The Walking Dead: New Poll Reveals Whether Fans Want to See Daryl With Carol or Connie

New poll results have revealed who The Walking Dead fans most want to see get romantically involved with Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus). Daryl has never had his own romantic storyline in The Walking Dead, making some fans yearn to see him pair up with Maggie’s (Lauren Cohan) late half-sister Beth, his best friend Carol (Melissa McBride), and more recently his new ally Connie (Lauren Ridloff). This comes after Reedus said he’d heard “rumors” that the next new season The Walking Dead on AMC will explore Daryl’s sex life, which may mean he’ll have his first romantic relationship of his existence on the series.

In a poll conducted on Reddit’s unofficial Walking Dead subreddit, 237 of 510 respondents picked Connie as the character they “ship” Daryl with most. Daryl’s canine companion, Dog, won 163 votes, followed by 73 votes cast for Carol and another 37 for Beth Greene.

“We’re not trying to pit any shippers against each other,” showrunner Angela Kang previously told Insider, referring to factions of fans who wish to see “Caryl,” a pairing between Carol and Daryl, or “Donnie,” coupling Daryl and Connie. “I think the interesting thing is everybody ships Daryl with somebody else. I think we’ve always tried to portray that Connie and Carol actually really like each other, and I think that we’ve shown that Carol thinks that Connie is maybe a good person for Daryl.”

Connie hasn’t been seen since this year’s midseason premiere, “Squeeze,” which ended with Connie and Magna (Nadia Hilker) accidentally trapped in a cave-in when Carol attempted to eliminate Whisperer leader Alpha’s (Samantha Morton) walker horde. Magna has since resurfaced, but was separated from Connie when escaping the cave flooded with walkers and Whisperers.

“There’s no, certainly amongst the characters, there’s no sort of animosity, which adds to the sense of shame and pain and guilt, and everything for Carol, because it’s somebody that she knew was important to Daryl regardless of whether he is comfortable saying anything about it, or whether he’s aware, or whatever it is,” Kang added. “[Daryl and Connie], at the very least, have a friendship that matters.”

On an episode of Talking Dead aired after the midseason 10 premiere, Ridloff defended Carol, who shared a touching moment with Connie in “Squeeze”:

“Right now of course they have the Donnie shippers and the Caryl shippers, the wars with the fans, but I think it was just a moment to show everybody that Connie and Carol are two very mature women who have a relationship and a rapport outside of this man, that he doesn’t even have to be involved,” Ridloff said of a moment where Connie, communicating through American Sign Language, helps calm Carol while below ground. “And the fact that Connie was able to do something that involved just the simple touch of the hand, and to have that moment of humanness, it’s almost like holding her hand. Holding her hand would have been babying Carol, and it wasn’t anything like that. I think it was a creative way for Connie to give Carol that support.”

The Walking Dead next airs the Season 10 finale, “A Certain Doom,” as a special episode later this year. For all things TWD, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.