Spoilers for all of The Ultimatum season 3 ahead. It can be hard to surprise the jaded fans of dating reality TV shows, but The Ultimatum season 3 has a first-ever moment for the Netflix reality universe. For the uninitiated, Love is Blind's divisive sister series puts several long-term couples through a dramatic test, where each splits up and undergoes a trial marriage with another cast member. Vanessa Hattaway and Dave Adams are among the couples who join season 3 to see whether or not they are ready for marriage, and huge challenges pop up for the pair in the days leading up to them choosing their new partners.
In a shocking twist, Vanessa and Dave's time on The Ultimatum comes to an abrupt end only four episodes into the season. The pair may have left the series together, but did they get engaged once they left the spotlight? Read on for our breakdown of what happened between Vanessa and Dave on The Ultimatum, including whether we'll see them again as the season continues airing.
What happened between Vanessa and Dave on 'The Ultimatum' season 3?
When they arrive on The Ultimatum, 30-year-old influencer Vanessa and 34-year-old copywriter Dave are nearly three years into their committed relationship. Vanessa issued the ultimatum, and during the first-night dinner, she says marriage is like a "taboo" conversation between them. Dave has said he wants to get married in the nebulous future, but he says that he's "not in a huge rush," and has a "slow decision-making process." Vanessa says she wants someone who shows no hesitation and "deserves someone who is 100 percent certain about her."
Dave is super uncomfortable with the show's process from the beginning, though he tries to put up a good game on his and Vanessa's last night together. At one point, he tells her that he's interested in cast member, Mariah, but Vanessa quickly points out that "she’s 24." The next day, Dave goes through the speed dating with everyone else and becomes interested in Aria, but during that night's cocktail party, Aria names Dave as the man she has the least chemistry with.
Meanwhile, Vanessa immediately clicks with Nick, over their shared histories as art-school dropouts and homeschooled kids, as well as both self-identifying as weirdos. He also later says that she's the person who intimidates him most, which seems to intrigue her. As Nick and Vanessa (the cast members, not the Lacheys) chat during the cocktail party, Dave seems to be going through it and thinking (maybe for the first time?) that he and Vanessa could not walk away from The Ultimatum together. In a testimonial that night, Vanessa notes that Dave seems to have already gotten answers out of the experience, but she alludes that now she's the one who needs to reevaluate things.
The rest of the speed-dating week pretty much follows that pattern. Nick and Vanessa bond during their dates, they show how close they've gotten when the cast gets together, and then Dave interrupts them seeking reassurance. Even though he's preoccupied with Vanessa throughout episode 2, he goes out with Chanel. They get along well and comfort each other over how they're ready to find their exes (a.k.a. original partners) and bounce. (They were also both the ultimatum givers.) Notably, during a cocktail party moment when Vanessa hears Dave complimenting Mariah, she interrupts their conversation, so Dave is in the back of her mind. Still, when Vanessa tells Dave she's "excited" for the trial marriage, he panics.
At the wife-swap dinner (which the show calls "The Choice"), Dave and Chanel choose each other for the trial marriage, with Dave explaining that Chanel had helped him through the emotionally tough week of dating. Vanessa and Nick also pick each other, and Vanessa says her connection with Nick is different than with Dave because there's no fear of being judged. (Hopefully, the show would've gone deeper on this if the big twist hadn't occurred.) Dave doesn't end up giving a spur-of-the-moment proposal like Hunter or Nate in season 1, so all of the trial couples head off to their new apartments. Vanessa and Nick sleep in the bed together divided by a wall of pillows, while Dave watches Chanel leave the apartment at 3 a.m., presumably to see her original partner, Micah.
Fast-forward through three days of trial marriage—where we barely see any clips besides Vanessa comforting Nick about his troubles with his ex Sandy—and several cast members are missing in action. Title cards reveal, "Earlier in the day, Dave, Vanessa, Micah, and Chanel secretly met off camera. That evening, surveillance cameras captured them packing. Dave, Vanessa, Micah, and Chanel quickly departed, abruptly ending their experience." With this, Nick, Micah's trial partner, Mariah, and all of us viewers, are left with zero explanation.
Why did Vanessa and Dave leave 'The Ultimatum' season 3?
On the day of The Ultimatum season 3 premiere, Vanessa revealed her side of the story regarding her early departure from the series. According to E! News, she responded to several fans on Instagram, sharing that she left the stressful process due to concerns about her mental well-being.
"I know I just had to do what was best for my mental health. You’re only seeing 1%," she wrote in one reply, adding in another, "I will likely talk more about it at some point soon but there is only so much I can say. I’ll add more context after the reunion."
Vanessa also replied in several comments on her Instagram post that her exit from the series didn't exactly match what was shown on camera. Specifically, she claims that she did let Nick know about her departure ahead of time, rather than ghosting him as it appears in the edit. In response to some fans' judgment that she left Nick with no goodbye, Vanessa wrote, "it’s ok i’m loling at the hate bc i know the truth."
Meanwhile, Dave posted his own Instagram update on the day of the premiere, sharing an edit of his cast portrait with the "Elmo fire" meme in the background alluding to his chaotic departure. Dave was more coy while responding to fans, except for one cryptic message. In response to a comment calling the quartet "so wrong" for leaving, Dave wrote, "Beg to differ."
The production team behind The Ultimatum has also broken their silence on season 3's twist. Speaking to Variety, Chis Coelen, the CEO of the show's production company Kinetic Connect, said that Micah was the first to leave the show with no word, after which the producers spoke with Dave, Vanessa, and Chanel and gave them the chance to either stick the experiment out or leave. He added that "it was very clear they wanted to leave. And we’re always going to be supportive of that.”
Are Vanessa and Dave still together after 'The Ultimatum' season 3?
Luckily for curious fans, Vanessa and Dave returned to The Ultimatum for the season 3 reunion. Much of their time on the episode is focused on Vanessa recalling her exit from the season and her trial marriage with Nick. Long story short: Their cohabitation went sour within 24 hours when he lashed out at her while she was trying to offer comfort during the first wave of Sandy-J.R.-kiss-gate. She added that she didn't feel like she owed him an explanation for quitting the show, which makes sense with the context that Vanessa and Nick had been fighting all day before she left.
As for whether Vanessa and Dave made their relationship work outside of the show, they are still together. However, they're not yet engaged, which is why Vanessa wanted to go on the show to begin with. Still, they are aligned on getting married and having kids in the future, and he apparently has taken her ring shopping recently, so we'll see whether they make it down the aisle at some point.
There were some clues that the pair were still together even before the reunion. Vanessa and Dave follow each other on Instagram and neither deleted photos they took as a couple before The Ultimatum's filming around late 2023/early 2024. There were a few concrete hints, too: Both posted travel pics from Italy last April, and Vanessa left a flirty comment on Dave's Instagram for his Jeep in August.
