate.