Season 5 of Love Is Blind has included some shocking information about the participants’ history, making several viewers wonder how the show handles its casting and production process. As with most reality shows, Love Is Blind focuses on the drama – in this case, that usually means couples entangled in the most-discussed love triangles. The first-of-its-kind dating experiment follows a group of singles aiming to find their forever partners in contained rooms called “pods,” where they hold conversations for hours at a time, but don’t see each other. Once they leave the pods, the newly formed couples navigate the usual challenges of love — such as learning to live together and meeting each others’ families— before making the decision to get married.
Much of the Love Is Blind’s plot points are manufactured, with several cast members being handpicked by Netflix, as Season 5 participant Uche seemed to confirm on Instagram.
But as the show’s experimental formula aims to create long-lasting romantic connections, it’s believed more couples get engaged and married than what’s featured on the show. Love Is Blind creator Chris Coelen confirmed this approach in an interview with Rolling Stone, saying, “There’s people who get engaged or some people we follow for a certain amount of time, and we don’t end up choosing to show their stories.”
However, based on his experience with past seasons, Coelen added, “I will say, as far as our judgement goes, that there has not been one single couple we’ve chosen not to follow who has ever sustained a relationship to any significant degree at all. Some people literally break up at the airport.”
Season 5 opted to follow Taylor & JP, Lydia & Milton, and Izzy & Stacy outside of the pods. Of these three couples, only Lydia & Milton and Izzy & Stacy made it to the wedding stage. However, a few connections that formed in the pods actually led to off-screen engagements and even marriages.
RENEE & CARTER
I really would’ve loved to see more of Renee and Carter this season. Remember their “moment of silence” for Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds’ hotness during episode 1? It’s interesting how a marriage license filed in Harris County, Texas seemed to confirm their engagement, but Netflix chose not to feature Renee and Carter’s post-pods relationship. In a viral video posted on Oct. 3, TikTok user @storytimewithrikkii suggested that this was due to a rumor that Renee was actually dating someone else while filming the show.
Along with Izzy & Stacy and Lydia & Milton, Renee and Carter’s names can be found in Harris County’s Office Marriage License Portal. Their license status shows up as “not returned,” meaning these two applied but have not yet legally wed. The portal also indicates that Renee does hold a returned marriage license – meaning she’s currently married, just not to Carter.
The TikToker also pointed out that Renee & Carter were likely present in the Mexico with the other three couples from Season 5. In the video, she mentioned that Renee posted pictures of herself in Mexico, with the golden drink cup given to all Love Is Blind participants, to Instagram. She also noted that an unidentified girl in an orange bikini can be seen in the background of these Love Is Blind scenes, which matches the outfit Renee was wearing in her Instagram stories.
Renee and Taylor, who ultimately decided to break things off with JP, also bonded as friends on Love Is Blind, and both seem to express distaste of their patriotic and conservative love interests.
The juiciest part? Renee showed up to the cast meet-up wearing an engagement ring. Do with that information what you will.
ESTEFANIA & JARED
In the same TikTok video, @storytimewithrikkii alleged that Estefania and Jared got engaged on the show as well, but did not participate in the Mexico trip. Right now, they do not follow each other on social media, so it’s unclear where their relationship currently stands.
PAIGE & JOSH
Similar to Estefania and Jared, the TikTok user alleged Paige and Josh also got engaged but did not go to Mexico. However, they are not together as of today. However, word on the street is that they knew each other from before their time on Love Is Blind. If this rumor turns out to be true, Paige and Josh wouldn’t be the only Season 5 cast members who found themselves in this situation – let’s not forget that a majority of this season’s storylines involved the messy history between Lydia & Uche.
In a joint Instagram post shared on Oct. 4, Paige and Josh confirmed their engagement on the show but revealed that they broke up after filming.
“We got engaged,” the couple wrote under a collage of videos chronicling their romance. “Josh and I are so excited to share that we found love in the pods. We were each other’s first pod dates and number one picks from the beginning. Our story is filled with love, beautiful moments and happiness with no drama,” they said. “After the show we stayed engaged and even planned our wedding. During the time we shared together we fell deeply in love and also found out we just wanted different things out of life. We made the hardest decision to end our engagement, we have nothing but love and respect for each other and always will. We are so grateful LIB brought us together and would do it all over again if we could.”
ENOCH & ERICA
After getting engaged in the pods, this couple apparently didn’t last. However, the TikTok video notes that an unnamed source – one that has been pretty reliable in the past – claimed Erica ghosted Enoch after the pods, and that Enoch is currently dating another Season 5 participant. Welp.