Love Is Blind’s season 5 finale brought happy endings — and painful goodbyes — to another set of hopeful couples.
Friday’s episode of the Netflix hit brought closure to the two remaining couples who made it to the altar: Stacy Snyder and Izzy Zapata, and Milton Johnson and Lydia Velez Gonzalez.
Prior to the finale episode, there was no shortage of drama as one engaged couple called it quits days into their Mexico trip, bombshell revelations were made about participants’ exes and second chances were granted to pairs who didn’t make it out of the pods engaged.
As the couples went through ups and downs of life together in the real world, they ultimately had to determine “whether love is truly blind.” Scroll down to find out who still believes it is, and who ultimately went their separate ways.
Taylor and JP
Taylor Rue and Jared “JP” Pierce seemed to be a perfect match in the pods and were the first pair to get engaged in season 5. However, the two struggled to form a genuine connection after their awkward reveal and ultimately called it quits days into their Mexico trip.
During the getaway, conversation flow was a big issue for the pair, with Taylor, 26, expressing her desire for JP, 32, to speak more while JP was adamant that he didn’t want to feel pressured. This resulted in some very awkward moments between the engaged couple.
Later, when Taylor confronted her firefighter fiancé on camera about their major disconnect, he finally admitted that he’d felt uncomfortable with her physical appearance the first time they saw each other in person. “It felt like you were fake,” he said in episode 6. “You had a caked-up face, fake eyelashes … you presented fake stuff.”
“When I first saw you, you had all this stuff on, I was like, ‘Well, is this gonna be an everyday thing? Am I gonna have to deal with this, you putting on a face?’ You’re literally putting on a totally different face, and I was like, ‘Well, that’s not really what I want,’” he said, before emphasizing his desire for her make-up free appearance. “I want this face.”
Though Taylor insisted his point was unfair because he didn’t know what she looked like to begin with, the two failed to find a common ground. The teacher did not take kindly to his words and decided to take some space from JP before ultimately ending their engagement the next morning.
“I was like, ‘This is it. I have that feeling in my heart, and I don’t want to go through with it,’” she told hitting her breaking point.
Milton and Lydia
Milton Johnson and Lydia Velez Gonzalez had quite the unconventional journey toward the altar.
The two formed a connection in the pods and later got engaged sight unseen — but not before she revealed that she previously dated fellow participant Uche Okoroha, who had been connecting with her show bestie Aaliyah Cosby.
Milton, 25, was understandably shocked by the revelation and remained quiet in the pods, which upset Lydia, 32, who wanted more of a vocal response from him. When Milton couldn’t provide that, the two decided to take a moment away from the pods and inside their respective living quarters before reuniting to discuss the bombshell.
The pair made it past the shocking revelation — but that was only the start of what was to come as Aaliyah left the experiment early, seemingly due to the history between Uche and Lydia. Aaliyah was especially uncomfortable with Lydia’s comments on Uche and all the details she seemed to know about the lawyer and entrepreneur’s life.
This drama came to a head when Uche, 34, returned for the cast mixer and found himself entangled in a heated argument with Lydia, which included a surprising allegation from Uche that Lydia stalked him after their breakup and then allegedly followed him onto the show. Though Milton insisted he wasn’t fazed by the accusations, the petroleum engineer revealed shortly before their wedding that he was unhappy with the way his geologist fiancée had handled the situation.
Another point of contention for the pair seemed to be Milton’s family, who weren’t immediately welcoming toward Lydia and questioned the legitimacy of their relationship — particularly because of their seven-year age gap.
Despite all of that, the two were able to overcome the challenges and said “I do” at the altar.
“We had our ups, we had our downs and the communication maturity that you showed, I knew you were the one. I never had a doubt about you and I hope it continues to be like that forever,” Milton said in his vows.
Stacy and Izzy
In the pods, Izzy had connected with multiple women, including Stacy, Lydia and Johnie. However, it was Stacy who ultimately won his heart and received his proposal for marriage.
After the two got engaged and met in person, they seemed to hit it off, having natural chemistry and an ease with one another. But things took a turn when Izzy was introduced to Stacy’s life in Houston and instantly set about criticizing the way the sales employee lived, including his “messy” apartment, drawer of random women’s “lost and found” possessions and use of paper plates.
Stacy was also extremely concerned about Izzy’s finances and poor credit — particularly because the director of operations was accustomed to living a lavish lifestyle (as her dad put it, “sometimes love wants to fly first class”).
On their wedding day, Izzy said yes to marrying Stacy, but she wasn’t on the same page.
“I do want you, and I wanna say yes,” she said at the altar, “but I would be doing you and I a disservice right now to say that ‘I do’ when I feel like there’s a lot things we need — and, more than anything, we need time.”
Izzy said he understood and still loved Stacy, and the two shared a kiss.
Even after it appeared they were on good terms and potentially going to try dating again, Izzy later decided he needed space.
“We’re at different spots, it really breaks my heart. I love you, I did want to marry you, a timeline didn’t matter for me. But that’s just me. When is ever gonna be the right time? That’s what I’m gonna wonder with you,” he told Stacy. “I just want to be loved the way that I love. Bottom line, I deserve that.”
Izzy added in a separate interview, “It’s like she’s always trying to find something wrong … It’s like all the outside s — — was getting to her, and I blocked out everything. Looks, money, drama. I just focused on her.”
He continued, “The whole point of this [experiment] is, Does it matter? Does a credit score matter? Does the car I drive matter? Does where I go to f — -ing dinner matter? None of that matters to me. It makes me wonder, ‘Why are you 33 and single and not married?’ I’m 29 years old and I can give you everything that a f — -ing rich, 45-year-old man that you always go for and always fail with can’t give you.”
Love Is Blind season 5 is streaming in full on Netflix. Fans will find out the status of these couples’ relationships, as well as the rest of cast’s, when the season 5 reunion drops Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. ET.