Perhaps one of my favorite parts of Love Is Blind is the reunion. In Season 5, a shocking plot twist in the first four episodes got viewers curious about the show’s casting process – causing the reunion to break the fourth wall even more, as it attempted to answer several fan questions. Warning: Spoilers for Love Is Blind Season 5 ahead.
This season, not all of the cast members were strangers before filming the show, making the reunion that much more juicy. To fans’ surprise, Lydia and Uche dated before the season even began. Things got pretty serious between the two before they decided to go their separate ways. While in the pods, Lydia and Uche crossed paths once again, but chose not to rekindle their relationship, and that’s when chaos ensued.
During the first few episodes, Lydia formed a close friendship with Aaliyah, who was falling head over heels for Uche. The two became so close that Lydia began sharing intimate details about Uche and their past relationship. As if this didn’t make Aaliyah uncomfortable enough, Lydia informed her that she and Uche had sex a couple of months before filming Love Is Blind. As Uche was getting ready to propose, a shocked Aaliyah left the show without saying goodbye to him. After the pods phase, Aaliyah’s attempt to start over with Uche failed and later she described his behavior during that time period as “mean.”
Now that Uche is out of the picture, and Aaliyah has found a brand new man since filming Love Is Blind, is she going to rekindle her friendship with Lydia? It doesn’t seem like it.
“I feel like I set my boundaries with Lydia when we had the discussion on the couch [about Uche], and she didn’t respect my boundaries,” Aaliyah explained in the reunion episode. “I don’t have a friendship with Lydia or Uche at the moment. I think we’re in a respectable place. I respect them, and I wish them the best.”
Lydia asserted that she had “the best intentions” telling Aaliyah about her past with Uche, despite fans’ criticism of her actions in Season 5. “Looking back, it’s really hard and hurtful because from the bottom of my heart, I wanted her to have her happy ending,” Lydia said. “I think the public is a little too quick to judge on a situation that you don’t get the training manual [on] how to deal with that.”
In Episode 8, Uche scorned Lydia’s belief that she was going “see someone from her past” before going on Love Is Blind. Uche was convinced that Lydia deliberately joined the show knowing he was also cast. Lydia debunked his allegation in the reunion episode, characterizing the comment as her “instinct” and clarifying she would rather not have run into him in the pods. “I had – and I’m going to say it really clearly for the public — I had no confirmation that Uche was going to be there.” So there you have it – Lydia did not join Season 5 of Love Is Blind with the specific goal of running into her ex and befriending his new girlfriend.
Although the ship has sailed for Aaliyah and this messy love triangle, I definitely plan on continuing to follow her journey. This girl has a heart of gold, and she deserves nothing but the best when it comes to friendships and relationships.