Netflix’s hit reality dating show, Love Is Blind, just dropped its season five finale, which saw two couples make it to their wedding day.
The fifth season of the show follows the same format as seasons past: Contestants attempt to form romantic connections with people that they’ve never seen before. After they successfully paired up with someone while in the pods, couples got engaged and met for the first time. They then entered the real world, where they officially moved in together and met each other’s families, before heading to their wedding.
While three couples got engaged in season five, only two of them made it to the altar: Izzy Zapata and Stacy Snyder, and James Milton and Lydia Velez Gonzalez. Contestants Taylor Rue and JP Pierce also got engaged in the pods and made it to their romantic vacation. However, they called the engagement off before returning to Houston, as they had trouble communicating with each other.
In the 15 October reunion special, viewers got to see which couples stayed together after their wedding day, during which they said “I do” or “I don’t” at the altar. Here is where the two couples stand now.
Warning: Spoilers for season five of Love Is Blind below.
Izzy Zapata and Stacy Snyder
The couple formed a quick connection in the pods, during which Stacy Snyder said that Izzy Zapata was always her top choice out of all the men she’d been dating. However, Zapata found himself in a bit of a love triangle, as he also had strong feelings for another contestant, Johnie Maraist. In the end, he chose Snyder and they got engaged.
Once they moved back to Houston, they had some problems when it came to finances and personal beliefs, as Snyder’s father warned Zapata about her luxurious lifestyle, saying: “Sometimes love wants to fly first class.” Their problems heightened two days before the wedding, when Izzy expressed that he’d been unable to get a credit card due to his debt.
On the wedding day, Snyder was still nervous, as she felt like she couldn’t completely trust Zapata after the argument about money. During his vows, Zapata expressed how his partner has “made him a better man” and that he’d “always be there to reassure” her. Meanwhile, Snyder acknowledged how Zapata always made her “feel safe” and “think with her heart”, before noting that while the “last few days had been a lot,” she still “loved [him] through it”.
When it came time to make a decision, Zapata was the first to say “I do”. However, Snyder did not say it back, as she explained why she wasn’t ready for marriage: “I do want you and I want to say yes, 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 of things that we need. And more than anything, we need time.”
Although Zapata told Snyder he “understood” her decision at the altar, he confessed in a private interview that he still “felt so numb” after the wedding. The couple went on to have a separate conversation, with Snyder acknowledging that she “felt relieved” and like the “pressure was gone” after saying no at the altar. While she said that she wanted to continue fighting for her relationship, which included taking the time to trust each other, Zapata said he felt like they were “taking steps backward” and that “a timeline didn’t matter for [him]”.
During the reunion special, which was filmed a year and a half after the weddings, Zapata and Snyder revealed that they were no longer together. The pair specified that after the wedding, they stopped communicating for a week, before getting back in touch again. However, they realised that they weren’t able to rekindle their romance, so they opted to break up and went on to stay close friends.
Zapata also revealed during the reunion that he was now dating someone new, while Snyder said that she was “seeing someone”, but wouldn’t specify that she was in a relationship.
James Milton and Lydia Velez Gonzalez
Upon their first date in the pods, James Milton – who goes by his last name in the show – and Lydia Velez Gonzalez had a quick connection, as they both bonded over their love for different kinds of rocks. While Gonzalez also had a connection with another contestant, Izzy Zapata, in the pods, he called things off with her. From there, her love for Milton continued to develop and they officially got engaged.
In the real world, they had a few issues, including their families being concerned about their age gap, as Milton is 24 and Gonzalez is 31. On their final date before the wedding, Milton claimed that Gonzalez was a little too emotional when handling a disagreement with her and a fellow contestant on the show, Uche Okoroha, while at a party.
In the season finale, Gonzalez still went into her wedding day feeling confident, despite the argument that she and her partner had. As they exchanged their vows at the altar, she recalled how she fell in love with her fiancé because of how well he understood and listened to her. Meanwhile, Milton said he fell for Gonzalez because of how she “challenged [his] thinking”, before adding that he “never had a doubt” about her when dating in the pods. The geologist was the first to say “I do,” before Milton said the same and they walked away married.
During the reunion special, the pair revealed that they are still happily married and living together in Houston.
