Love Is Blind’s Lydia and Uche on What They Knew Before the Show — and the Role Producers Played (Exclusive)

Warning: This post contains spoilers from Love is blind season 5

Love is blindLydia Velez Gonzalez and Uche Okoroha had one of the biggest storylines of Season 5 — and now they’re talking about their take on the situation.

At the start of Season 5, fans learned that Lydia, 32, previously dated costar Uche, 34, before they were cast on the show. The revelation came as a huge shock to fans – and to actress Aaliyah Cosby, who bonded with Uche in the pods and simultaneously developed a close friendship with Lydia in the ladies’ quarters. After falling out with Lydia off-camera, Aaliyah, 29, ended up leaving the experiment just before Uche’s proposal.

Throughout the season, Lydia and Uche were adamant that they didn’t know about the other’s casting. They also insisted they weren’t plotting together – although Aaliyah expressed skepticism about that at Sunday’s gathering.

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“There were things that made me feel like Lydia came here for Uche,” Aaliyah said. “You’ve told multiple women that you’re hoping to run into someone from your past. We had a one-on-one conversation off set where you told me that you and Uche had talked about coming on this show.”

As a result, Lydia admitted that she knew Uche had signed up for Season 5 after they briefly discussed it in November 2021, but insisted she had “no confirmation that Uche will be there.”

Asked why she didn’t express her concerns about him to producers, Lydia told PEOPLE, “The conversation lasted two seconds and it’s funny because he said, ‘I’ve never [said that].’ Come on dude. You said. You said. I said that too. I said, ‘Oh yeah, me too’. But I was trying to change the conversation.”

Milton Johnson and Lydia Velez Gonzalez at the ‘Love Is Blind’ Reunion.

Greg Gayne/Netflix

“He wasn’t the only one I actually knew about the casting because there were two other guys I dated but they were stupid and posted it on their [Instagram] story and I marked it immediately,” explains Lydia. “And then I commented all day. I asked myself, ‘What happens when I really know someone?’ They said, ‘No, we’ll take care of it if the situation arises.’ But at the same time, I didn’t want that comment to actually jeopardize my chances on the show.”

“And I didn’t have any real evidence [about if] he’ll definitely be there,” she adds. “I’m not going to ruin my own chances of finding my husband because a two-second conversation doesn’t make sense. It was a really bad and unfortunate coincidence.”

Love Is Blind’s Aaliyah Reveals Her Thoughts On Uche And His Ex — And If She Thinks They Schemed Together (Exclusive)

However, Uche – who was invited but did not show up for the reunion – had a different perspective on how it all unfolded. Appearing in the last episode of the series Miss. I understand podcast earlier this week, Uche insisted that Lydia “absolutely knew I was going to be on the show, or at least she had some idea that I was going to be on the show.”

“These casting producers reach out to you and follow you on Instagram and message you,” he said. “Lydia was talking to a couple of girls from the cast… because every week she was checking who I followed on Instagram, she saw that I was following someone new. She knew it was a casting producer. And she clicked on their Instagram profile and she saw the casting for Love is blind.”

He continued: “She signed up to participate Love is blind. She blocked my Instagram profile so no one knew we knew each other and that’s how we ended up in the show together… The exact mechanics, whether the producers knew or not, I don’t know the details.”

Uche Okoroha in pods on ‘Love Is Blind’.

courtesy of netflix

Although Uche and Lydia never pursued each other on the show, they both found connections with other people.

As for Uche, he reconnected with Aaliyah after she left the show, and although the show showed Uche rejecting her during lunch, he has since revealed that they left that lunch agreeing to give their love another chance .

“To clarify, I continued the relationship with her,” he said Miss. I understand podcast. “I know they edited the scene and put in a sound track to make it sound like I kicked her, but that didn’t happen.”

“We met and she apologized for leaving, I apologized for any miscommunication,” he continued. “We held hands. We shared our first kiss and decided to date on camera.”

The two broke up not long after.

Love is blind Season 5 Finale: Who Got Married and Who Said ‘I Don’t’

Meanwhile, Lydia continued with the show, making it all the way down the aisle with her relationship and fiancé Milton Johnson. In the Season 5 finale, the two tied the knot and are still married over a year later.

Milton Johnson and Lydia Velez Gonzalez at their wedding on ‘Love Is Blind’.

Netflix

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“We’ve had our ups, we’ve had our downs and the communication maturity you’ve shown, I knew you were the one. I’ve never doubted you and I hope it stays that way forever,” Milton said in his vows.

Speaking to PEOPLE about her husband, Lydia says, “He’s amazing. He’s the perfect boyfriend, but most of all he loves me for who I am, the real me. And he’s shown over time that he’ll defend me with everything he’s got and he’ll have my back , no questions.”

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Love is blind season 5 is streaming in its entirety on Netflix.

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Source: HIS Education