Love Is Blind's Stephen Jokes It's 'Probably Smart to Put a Password on Your Phone' After Sleep Test Incident (Exclusive)

Warning: This story contains spoilers from episodes 7-9 Love is blind season 7

Love is blindThe team’s Stephen Richardson talks about the aftermath of his sleep test incident, which ultimately ended things with fiancée Monica Davis.

In the latest series of episodes from Season 7 of the Netflix hit, fans were left with a shock as it was revealed that Stephen, 34, had gone to take a sleep test one night but ended up sexting another woman while there, despite being engaged to Monikom, 37.

The emotional confrontation – which was particularly touching because Stephen had previously admitted to doing something similar in a past relationship while in the pod with Monica – eventually ended with Stephen apologizing for his actions and Monica bursting into tears as well. two broke up.

– I can’t do anything to change this, I’ll live with this – Stephen said before leaving their shared apartment. “I’m really sorry for hurting you, for wasting your time, for coming on the show and doing this to you. I shouldn’t have come on the show.”

Now, Stephen is speaking to PEOPLE about the ordeal, admitting the biggest thing he learned from his time: “It’s probably a smart thing to put a password on your phone.”

“But seriously, the main things are self-talk, self-reflection, and a lot of things that I believe I’ve said in capsules, where it’s like you don’t know if you’re completely healed until the next relationship,” he continues. “And you see a lot of people saying, ‘Well, you should have finished therapy before you got into this.’ And I always wonder: ‘Is therapy the end?’ No, it should be an ongoing thing because you’re always growing and learning and there are traumas that could have affected you that were never a problem until your thirties or forties.”

Stephen Richardson and Monica Davis in ‘Love Is Blind’ Season 7.

Courtesy of Netflix

“You might think you’ve been hiding it, and then suddenly you’re faced with something where you’re like, oh, okay, I see this, now that I recognize it,” he adds. “I have to do something to fix it. And that’s basically what this whole year is for me.”

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During their confrontation at the end of episode 8, Stephen admitted his wrongdoings, claiming that he “wasn’t faking anything” and that he genuinely wanted to marry Monica.

“I made a completely stupid mistake while drunk on a sleep test with someone texting me,” he admitted. – I know it was a stupid decision.

Monica refused to accept his apology, insisting that he had texted the woman the following day with “disgusting” messages about “fetish” and other sexual topics. She also snapped when Stephen tried to reason by saying he only texted her after “the conversation we had last night.”

“Don’t even blame me for being disgusting,” Monica said before asking Stephen Venmo for the money she had been covering for him for the past few days. “It’s almost embarrassing how much heart I gave you. You wanted to shake my dad’s hand this weekend? While you were planning to cheat? I don’t understand.”

Stephen Richardson and Monica Davis in ‘Love Is Blind’ Season 7.

Courtesy of Netflix

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Now that they’re divorced, Stephen tells PEOPLE that he used the moment as a learning experience about what he hopes for in future relationships — as well as what it doesn’t work I want to repeat.

“Not even just because of my mistake, but also because of the experiment Love is blindit really showed me that when you take away everything else from the world, and it’s just you and the individual, it really only takes 10 days to fall in love with someone,” he says. “I can safely say that no matter what, as a cynic that I fell in love with Monika within 10 days. I fell in love with her in those pods, 100%. No doubt I am. And it was easy because of the way the experiment was set up for us.”

“And so, taking that into account, I now understand a lot of the little things that we go through fighting the true feeling just because we’re like, ‘Oh, well, we’re supposed to wait this long.’ Or other people say, ‘You shouldn’t do this on a first date or you shouldn’t do that within a month,’ blah, blah, blah,” she continues. “It’s like, why don’t you just do what’s right and stop worrying about everything else and just enjoy your adventure within the relationship? Either it’s going to work or it’s not going to work.”

“You look at every season: either they work or they don’t, but they make the most of it,” he adds.

Stephen Richardson and Monica Davis.

Adam Rose/Netflix

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Stephen and Monica are the second season 7 couple to break up after getting engaged. Leo and Brittany had previously divorced shortly after leaving the group, although producers stopped following their story and did not film their breakup.

There are currently five other couples left: Taylor and Garrett, Nick and Hannah, Marissa and Ramses, Tim and Alex, and Ashley and Tyler.

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Episodes 1-9 of Love is blind season 7 is now streaming on Netflix, and episodes 10-11 will be shown on Wednesday, October 16.

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Source: HIS Education