Love Is Blind to change ending after last year’s live reunion ‘disaster’

‘It’s not live, but it is unmissable’

Olivia Hebert
Los Angeles
Thursday 12 October 2023 16:07 BST
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Love Is Blind is reportedly foregoing the live reunion in favour of a different ending for this season.

On 15 October, Netflix will release a pre-taped version of the Love Is Blind reunion for viewers to stream, following last season’s live reunion snafu.

Set to be moderated by longtime hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey, the upcoming special will reportedly reunite this season’s cast to “reflect on their relationships, break down this season’s twists and turns, and unveil secrets that have unfolded since the experiment concluded”.

There’s a lot of ground to cover for the Lacheys this season, from the Jared “JP” Pierce and Taylor Rue debacle to Stacy Snyder and Izzy Zapata’s rocky romance, which has contained more lows than highs so far.

Netflix teased the upcoming reunion with a teaser trailer that poked fun at last year’s fiasco, taking care to emphasise that it wasn’t live with a crew member crossing the word “live” off of a sign reading, “Live reunion today.” In promotional text graphics, the streamer added, “It’s not live, but it is unmissable.”

The teaser hinted at the possible return of early fan favourite Aaliyah Cosby, whose journey was cut short after she found herself unwittingly embroiled in a love triangle between exes Uche Okoroha and Lydia Velez Gonzalez. According to the experiment’s guidelines, the pair were supposed to be complete strangers, but they allegedly withheld information on their past relationship to production and the cast.

When everyone found out the truth, it resulted in chaos. Okoroha shockingly broke up with Cosby - who fans were rooting for - and upended the trajectory of the season.

Milton Johnson, who got engaged to Velez Gonzalez shortly after the past relationship was revealed, was notably shocked, while Cosby was so overwhelmed that she decided to take herself out of the equation. Just as Okoroha was ready to get down on one knee to propose, producers revealed to Cosby had left the experiment early.

Before the bombshell was dropped, Cosby had grown close to Velez Gonzalez, and was reportedly uncomfortable with what she’d learned about Okoroha’s history with her friend.

“I was very analytical. When things started kind of shifting, I had to kind of take my emotion out of it when it came to certain aspects and points along that journey for me,” Cosby explained to People. “My conversation with her, my conversation with him, when I had time to myself to just process, it was tough.”

“But I ultimately just felt like I had to do what was best for me in the end,” she continued. “Marriage is such a huge step. It’s very sacred and it’s something that I take very seriously and I just wanted to really enjoy that moment.

“I was like: ‘If I’m going to be engaged once and marry once, because that’s my goal, I want to be happy and enjoy it and be at peace and I want my family and everybody to take to the situation, to my person.’ All of that. So it’s just one of those things where I felt like I had to do what was best for me and really follow my intuition.”

The reunion will air on Sunday 15 October, after the season finale airs on Friday 13 October.

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