The couple seemed to be headed toward wedding bells, but Aaliyah left the social experiment before a proposal could happen.
Spoiler alert! If you haven't watched the first nine episodes of Love Is Blind season 5, proceed with caution.
What exactly is going on in season 5 of Love Is Blind? The Netflix reality dating show is back with a fresh batch of episodes and things are messier than ever. As with every season, there is a fair share of love triangles, but for the first time this season, one couple is rocked by a past love that happened before the pods.
Contestants Uche Okoroha and Aaliyah Cosby had a quick connection in the pods that faced some adversity early on when Aaliyah admitted to Uche that she had cheated in a past relationship and never told her partner.
Though Uche was upset by the confession, the two worked through things. But then Uche dropped a bombshell of his own on Aaliyah. He confessed that he had dated another contestant before ever joining the experiment, Lydia Velez Gonzalez, who had befriended Aaliyah in the women's lounge.
Netflix then dropped the footage of Uche and Lydia crossing paths in the pods and realizing their shared connection. The exes decided to not date one another in the pods, saying that it would ruin the experiment considering they knew what the other looked like.
Uche tells Aaliyah that he and Lydia dated for a few months, but that he ended things mostly because he felt he didn't like her as much as she liked him. Aaliyah seems totally shocked by this news and goes to talk to Lydia. Unfortunately, she gets more information than she wanted from Lydia, who goes a little too open book.
Despite Aaliyah saying she "didn't want to know too much," Lydia goes on to discuss Uche's dog, three-story home, and Tesla car. She then shares that the last time she saw Uche three months prior, they slept together.
A tearful Aaliyah admits that she doesn't know if she's strong enough to handle this situation.
Aaliyah confronts Uche about the things Lydia said and he replies, "If I wanted to be in a relationship with Lydia, I would be in a relationship with Lydia."
The two seemed to get back on better ground after they spoke, even discussing potential engagement rings. But the next time Uche came into the pods to propose to Aaliyah, there was silence.
A producer then cuts in to tell Uche, "Unfortunately Aaliyah has decided to not continue with the experiment."
Uche seems blindsided by the news and leaves the pod to tell his fellow male contestants.
ET's Denny Directo spoke with Aaliyah about her decision to leave the pods ahead of the season 5 premiere.
"There were many factors that kind of contributed to that decision, but I'll just say overall, I felt like it was just the best thing for me," Aaliyah told ET. "I had this gut feeling after really analyzing my interactions with Uche, Lydia, getting all the facts and things, or at least hearing both sides of that situation. Just deciding I didn't want to go into an engagement that way. Being engaged, it's a sacred thing to experience and you're sharing that with family, friends, people I love dearly and that love me dearly. It was something I felt was best for me moving forward."
She added that the situation had her questioning the motives of both Uche and Lydia.
"I think it would have been naive to not to question that on both sides. I shared a lot with Uche and he shared a lot with me as well in our dates," she told ET. "And I do feel he was being vulnerable with me in those dates. I do. I feel like everybody just kind of navigated that situation as best as they could."
Aaliyah and Uche meet up in the real world with Uche telling Aaliyah that they have a lot of talk about. Aaliyah says she didn't think their relationship was over after she left the pods. But Uche saw her decision as abandonment and ended things.
But according to Uche's recent Instagram Q&A, that scene was edited falsely, and he says he went on to date Aaliyah outside of the show.
"The 'it's over between us' is a post-production soundbite. At lunch, we both forgave each other, we held hands and shared our first kiss. Then we agreed to date outside of the show," Uche shared.
Later in the show, Uche confronts Lydia at the cast party, accusing her of "stalking" his female friends' Instagram pages and sending him photos from outside his house.
"Just be honest and say that you're trying to get back with me," Uche tells her, which Lydia denies.
He seems to think that Lydia planned to be on the show in some sort of attempt to get him back.
Lydia is furious about this accusation, saying that what actually happened was that Uche cheated on her during their relationship, only to hold Aaliyah's past cheating against her.
When asked in the Instagram Q&A if he really thinks that Lydia "followed" him to the Netflix show, Uche replied, "100% confirmed. I brought up Instagram because this was the method. More on this later."
As for where Aaliyah stands with Uche and Lydia today, she tells ET, "I feel like we just have a mutual respect that we both have conversations with each other where, you know, it was like OK, we need to be open and honest about everything. And I feel that that moment was reached with us on both sides with Uche and Lydia, and so I do respect them both. I wish them the best and I want them both to be happy. And I believe that they want that for me as well."
Love Is Blind season 5 is currently streaming on Netflix with the finale airing Friday, Oct. 13.
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