'Love Is Blind' Season 1: Which Couples Are Still Together?
Love Is Blind season 1 introduced the concept of "pod dating," and saw two couples actually tying the knot after falling in love without ever having seen each other. After the intitial episodes in the pods, the Netflix hit followed six couples on the road to marriage: Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton, Amber Pike and Matthew Barnett, Giannina Gibelli and Damian Powers, Jessica Batten and Mark Cuevas, Kelly Chase and Kenny Barnes, and Diamond Jack and Carlton Morton.
The first season saw some true love stories, like that of Lauren and Cameron, who not only tied the knot, but went on to write a book together. They seemed to be the most high-profile couple from the season, with Lauren going on to host a dating show of her own, in collaboration with MTV and Pepsi. However, not all of the couples were quite as lucky.
Scroll on below to refresh your memory on what went down between each pair of lovers during the show, as well as whether or not they are still together.
Lauren Speed & Cameron Hamilton
Status at the end of season 1: Married
Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton tied the knot on November 15, 2018, which aired on Netflix in February in the Love Is Blind season one finale. "Every day we've spent together has been a blessing to me. You made me want to be a better man, and you have everything I need in a partner," Cameron said during his vows.
Lauren gushed, "Cameron, I love that you make me feel comfortable being fully myself. No matter how flawed, goofy, or broken I may have been. I'm thankful for our time together. I've never had a man love me as purely and as selflessly as you have… I'm grateful for you."
Current status: Still married!
The fan-favorite season one couple - who have since wrote a book together, called Leap of Faith - shared a joint Instagram post in November 2022 to celebrate their anniversary. “Four years into forever with you Mr. Hamilton. I’m so much better because of it! I love you to the moon and back! Forever my Clyde #MinusThePowPow Happy Anniversary Baby,” the caption read.
As of May 8, 2023, the pair were still going strong, and walked the carpet for the world premiere of The Little Mermaid in Los Angeles.
Amber Pike & Matthew Barnett
Status at the end of season 1: Married
Amber Pike and Matthew Barnett may have have had tons of ups and downs on the series, but they stuck it out. “Never have I ever met a man in my life that irks my nerves like you do. I found my love of my lifetime,” Amber said, before adding, “I do,” and tying the knot on November 15, 2018, for the season finale of Love Is Blind.
Amber and Barnett and Lauren and Cameron were the only couples to say “I do” in the season finale. Barnett may have taken what felt like forever to respond at the altar. However, he also ended up saying, “I do,” adding, “I can’t imagine a life without you.”
Current status: Still married!
If their Instagram accounts are any indication, Amber and Barnett are still as happy together as they were in the beautiful video montage that was played at the reunion party. In November 2022, Amber shared a video montage of happy moments with her husband to celebrate their four-year anniversary.
She captioned the footage, “People may think getting married the way we did is crazy, but I’ve always trusted my instincts (even the crazy ones) and they haven’t steered me wrong yet, and thankfully your crazy instincts work damn near perfectly with mine. Happy Anniversary @barnettisblind. I wouldn’t trade our crazy life over these last 4 years for anything.”
Barnett also shared an anniversary post, writing, “4 years of being married to the hottest wife ever! Here's to at least 80 more anniversaries.”
Kelly Chase & Kenny Barnes
Status at the end of season 1: Broken up
Kelly Chase and Kenny Barnes seemed like the perfect couple, especially after Love Is Blind showed how well both their families got along. Kenny was clearly all in, however; as the final episode of season one grew closer, Kelly seemed more and more hesitant. The fact that the pair had not been intimate is not necessarily an indication of their relationship, but it seemed to stem from her uncertainty about Kenny.
Kenny spoke first in the season one finale, telling Kelly, “I can't wait to be a continued part of your life.” However, Kelly broke Kenny's heart when she said "I don't," when asked if she would take his hand in marriage. After telling him she loved him, Kelly continued, “I can’t marry you. I hope that you can appreciate that and respect that decision of mine.”
Current status: Still broken up
On the reunion episode of season one, Kelly said that she said no at the altar because she wanted to continue dating Kenny. He later told ET that the pair had agreed not to get married, because he wanted time apart, because he wasn't emotionally available. Kelly claimed to be surprised by that, saying they had communicated that they would continue dating after the show.
Kelly tried to reach out to Kenny a number of times after season one, but he did not respond. She went on to date someone who had been invited to she and Kenny's wedding, though they are no longer together. Kenny went on to marry girlfriend Alexandra Garrison on April 30, 2022.
Giannina Gibelli & Damian Powers
Status at the end of season 1: Broken up
Giannina “Gigi” Gibelli and Damian Powers had ups and downs throughout season one, and were constantly shown fighting. However, when it came time to meet at the altar, Giannina said, "Of course I do." Unfortunately, Damian said, "I do not."
“I do love you. Since day one, I have wanted to marry you. I’ve stayed consistent through this. You have not. I can’t handle the ups and downs of you loving me one day, and saying you want to be friends the next," Damian added, which sent Gigi running out of the church.
Current status: Broken up… for good.
In October 2020, Damian posted about Gigi, writing, “Love Is Blind! So incredibly lucky and blessed to have grown with you over these past two years! Thank you for doing life with me.”
When the reunion episodes started, Gigi and Damian were back together. However, they were not engaged, and did not live together. After Damian decided to bring Francesca Farago of Too Hot to Handle to the reunion rather than just going with his current girlfriend, things started going downhill really quickly. Francesca - who Damian insisted was just a friend - called him out for not being honest about he and Gigi's relationship, and when Gigi said she could't trust him, he stormed out of the party. He later appeared on Netflix's Perfect Match for Francesca.
Gigi has since begun dating Blake Horstmann of Bachelor Nation fame, after the pair connected on yet another reality show, All Star Shore.
Jessica Batten & Mark Cuevas
Status at the end of season 1: Broken up
Between the age difference and the fact that Jessica Batten clearly still had feelings for Matt Barnett from when they were in the pods, she and Mark Cuevas' relationship seemed doomed from the beginning. However, leading up to the altar, she kept gushing about her love for Mark. “It’s my wedding day and I couldn’t be happier. I found full-blown love like I never experienced before," she said, later adding, "Mark is everything I ever wanted.”
However, after Mark said "I do," Jessica replied, "I cannot. I do want you to know that I do love you so very much. I respect you so much as a man."
Current status: Still broken up
Mark did not show up for the reunion show, but in the first episode viewers learned that he had a new girlfriend, Aubrey Rainey, and they were expecting a baby. They have since tied the knot, and share two sons, Ace and Axton.
Jessica showed up to the reunion show alone, though she did share that she had a new boyfriend. She and Lauren "LC" Chamblin were seen chatting at brunch about how Mark cheated on them both. She has since tied the knot with said boyfriend, Benjamin McGrath, who goes by Doctor Ben on social media.
Diamond Jack & Carlton Morton
Status at the end of season 1: Broken up
After getting engaged, all of the Love Is Blind couples went on a little honeymoon to Mexico. The fighting started for Diamond Jack and Carlton Morton after the latter revealed that he is bisexual, which left the former feeling a bit mislead, since he had never mentioned it before. After that, Carlton consistently threw insults Diamond's way, calling her “crazy,” and saying she's “lucky she's pretty” because otherwise he would have left already - not exactly honeymoon conversation. It all culminates in a disastrous and insulting argument, in which Carlton made more cheap shots, and Diamond threw her engagement ring in the pool.
Current status: Still broken up
In the reunion episode, Carlton apologized to Diamond, giving her back the engagement ring as a “symbol of friendship.” Despite all of that, Diamond later told TMZ that she had to block him, explaining, “he was being very foul-mouthed against me on all of his social media pages.” On the After the Altar special, instead of Diamond and Carlton reuniting, viewers were shown Diamond being set up on a date with a new man.
Carlton spoke with Lauren Speed-Hamilton about their fallout on After the Altar. Much like his discussion with Diamond, the conversation did not go well, and he ended up blowing up at Lauren, blaming all of his bad press and his tenuous relationship with the rest of the cast on Diamond.
This article was originally published on Ranker.com.
