Uche Okoroha is opening up about continuing his relationship with Aaliyah Cosby after Love Is Blind.
As fans may recall, Aaliyah, 29, left the experiment shortly after Uche revealed his previous relationship with her castmate and good friend on the show, Lydia Velez Gonzalez. Uche was heartbroken by her sudden exit and tried to convince Aaliyah to give their love another chance, but she shut him down.
Later, the pair met up over lunch and Aaliyah was ready to give things a second try, but Uche was the one who rejected the offer, citing his frustrations with Aaliyah’s inconsistencies and up-and-down behavior after the experiment.
Uche, 34, is now setting the record straight on what happened after that conversation during an appearance on the Miss Understood podcast.
“To clarify, I did continue a relationship with her,” he told host Rachel Uchitel of Aaliyah. “I know they edited the scene and they put in a sound bite to make it sound like I dumped her, but that’s not what happened.”
“We met up and she apologized for leaving, I apologized for any miscommunication I have,” he continued. “We held hands. We shared our first kiss, and we decided to date off cameras.”
Uche claimed that the producers of the Netflix series then asked if they would like to return to the show after reuniting.
“They did invite us back to date as an engaged couple and we said, ‘No, we’re going to date off camera,’” he said. “I think because we refused to come back to the show as an engaged couple, they decided to change what happened.”
Uche also reflected on how the unique circumstances of the show helped shape his connection with Aaliyah.
“While I think I found an incredible person, and I did appreciate our relationship, and I do think it worked in that aspect,” he explained. “I can also see that that environment and being cut off from the rest of the world… might make you force connections that otherwise wouldn’t have necessarily have been as strong in the real world.”
During their early pod interactions, the pair bonded over both owning a Fender guitar, he shared. “She told me, ‘Hey, I have a fender guitar,’” he recalled. “I was like, ‘No way! I have a fender guitar. We’re soulmates.’”
“Watching it back I’m like, Fender is one of the best-selling guitar brands in the world… you’re willing to compromise more than you typically are and you’re willing to reach more for connections than you typically are,” he explained.
As for his relationship status these days, Uche admitted that he is taken, sharing, “I am not single. I’m in a relationship. I have a girlfriend.”
“I think a lot of the things that I have learned from this show has already helped me in my relationship, in terms of my communication and watching my tone and choosing my words very carefully,” he continued. “I think that has helped out immensely, and I’m thankful for having those lessons. I do think it’s made me not only a better man, a better communicator, but a better boyfriend in my relationship.”
Love Is Blind season 5 is streaming in full on Netflix. The season 5 reunion drops Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. ET.
.jpg "Quranic Quotes")
