Shirley seems happy with Buster but she seems to care about Phil a lot. Always concerned about him and I think she might still feel something for him.

Who is her true love? Phil? Buster? Kevin? Vinnie?

It's Phil,

Vodka.

The gutter.

All three

I would have liked a who Cares option or a mick option.

so after those & Dean plus Jimbo I would go Buster

the only reason being is that she is not slummng it in the gutter and rolling round 90% proof vodka and 10% shirley.

I don't know what it is with Phil she does clearly have feeling for him but I think its more of an addiction thing, she thinks its ok for herself to be off her head cos he is worse or something like that

Whoever the writers decide it is at the time of writing. I'd say she cares more about her family now than anyone else.

I'd say Buster, but she still cares a lot about Phil. They went through a lot together and that does form a bond between people, but I think with them it's that weird type of friendship where they are more than happy to ignore each other most of the time but when it comes down to it they will help each other out

I'd say Mick. And not in a "Gail and Nick on Corrie" way! I think keeping her secret has coloured everything she has ever done.

In a romantic sense, I like her with Buster but it doesn't have the chemistry she has with Phil, although I do think they work better as friends. I don't think Shirley is destined for a romantic soulmate.

It's Phil. They're the male and female version of each other. They get each other on a level no one else does. Shirley has lost her mind over Phil many times. She never did that for anyone else. Call it love or call it obsession but Shirley is the one for Phil. The problem is Phil only loves her as a friend and has never made any bones about the fact she's not the love of his life. Maybe that will change in the future but if it didn't throughout their relationship it's unlikely.

I can't believe anyone would pick Buster. He's a nothing character plucked out of thin air and planted into Shirley's backstory. He's never even had a storyline of his own. I don't know how people can get invested in him or Shirley's relationship with him given we've barely seen any of it. Linda Henry, like Steve McFadden, is a good enough actor to work well with anyone she's put with but I'm not feeling the love for Buster. I can't speak for anyone else but it seems to me people are seeing something that isn't there because they don't want Shirley back with Phil.

No Hev option?

because being with buster and her family has made Shirley less selfish, she has stopped drowning her sorrows and being beyond drunk everyday and for the most part has been a lot nicet. the stability of being with buster has done that. she never had that with Phil cos she knew he was just using her till someone better came along

Shirley is a alcoholic social path so it would figure they be on the same level, she would drop everything for him if he showed any sort of interest in a reunion, the only standing in the way of that is Ben and possibly Kathy/Sharon, their relationship was very much a co-dependence, they enable each other, and he used her, it was a toxic one sided relationship to the end.

Shirley and Phil brought out the worst in each other. Their relationship was toxic and destructive.

As I've said before, putting them back together would be like giving a hand grenade to a toddler.

I agree with that but I still don't see anything great about Buster. Shirley and Phil were electric together even when I hated the both of them. There's no spark with Buster. He's just there as a soundboard and a convenience. I think Shirley could stay as she is without Buster in the picture. She has Mick now.


Yes they enabled each other to be vile. That was the worst thing about them. If Sharon never came back and Kathy was still dead they'd probably be back together and bullying their way around the square again. Buster and Sharon are good for them as they keep them from being as vile as they could be but from my viewpoint I'd rather watch Phil and Shirley, either as friends or lovers, than Shirley and Buster. Phil and Sharon used to be great together in the old days but she needs to stop being his doormat because it's boring.

I think it is cos Buster has had absolutely no development and has essentially been missing from this story since Dean smashed up Blades. We haven't really seen much of Shirley and busters relationship other than the effect it seems to have had on her.

I for one don't want to see Shirley and Phil back together. agree with Harlowe they do enable each other and I think they each drag each other down.
plus Phil can do much better than Shirley and he knows it

Oh I agree! I don't want them back together either. I'm just trying to be objective. I might prefer how Shirley behaves nowadays but I still think Shirley and Phil were better than Shirley and Buster. I accept they brought the worst out of each other but that's not enough to sway me to Buster's side. He just isn't very interesting. Shirley can do better.

I agree I think Buster is under developed as a character, Shirley and Phil are the worse of two evils, they're too much alike to exist very long in a relationship, Shirley need to tone down the vile behaviour and I think if she gets back with Phil it just escalate further at least for now it's being reigned in a bit since Dean gone.

While I think Buster is a bit 'meh' I prefer Shirley with him purely because their relationship doesn't define her, like it did with Phil. Buster's presence merely compliments her life, which is how it should be. Shirley is a 'lone wolf' type character; she doesn't need a man to make her happy.

Someone beat me too it..

She seems more stable with Buster and can imagine her being with him for a long time. However, she always does care about Phil but they wouldn't last 5 minutes in a relationship. So I think Buster

I liked her best with Phil, I think they were great together.

That ship has sailed though, too much has happened for me to even want them to get back together now.

I agree with this. Buster is ordinary but Shirley is working well at the moment so there's no need to change it.

However Phil is the love of Shirley's life no question. If he wasn't she wouldn't allow herself to lose so much self respect over him. If Phil gave her even the slightest hint of encouragement she'd ditch Buster in an instant.

I don't think Phil has one love, he's loved different women in different ways. I think Phil sees himself as above Shirley more than anything, she's not attractive enough for him. He thinks as the Big Man of Walford he should have some arm candy, a trophy wife and he doesn't think Shirley fits the bill.

With Sharon/Kathy he sees them as more glam like his Mum and thinks they're the type of women he should be seen with. He has in depth feelings for them too and if there had to be just one woman for him it would probably be Sharon but I think he connects to Shirley a lot better. Sharon's the one he wants but Shirley is his true soulmate. He has love for all three.

Herself

Statement by the Phirley society…..

‘Phil and Sharon are not soulmates. People need to get with that fact. Phirley always get loads of tweets. So many people want them together. Shirley appeared first in Friday’s montage and looked at Phil’s BEDROOM. Would you look at someone’s bedroom if you only saw them as a friend? She would have looked at Buster’s flat aka her flat if he was her true love. Duh. Phil said it was too late with Kathy, Sharon and Ben. This proves that there’s still hope for them, not that she’s not even on his radar. The fact Shirley was included in the montage proves that they will get back together, it’s not to give the pointless cretin more airtime. She was FIRST to appear. It is sooo obvious that Phil does love Shirley. It cannot be anymore obvious!! They showed Shirley FIRST. We, the Phirley society, are the most confident that we have been in a long, long time that a Phirley reunion is imminent. They’re NOT just FRIENDS. Ok. There is no doubt that they’re true love personified. He also ripped up his wedding picture which is akin to a divorce in soapland. Phirley are so complex lol, this will help you all to understand the complexity of their relationship. #Phirl4Eva’

I’m glad they have cleared that up.