| “ | I wish I could be a normal kid. With a normal dick. And a normal dad. | ” |
| — Adam to Otis and Maeve[src] |
Adam Groff is one of the main characters in Sex Education. He is portrayed by Connor Swindells. He is the ex-boyfriend of Eric Effiong, who spends the series on trying to become a better person.
In season 1, Adam is introduced as Headmaster Groff's son, with whom he has a tense relationship. He's a school homophobe, who bullies other students, especially Eric. Adam's also having problems with pleasing his girlfriend, Aimee in bed, which later leads him to take 3 Viagra pills, which doesn't go according to his plan, but is eventually helped out by Otis and Maeve, thereby being their first unofficial client in their sex therapy business. Adam takes Otis's words too personally and decides to flash in front of the whole school, which causes Aimee to break up with him. Adam also doesn't treat school seriously, as he gets bad grades all the time, often mock the teachers and uses other students to do assignments for him; he often asks Maeve to write essays for him. Thanks to that, his essay won the school's essay competition. After the school dance, during which Adam lost his temper and wanted to attack his father, he gets a detention with Eric. The two start to fight, but eventually end up sharing a kiss, Then, Adam gives Eric a blowjob, starting developing feelings for Eric. In season one finale, Adam leaves to military school, as Michael can't stand his behavior anymore, ruining Adam and Eric's chances to get together.
In season 2, Adam's the student of Mountview Military Institution, but is eventually kicked out of there, when two boys plant drugs on his bed. He comes back to Moordale and gets a job as a cashier at Browns Village Stores, where he meets and befriends his colleague, Ola. He also starts going for night walks with Eric, for whom he's delevoping stronger and stronger feelings. Unfortunately, Eric decides to start dating Rahim, which ruins chances for him and Adam to get together again. Adam also loses his job, but Ola decides to stand up for him in front of their boss and calls him her friend, which impresses him. When his mother decides to get divorced with his father, Adam decides to interrupt the school play and confesses his feelings for Eric in front of the whole school. Eric decides to give Adam a chance, thereby choosing him over Rahim.
Adam keeps dating Eric in season 3, still struggling with telling Maureen that Eric's his boyfriend. The two continue to develop their relationship and decide to finally have sex. Adam also gets back to Moordale Secondary, where a lot of students mock him for being gay. He also wants to be better at school and to find something he really enjoys doing, so he decides to go to Miss Sands for help. On the school trip, Adam unexpectedly bonds with Rahim, deciding to write a poem for Eric, like Rahim used to do. Adam decides to take part in the dog competition with Madam, where he really impresses the audience and the judges. He also finds out that Eric kissed another boy in Nigeria, which eventually leads to their breakup. To make matters worse, Adam needs to find himself another school, as the defiance organized by the students ends up with not only getting rid of Hope, but also the closure of Moordale Secondary.
Despite this, in season 4 Adam doesn't decide to continue his education at a new school and starts spending every single day laying on the couch, eating cereal and looking at the photos of him and Eric together. After Maureen's intervention, he's forced to look for the job and finally decides to take up an internship at one of the local farms. There, Adam develops a bond with his co-worker called Jem and starts to take care of horses he was afraid of before. Thanks to Jem, Adam learns how to ride them, finally finding something he enjoys doing. In the final season Adam also re-develops a bond with his father, who offers him driving lessons and having dinners together. The two are eventually reconciled, sharing a hug.
History[]
- Main article: Adam Groff/History
Early Life[]
Adam grew up as the son of the school's headteacher, living under his father's strict rules, being often compared to his sister, who was according to him "more diligent, reliable, and resilient" than Adam.
Throughout the Series[]
Season 1[]
In season 1, Adam is the school bully. He is dating Aimee, but doesn't seem to enjoy having sex with her. Adam beats up Eric on a regular basis, until eventually he realizes he is sexually attracted to Eric and he gives him a blow job.
Adam has a very bad relationship with his father and they fight often. His father sends him to military school at the end of the season.
Season 2[]
In season 2, Adam gets kicked out of military school as he accidentally walked in on two of the guys wanking each other off. Even though he tells them that he won't tell anybody, both of them plant drugs in his bed and report it to the Commander. He then takes the fall and later takes it back as he doesn't want to return home, but gets denied even though the Commander knows that it wasn't his drugs. His dad gets him a job at the local pharmacy. He continues his flirtation and secret relationship with Eric, until Eric decides that he can't be with someone who is ashamed of himself. Adam tries to improve his personality throughout the season, by making small talk with people and even a new friend, Ola. At the end of the season, he eventually confesses his love to Eric at the school play.
Season 3[]
In season 3, we see Adam and Eric's relationship develop further. He also discovers how to speak about his feelings in further depth, and tries to put more effort into his schoolwork. He goes on a double date with Otis and Ruby, and eventually becomes friends with Ruby as they both have a mutual interest with Keeping up with the Kardashians. Later on in the season, we see Eric kissing another guy in Nigeria at his aunts' wedding, which when revealed to Adam, leaves him heartbroken. The two break up, however Adam ends up coming out to his mother and getting a recognition in a dog competition with his dog, Madam.
Season 4[]
Adam decides not to continue his education after the closure of Moordale Secondary and starts spending the whole days laying on the couch. Maureen starts encouraging him to finally do something with himself, giving him job offers she picked up for him. Adam decides to start an internship at a farm, where he's responsible for cleanliness and teaching kids how to ride horses.
Despite not knowing how to ride horses, Jem, his co-worker, helps him out with it and Adam starts enjoying the work on the farm. He is also forced to learn how to drive, and Michael offers him giving him driving lessons, which becomes the foundation of their final reconciliation. Adam also develops a bond with Jem, who asks him out in the series finale.
Relationships[]
Romances[]
Aimee Gibbs (ex-girlfriend)[]
- Main article: Adam and Aimee
Aimee is Adam's ex-girlfriend. The two dated, but Adam was often unable to ejaculate during sex. Aimee's friends, The Untouchables, encouraged her to break up with Adam because he was bringing down her social status, and the last straw was when he flashed students in the cafeteria.
With Otis's advice, Adam finally managed to ejaculate the next time they had sex, but Aimee broke up with him anyway, leaving Adam confused. Later, at Aimee's house party, Adam showed up uninvited and demanded closure. He broke into her house and during a fight, smashed the urn containing Aimee's grandmother's ashes.
They were likely on amicable terms by season 4 however, as Aimee was willing to invite him to attend Erin Wiley's funeral.
Eric Effiong (ex-boyfriend; former enemy)[]
- Main article: Adam and Eric
Adam is Eric's bully, crush, and crusher. Throughout the first season, Adam bullied him, most of their altercations being physical. In the season finale, Adam kissed him and later gave him a blowjob. After that, they showed a clear mutual attraction, but their fate was uncertain, as Adam left Moordale and went to military school.
Throughout the second season, they're going for walks to a junkyard, where they smashed stuff. Eric ended up cheating on Rahim (a boy he's dating at the moment), sharing kisses with Adam. The two slowly fell for each other, and Adam realized that he needed to tell Eric how he felt about him. He interrupted the school play, calling out Eric's name, asking him to be his boyfriend in front of the whole school. Eric's very impressed with Adam's behavior and after a minute of hesitating, he agreed.
In the new term, the two enjoyed their relationship, because of which other students made laugh at Adam. While Adam's still not ready to tell his mother about being bisexual, Adam started to get jealous of Rahim, which annoyed Eric. When Eric's away in Nigeria, he kissed another guy, cheating on Adam. In the season 3 finale, Eric broke up with Adam, explaining that they're on completely different pages.
Despite the breakup, Adam still had strong feelings for Eric, as he looked at their mutual photos everyday, missing Eric so badly. Eventually, Adam and Eric met again at the funeral of Erin Wiley, during which Adam asked Eric when he became fully comfortable with himself after coming out as gay. The two shared a hug as for goodbye. After the reunion, Adam started losing feelings for Eric and started perceiving him rather as someone he should be taking example from when it comes to being proud of himself.
Jem (girlfriend; co-worker)[]
Jem is the girl Adam met at the farm, where he started his internship. Adam lied to her about knowing how to ride horses, which upset her but she decided to keep Adam at work. Jem taught Adam how to ride horses and the two slowly developed a bond. Before the funeral of Maeve's mother, Adam was stressed as he's going to see Eric for the first time since their breakup. Jem cheered him up, being unaware that Adam's ex is a boy and fixed his tie, as out of stress, he tied it incorrectly. Adam didn't tell Jem the truth about his ex.
He decided to do it some time ago, after he felt a little bit more comfortable with being bisexual. He told Jem that his ex is called Eric and Jem appreciated the truth, and what's more, asked Adam out and he agreed. This may imply that Adam and Jem start dating after the season 4 finale.
Family[]
Michael Groff (father; former enemy)[]
Michael is Adam's father. Michael is strict and often disappointed with his son's behaviour. After Adam won the school essay competition, he, unlike his wife, was certain that Adam didn't write the essay. Their tough relationship is shown perfectly when Maureen wanted to take a photo of them before going to the school dance. Adam's too scared to even hug his father, when suddenly Michael lost his temper and made Maureen to finally take the photo. At the dance, Adam got angry and told Michael that he hated him, leaving angrily. As a result of this, Michael sent Adam to military school, which he said was Adam's last chance at a formal education.
After getting expelled from Mountview, Adam wanted to be better, often helping his father, which mainly ended with Michael being frustrated with Adam. Some time later, Maureen decided to get divorced with Michael, which didn't make Adam upset. After Michael moved out of their family house, Adam and him practically didn't interact in season 3.
After Maureen decided to give Michael another go, Michael wanted to be re-involved in his son's life by offering him driving lessons. Adam agreed, but the first lesson ended up with them having a fight, as Michael quickly got mad at Adam, but later apologized to him and the two were having lunch together. Eventually, Adam and Michael shared a father-son hug, which stands for their final reconciliation. After noticing that Michael has really changed, Adam also wants his parents to get back together.
Maureen Groff (mother)[]
Maureen is Adam's mother. Adam loves his mother, as she's way more respectful and kind to Adam. Maureen told Adam that she was divorcing Michael, his father, which didn't seem to touch Adam, as he secretly hated his father. Maureen is also the one who convinced Adam on how important it is to tell people you love that you love them, which caused Adam to confess his love to Eric.
Maureen's also present at a dog contest Adam and Madam are taking part in. She's extremely proud of Adam, as he got a special mention for one of the best debut performances. After the contest, Adam decided to tell his mother the truth about him and Eric, confessing that Eric was his boyfriend and not his friend, as he used to say.
After Adam decided not to continue his education, Maureen accepted her son's decision, but also encouraged him to do something with his life instead of laying on the couch and eating cereal all day. Maureen got Adam job offers so he could finally get a proper job. Eventually, Adam took advantage of it and started an internship at a farm. Adam often spends time with his mother, as the two like watching TV with each other. After Adam noticed that his father changed for real, he wants his parents to get back together, so all of them can be a happy family again.
His older sister[]
Adam's relationship with his sister is unknown. The only known thing is that Michael prefers his daughter more than Adam, often comparing him to her.
Peter Groff (paternal uncle)[]
After Maureen tells Adam that they're invited to Peter's for supper, Adam doesn't want to go there and describes his uncle as an asshole.
Friends[]
Ola Nyman (best friend; former co-worker)[]
Ola is Adam's best friend and former co-worker at Browns Village Stores. Ola stood up for Adam when Yousef fired Adam.
After Otis' party, Ola left angrily, kicked a tree and threw a shoe, which accidentally hit Adam. Adam took Ola to a junkyard where she could smash things and release her anger.
In season 3, when some students laughed at Adam (who officially came out), Ola visited him at his house, and told him how she was struggling with pain and anger after the death of her mother. She said that the counselor advised her to take her pain and anger out on a pillow, but later it turned out that the only thing that helped was talking. Then, Ola supported Adam and tried to help him to understand that being gay is totally fine, and being gay and being a man can go with each other. After that, Adam asked Ola to do the punching pillow thing.
Later in the episode, Adam told Ola that Otis was hooking-up with Ruby.
In episode 3.7, they're seen together during 'The Thing'.
Rahim Harrak (close friend; former rival)[]
- Main article: Adam and Rahim
Rahim is Adam's close friend. At first, Adam and Rahim perceived each other as rivals, as Eric dumped Rahim for Adam.
Everything changes when Adam helps out Rahim on the school trip in France, and later Rahim helps Adam with understanding and writing poetry. After the dog contest Adam was taking part in, Rahim asks him if he won.
Lily Iglehart (friend)[]
Despite Adam and Lily didn't have any on-screen interaction throughout the series, they're probably friends, and their connection is through Ola, who's Lily's girlfriend and Adam's best friend. During the school trip to France, they sit opposite each other, eating candy together.
Ruby Matthews (friend)[]
Adam and Ruby on a double date
At the beginning of the series, Ruby and Adam had zero contact, as their only connection was through Aimee who was then part of the Untouchables, and Adam's girlfriend. However, Ruby highly disliked Adam for being violent and dull-witted, and after he flashed on everybody in the cafeteria, she gave Aimee an order to break up with him as he was damaging their reputation. Things changed after Adam began dating Eric, and Ruby became Otis' girlfriend, as Otis and Eric decided to go on a double date together. At first, Ruby was disgusted and annoyed by Adam's poor manners and irrational conversations like mistaking her glucose intolerance for diabetes or asking if anyone is smelling their farts. After Ruby announced that Kim Kardashian is pregnant with another surrogate baby, Adam asked her if she didn't think that it's weird how the second surrogate wasn't on the show, revealing that he enjoys watching the Kardashians with his mom. Soon after that, Ruby warmed up to Adam, asking him questions about different Kardashian shows and suggesting to keep up in contact with each other.
Otis Milburn (friend; former enemy)[]
In the beginning, Otis and Adam had no interactions with each other as Otis was afraid of him since he constantly bullied Eric. Eventually, they were both assigned to carry out a project at Otis' house. Adam acted confused at first, not recognizing Otis after many years of shared education, calling him a "New Kid", which eventually stuck on him.
Once he arrived at his house, Otis was extremely fraught in his presence, having a fear that his home, in particular, his mother's decorations or gadgetry from work that depicts sex or human genitalia would make him another target of harassing as Otis was trying to hide from his peers the fact that his mother is a sex therapist. Everything went normal except Adam being visibly annoyed with Otis' tense behavior and his negative reaction to him smoking weed with Jean, even asking Otis how it is that he doesn't act like his mother at all.
Adam discovered hidden dildos on one of the restroom's drawers, he decided to steal one of Jean's video guides on how to perform a handjob on courgette. The next day, he sent it to all students at school to humiliate him, causing Otis to have a panic attack. Mainly thanks to Maeve who was forced to check on him, they both helped Adam, who "overdosed" on Viagra, marking their beginning as a sex therapy duo.
They eventually forgave each other, as shown when Adam later apologized to Otis for what he had done, which was accepted but still not fully repaired in case of their relationship as Adam was still targeting Eric, even though it was for different reasons. Eventually, Otis began to accept Adam after he learnt about his soft side during their interactions with each other for Eric, when Adam began dating Eric. The duo gave each other perceptive advice, as shown when Otis helped Adam learn how to communicate his feelings to others, while Adam helped Otis accept Ola and Jakob as family, telling him that he isn't the only one struggling, which Otis greatly appreciated.
Kyle (former best friend)[]
Kyle is Adam's former best friend. After Adam flashed the school, Kyle's mother told Kyle that he couldn't hang out with Adam anymore. After Adam saw Kyle flirting with Aimee, who dumped Adam shortly before, he got furious, started fighting with him, smashing a vase of Aimee's grandmother's ashes on Kyle's head.
Rivals[]
Hope Haddon (enemy)[]
Hope was the principal at Adam's school, Moordale Secondary School. Hope publicly shamed Adam for throwing a poo out of the coach window in France (not knowing that Rahim was the one who did it). After that, Adam had to wear a shame-sign, saying that he was unhygienic.
Personality[]
Adam was known as a bully at Moordale; particularly of Eric Effiong. He at first appears to be a typical immature and impulsive bully, but it is made evident that he has a sensitive side. In season 1 this was voiced in the episode 1 testimony of Aimee, seen in his episode 1 and 7 moments of panic, and alluded to in his interactions with his mum. In season 2, Adam's sensitive side highlighted further, mainly through his interactions with his mum, Eric, and Ola.
Adam has self-worth issues, evidenced by his reactions to his father. It is also shown in season 2 episode 6 when he told Eric that he felt like everyone hated him, and in season 2 episode 8 when he told Ola that no one's said they were his friend before.
Adam is bisexual, which is revealed in season 2. He explores his identity further, as previously identifying as straight and then bi.
In season 3, his relationship with Eric developed and his character grows further. He learns to unlearn his more violent and anger prone tendencies and find healthier ways to express himself, such as punching a pillow with Ola. He struggles to vocalize how he’s feeling. Adam is a bit awkward with the new relationship but tries to be his authentic self. He is shown to be more compassionate, reaching out to Eric as he goes to Nigeria and developing his passion for dogs.
Appearances[]
| Episodes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Total | |
| One | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | - | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 7 | |
| Two | M | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 7 | |
| Three | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 8 | |
| Four | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 8 | |
| Total | 30 | |||||||||
| Books | ||||||||||
| Sex Education: The Road Trip | Sex Education: A Guide to Life | |||||||||
| - | M | |||||||||
| ✔ = Appeared | M = Mentioned | |||||||||
| - = Did not appear | P = Pictured | |||||||||
Memorable Quotes[]
| “ | Give me that Curly Wurly...or I will break your face | ” |
| — Adam to Eric[src] |
| “ | Sorry for sending the video around, but your mum...really got in my head, new kid. She's like some kind of...sexy witch | ” |
| — Adam to Otis and Maeve about Jean[src] |
| “ | Your mum's cool. Why aren't you cool? | ” |
| — Adam to Otis[src] |
| “ | I hate you! | ” |
| — Adam to Michael[src] |
| “ | Mum, don't make me go | ” |
| — Adam asking Maureen not to send him to the military school[src] |
| “ | I like elbows | ” |
| — Adam to Eli and Luke[src] |
| “ | Dreams aren't real. That's why they are called dreams | ” |
| — Adam to Ola[src] |
| “ | You should wear your normal clothes again. That top makes your neck look very long | ” |
| — Adam to Otis[src] |
| “ | Does anyone else like the smell of their own farts? | ” |
| — Adam during the double date[src] |
| “ | If I don't wank every day, my balls go blue | ” |
| — Adam to Rahim[src] |
| “ | It was my poo, sir | ” |
| — Adam taking Rahim's blame on himself[src] |
| “ | Maybe I don't know anything about horses. Maybe I'm a little bit scared of them. Please don't fire me. I'm really good with dogs and, um, I'm a quick learner. They're just big dogs, right? | ” |
| — Adam to Jem[src] |
| “ | And never take more than one Viagra. Your penis will explode | ” |
| — Adam to Michael[src] |
| “ | I messed up at work today, and the first thing that I thought is I'm going to disappoint my dad. You have made me feel like I'm shit at everything since I was born. I don't wanna feel like a failure anymore because I'm not a failure. You're a failure. You are just a sad man who does a job that he hates because he's too afraid to do anything else. [...] I thought you were actually intersted in me, but you weren't. It was all just about getting back together with Mum. | ” |
| — Adam to his father[src] |
| “ | I wasn't completely honest with you the other day. My ex is called Eric. I'm attracted to men and women. It's not a phase. That's just who I am. And I haven't always liked that about myself, but I want to | ” |
| — Adam to Jem[src] |
Trivia[]
- He is the fourth character in the show to appear on screen.
- Adam's penis is the size of two coke cans stacked on top of each other.
- His locker number at Moordale Secondary was 175.
- Adam is quite knowledgeable about the Kardashians as he watches the reality show with his mother.[2]
- Adam's phone number is 07700 900244.[3]
- According to himself, he's quite good at pretending he's Gandalf from Lord of the Rings.
- Adam had hippophobia, fear of horses, until season 4.
Gallery[]
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Sex Education Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Adam Groff. |
Promotional Images[]
.jpg "Sex Education Season 1 Promo Photos (9).jpg (345 KB)")
.jpg "Sex Education Season 1 Promo Photos (21).jpg (145 KB)")
.jpg "Sex Education Season 2 Promo Photos (1).jpg (2.41 MB)")
.jpg "Sex Education Season 2 Promo Photos (12).jpg (973 KB)")
Episodic[]
References[]
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