After five seasons of Love Is Blind, you would think that I would be used to love triangles. But the one involving Uche, Aaliyah, and Lydia in Season 5 definitely came as a shock.
ICYMI, Uche and Aaliyah instantly hit it off their first day in the pods. They bonded over their love of poetry and shared ambitions. From the first episode alone, it seemed like Aaliyah and Uche were Season 5’s fan-favorite couple in the making. But what would Love Is Blind be without any drama? While in the pods, Uche comes across Lydia, whom he dated briefly before Love Is Blind. After getting over the initial shock that his ex was also part of this dating experiment, Uche decided he wasn’t interested in rekindling their relationship.
While connecting with Aaliyah, Uche failed to fully open up about his past relationship with Lydia. In the living quarters, Lydia took it upon herself to give Aaliyah some insight into her relationship with Uche and that’s when things got messy. Warning: Spoilers for Love Is Blind Season 5 follow.
Aaliyah Left The Show Because of Lydia.
After Lydia dropped that major bombshell, Aaliyah struggled with the revelation, telling Uche that in the real world, she’d never knowingly befriended the ex of someone she was dating. However, she was willing to move past it all, but her friendship with Lydia became strained.
During episode 4, Aaliyah told Lydia that she didn’t want to know anything about her past relationship with Uche, but Lydia told her anyway. Not only did Lydia go into detail about the relationship, but she also revealed that she and Uche slept together a few months before entering the pods. Yikes! The revelation didn’t sit well with Aaliyah, as she became disappointed over the fact Uche didn’t disclose any of this information to her.
“I’m struggling with the fact [Uche] left out a lot of details,” Aaliyah said in a testimonial. “I get Lydia’s story and it includes a lot more detail than I would have liked.”
Though Uche apologized for not opening up about his past with Lydia and assured Aaliyah in the pods that he was committed to their relationship (he even shared his plan of proposing), she couldn’t get past him not opening up to her about Lydia.
At the beginning of episode 5, the production team informed Uche that Aaliyah decided to leave the show. “I’m so confused. She didn’t express any reservations yesterday. We were on the same page,” Uche said. “To just walk away without saying anything… this doesn’t make any sense.”
He then expressed his need to talk to Aaliyah to figure out why she left. Once production got Aaliyah on the phone, Uche didn’t waste time getting to the bottom of her leaving.
“There was an exchange of words between Lydia and I that didn’t really go well,” Aaliyah told Uche before going into detail on how her conversation with Lydia went. Though Aaliyah apologized for leaving, Uche couldn’t believe that she let Lydia come between them. The conversation got heated with Uche and Aaliyah arguing about Lydia. In the end, Uche couldn’t get over Aaliyah leaving the show without saying goodbye and decided it was best for them not to be together.
“I’m such a f*cking idiot. This is exactly what I thought was gonna happen. I was gonna let myself get close to the wrong person,” Uche said before Aaliyah chimed in, “Well, if that’s how you feel, then maybe we don’t need to keep talking.”
In the end, Uche finally had enough of the back-and-forth. “I don’t wanna talk to her. I don’t want her phone number,” he said. “I don’t want to see her again.”
Uche and Aaliyah didn’t get back together because of Lydia.
At the end of episode 6, Aaliyah and Uche met up at a restaurant to unpack their last conversation in the pods. Aaliyah expressed regret over leaving the pods without saying goodbye. She told Uche she still loved him and hadn’t felt a connection like the one they had with anyone else.
“My heart is still in your hands. There isn’t anybody else that I want,” Aaliyah confessed. “I want to be your better half…I would marry you. I would.”
Their conversation carried over to episode 7, which began with Uche telling Aaliyah that her leaving the pods “broke” him. “I thought that we were on the same page the entire way through. I said ‘I love you.’ You said you loved me,” Uche said. “We were talking about how excited we were to spend the rest of our lives together. You didn’t communicate any kind of doubt to me.”
Aaliyah went on to share that her doubts began when she found out about Uche’s past relationship with Lydia. She said Lydia told her more about their past than Uche did. Though he agreed he could have been more open about his previous relationship with Lydia, Uche felt that anything he did would have made him lose Aaliyah in the end.
After an emotional conversation, Uche couldn’t get past Aaliyah doubting their relationship and decided to end things between them.
“You didn’t have confidence in me and you didn’t have confidence in our relationship,” Uche said. “I think it’s over between us.”
Aaliyah doesn’t have any resentment toward Lydia.
While speaking to USA Today, Aaliyah revealed that though she believes Lydia didn’t respect her boundaries, she doesn’t have any ill feelings toward her podmate.
“I don’t have any anger or animosity towards her. I want her to be happy. And I think we’ve been able to have some conversations … where we both understand each other’s position,” Aaliyah said. “I’ve been able to kind of step outside myself and understand both her and Uche’s position. And I feel like I’ve tried to just lead with grace with both of them.”