Michael Groff

“	My name is Michael! And my life is a failure. My wife's left, I'm quite sure my son hates me, and I'm unemployed. But I'd rather all those things than be a pumped-up shit of a man like you. You've been a shit since you were a child. And I think you'll be a shit until you die. Probably because our dad was the biggest shit of all. And you learned to bully me so he wouldn't bully you...And that is such a great shame. But I am too old for it to be my problem anymore. Goodbye, Peter.	”
	— Michael to Peter[src]

Michael Groff, commonly known as Mr. Groff, is one of the main characters in Sex Education. He is portrayed by Alistair Petrie. He is the strict father of Adam Groff and his older sister and the husband of Maureen Groff, who finally realizes his mistakes and tries to be a better person.

He is the former headmaster at Moordale Secondary School and Adam's father, who, with time, decides to become a better person.

Early Life[]

Michael grew up with his parents and his older brother Peter. He especially had a strong connection with his mother, whom he described as a warm, caring but reserved woman. Thanks to her, Michael was able to find comfort in cooking. Unfortunately, he was frequently emotionally and sometimes even physically abused by his strict father and brother for being too feminine and delicate, which caused him to abandon his passion for cooking. Michael would eventually adopt similarly toxic values, using them later against his own son, Adam.

Throughout the Series[]

Season 1[]

Michael was introduced in the first season as a strict headmaster who tries to rule with an iron fist at Moordale Secondary while covering up escalating problems at his rigorous home particularly with his son's behavior which was very damaging to both his reputation and institution's. Eventually, he sends Adam to military school, wanting him to finally change the way he behaves.

Season 2[]

In season 2, Michael is a huge enemy of Jean's activity on campus, as he thinks it is useless and unnecessary. Also, after many years of being together, Maureen, decides to leave him and he becomes lost, being forced to move out of their house. He also loses his position of headmaster, after interrupting the play and trying to humiliate Jean in front of the students and their parents.

Season 3[]

Michael moves in with his older brother, Peter, but later is forced to move out and stops by at Colin Hendricks's house. He also starts noticing his mistakes from the past and decides fix them. He gives Jean back her notebook that he stole to get rid of her from Moordale Secondary. He also starts to make attempts to become a better person - learning how to cook, trying to make up with Maureen, and eventually, cutting out negative people in his life like his brother. Michael also starts trying his best to get Maureen back.

Season 4[]

Michael finally finds a job, and starts working at Cavendish College as a substitute Math teacher. He also starts making effort to get Maureen back, starting taking care of his relationship with Adam. He starts giving Adam driving lessons, as he needs to know how to drive in order to keep his job at the farm. Michael also establishes a relationship with his colleague, Gloria, with whom he has sex with, imagining that he's doing it with Maureen, for whom he still has strong feelings. Eventually, thanks to his reconciliation with Adam and proving Maureen that he became a better person, he gets another chance from Maureen, which opens the door for their family to finally be happy.

Relationships[]

Romances[]

Gloria Masters (hook-up)[]

Michael and Gloria met shortly after Michael started working at Cavendish. The two hooked up, but while doing this Michael was imagining doing it with Maureen, whom he still loved. After Michael and Maureen officially got back together, Michael called things off with Gloria.

Family[]

Maureen Groff (wife)[]

Main article: Maureen and Michael

Maureen is Michael's ex-wife. The two met young and wanted same things in life; big and pretty house, a dog and children. They ended up having two children and have been married for over a decade, but Maureen stopped enjoying it after at some point they stopped having sex, as Michael thought that sex is only for young people. Maureen and Michael also differ when it comes to relationships with their children; whereas Maureen is caring and loving, Michael is more frigid, strict and favors his daughter over his son, Adam.

In season 2, Maureen decides to get divorced with Michael, as she realized that she deserves someone better than him. After Michael moved out from their house, Maureen started dating other men, starting to enjoy her life again.

After some time, Michael started noticing the mistakes he has been making for recent years. He started trying to get Maureen back, wanting to make his mistakes up to her. The two even hooked-up, but Maureen realized that it shouldn't have happened as it would be too confusing for Adam. Despite this Michael didn't stop trying to get back with Maureen and the two started hooking-up, but behind Adam's back. He later got to know about it and got mad at both of them, but eventually started being happy for his parents, as Michael improved his relationship with Adam and Maureen officially decided to give him another chance.

Adam Groff (son)[]

Adam is Michael's son. Adam and his father have a strained relationship. 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. They tough relationship is seen perfectly when Maureen wants to take a photo of them before going to the school dance. Adam's too scared to even hug he's father, when suddenly Michael loses his temper and makes Maureen to finally take the photo. At the dance, Adam gets angry and tells Michael that he hated him, after what he leaves angrily. As a result of this, Michael sends Adam to military school, which he said was Adam's last chance at a formal education. He sends Adam to military school, which he said was Adam's last chance at a formal education.

After getting expelled from Mountview, Adam wants to be better, often helping his father, which mainly ended with Michael being frustrated with Adam. Some time later, Maureen decides to get divorced with Michael, which doesn't make Adam upset. After Michael moved out of their family house, Adam and him practically didn't interact again (in season 3 they didn't have any interaction).

In season 4, Michael tries to become a part of Adam's life again, wanting to make up for his behaviour towards Adam in the earlier years, and genuinely tries to become a better person. He tries to bond with Adam by offering him driving lessons for Adam's new job at the farm, and wishes for him to be happy. Eventually, Adam and Michael share 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.

Peter Groff (older brother)[]

Peter is Michael's older brother. Peter has bullied Michael his whole life because he learned to from his father. He frequently calls Michael "Michaela." After getting separated with Maureen, Michael moved in with Peter, who, beside him was acting like he didn't mind about his brother's presence, but in reality, while talking to his wife Lucy, both of them show their disapproval of Michael's presence in their house. Not wanting to share space with false Peter and his wife anymore, Michael decides to move out from them.

Despite that, Michael was invited to dinner which was organized by Peter for his friends and business partners. During dinner, Peter started to laugh at Michael and his cooking, which made Michael finally stand up to his brother, telling him what he really thinks about him, and later saying goodbye to him, as Michael doesn't want him in his life anymore.

His father[]

Michael was growing up in fear of his own father. His father, taught Peter to bully him, that's why both of them were humiliating him. Scared Michael was also often told by his father that boys don't cry, which is why Michael hasn't cried since his childhood; he didn't even cry after he got separated with his wife. Eventually, Michael became someone he's never wanted to become; someone just like his father, as Michael was strict and frigid towards his son, Adam, just like his father was for him.

His mother[]

She was so caring and loving for Michael, being a total opposite of her husband. She was also Michael's role model and someone he admired.

Friends[]

Colin Hendricks (friend; former colleague & former roommate)[]

Throughout seasons 1 and 2, Michael Groff is the head of Moordale secondary and subsequently Colin's boss. Colin seems to be one of the only staff members that bares the brunt of Michael's ire. This is due to the sexual nature of the school's songs and play, as well as his inability to answer questions from students during SRE lessons observed by Jean Milburn. Despite all of this however, Colin looks past this, even when Michael interrupts his show in the penultimate episode of season 2.

By season 3, Michael is down and out and pretends to go for an interview at Moordale to give the impression he has a job. When he arrives he is interrupted by Colin who says they should hang out to which Michael brushes him off. However, after overhearing a phone conversation between his brother and sister-in-law in which they conspire to kick him out of the house, Michael says he has a place to stay and promptly goes to Colin's and asks if he can stay for a bit, to which Colin says yes. Michael stays with Colin for the remainder of the season and they begin to become mutually good friends despite Michael's behaviour towards Colin during his tenure as headmaster.

Jean Milburn (friend; former colleague; former enemy)[]

Michael disliked Jean since the first moment she started working at Moordale Secondary, where Michael was a headteacher. He wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible, which he accomplished after he stole her notebook with her private notes about her clients, and revealed them to the public.

Some time later, when Michael started noticing how bad his behavior was, he decided to return Jean her notebook and came to the Milburn house. There, Jean let him in and the two started talking. Michael started telling Jean the story of his parents and a strict father, which was the main reason he became a bad person. Michael thanks Jean for the therapy session and leaves.

Appearances[]

	Episodes
Season	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
One	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	8
Two	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	8
Three	✔	✔	M	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	7
Four	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	8
Total									31
Books
Sex Education: The Road Trip					Sex Education: A Guide to Life
-					M
✔ = Appeared					M = Mentioned
- = Did not appear					P = Pictured

Memorable Quotes[]

Trivia[]

• He is the second character in the show to appear on-screen, but only from behind.
• In episode 5, Headmaster Groff is clearly shown wearing an Arnold Air Society Cadet 2nd Lieutenant Pin on his left collar. Arnold Air Society is an extracurricular organization for United States Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Cadets.
• Prior to being principal at Moordale, Michael was a History and Geography teacher.^[1]
• In episode 2.8, Michael was seen sleeping in this office.
• He was the headmaster of Moordale Secondary School in 2011-2021.

Gallery[]

Sex Education Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Michael Groff.

Promotional Images[]

Episodic[]

References[]

Overview • Gallery