Depending on whom you ask, Love Is Blind Season 5 was either the best in the show’s relatively short history or an absolute dumpster fire.
One thing we can all agree on is that the show still delivered plenty of drama.
Unfortunately, some viewers feel that the drama was not a natural result of a bonkers experiment, as in seasons past, but was instead a bunch of unnecessary pettiness that producers focused on to make up for the shortage of engagements.
As you know if you’re all caught up on the show, only two couples made it to the engagement stage — or at least there were only two that we got to see.
Truth be told, three other couples got engaged during the pod stage, but their stories were cut for various reasons.
In a shocking turn of events, a contestant named Tran Dang accused her partner of assault and is currently suing LiB producers.
Renee Poche and Carter Wall made it all the way to the altar but their story was cut due to allegations of fraud.
There’s no word on why Paige Tillman and Josh Simmons didn’t make the cut, but sometimes a couple’s love story just doesn’t make for compelling reality TV.
(They wound up breaking up before the wedding stage.)
Anyway, after Taylor Rue wisely decided to kick JP to the curb, only two couples were left standing:
They were James Milton Johnson (aka Milton) and Lydia Velez Gonzalez, and Stacy Snyder and Izzy Zapata.
Only Milton and Lydia said “I do” at the altar, making this the least “successful” season yet, in terms of marriages.
The good news is, this week’s reunion informed us that Milton and Lydia are still married 18 months after tying the knot.
Sure, they’re a long-distance couple, with Lydia remaining in Houston while Milton gets his MBA in Long Beach, California, but the Johnsons assured viewers that they’re as in love as they day they met.
“We really miss each other and it just makes you even love each other more,” Lydia told Entertainment Weekly this week.
And that’s not the only way in which she’s emerged victorious from this trainwreck of a season.
As you may recall, Lydia dated Uche Okoroha before they wound up in the pods together.
The situation led to some major tension and prompted Uche’s primary love interest, Aaliyah Cosby, to quit the experiment.
Uche cemented his place as the primary villain of LiB Season 5 by haranguing Aaliyah for leaving and accusing Lydia of going on the show just to stalk him.
He was probably shocked to see that viewers didn’t really care how or why Lydia wound up on the show.
In fact, a surprising number of fans are applauding her for crashing her ex’s “newly single” party.
As for Uche, he says he and Aaliyah briefly dated off camera after their time on the show ended, but not surprisingly, it didn’t work out.
And since Uche didn’t appear on the reunion, he may never get to tell his side of the story in a compelling way.
(He’s attempting to plead his case on Instagram, but he’s getting dragged mercilessly.)
So yeah, Lydia found love and essentially ruined her ex’s life — no wonder so many people think she’s the definition of #goals!
The season might have been a mess, but Lydia emerged from the wreckage victorious!