On their journeys to the altar, the Rocky Mountain romantics of Love Is Blind Season 9 faced a range of relationship challenges. But did their differences prove insurmountable? Or were they able to rise to the occasion when the rubber met the road — preferably in Jordan’s understated yet practical Kia?

This season, 32 Denver singles entered the pods eager to find a soulmate sight unseen. After some unexpected ghosting and a last-minute breakup, five couples — Ali and Anton, Kalybriah and Edmond, Megan and Jordan, Madison and Joe, and Annie and Nick — jetted off on a romantic getaway. Once they returned, however, new dramas and old flames put multiple engagements at risk, resulting in a runaway groom and a relationship-ending conversation about chalupas. 

Ultimately, only two couples made it to the altar to face a life-changing decision in the shocking finale — and, in a series first, no one got married. Keep reading for a recap of the relationships, from their first dates to their wedding days, and to find out about the drama that’s gone down after the reunion. 

Megan

Since Season 9 premiered, Megan has been living with the “anticipation of what viewers are going to think and how [her] life is going to change” now that she’s a mother. After filming ended, she’d been keeping her personal life under wraps, so the reunion was her exhale moment . “It was nice to finally — for lack of a better term — get it over with, so I can move on and really step into just being a mom and figuring out what’s next,” she says. Megan is keen to turn the page and focus on her life with her son and partner. And while she has love for the pod squad, she’s not exactly making those relationships a priority right now. “So much has changed, and it just doesn’t feel very fulfilling to still be immersed in some of the drama that is a part of the group.”

Jordan, however, will always have a special place in her heart: Megan characterizes the two of them as the most “amicable and respectful towards each other” among the Season 9 couples. While they never made it to the altar, the experience and challenges they shared prompted her to start her own family. “A big part of my journey was listening to my intuition and following my gut. Everything worked out exactly how it was meant to,” she says. “That’s the greatest blessing. I probably wouldn’t have a little baby boy right now, had Jordan and I gone through with it — maybe eventually, but it’s hard to say.”

Looking back at what led to their breakup, Megan just wasn’t “100% certain about our relationship and our future.” Two “telltale days” off camera especially gave her pause. “He was like a different person,” she recalls. “For the first time, I was spending the day with somebody who was very quiet, very reserved. It was hard to get conversation out of him, and it really made me question our compatibility.” While she understood the stress Jordan was under, she began to question just how invested he was in making this work. “I was fully trying to show up and give it my all, and sometimes, I didn’t feel like he was doing that.” 

For the record, Megan says that their final on-camera conversation was actually one in a series she and Jordan shared during their last week together. “It looks like I sprung that on him out of nowhere, but we were having really in-depth discussions,” she says. “He had told me, ‘There’s no wrong answer here. Follow your heart.’ I think he was still hopeful that it would work. So of course, when it’s that final day, when it’s done-done, I know he was hurt.”

Jordan

Jordan is taking things one day — and one chicken smoothie — at a time. “I had one this morning, and it was delicious,” he tells Tudum. “I hate to say it, but I do like it. I don’t want it to become my whole personality, but it kind of looks like it’s going that way.” 

While his polarizing breakfast choices haven’t changed since the experiment, Jordan says he feels “transformed as a person, and as a man.” For starters, he just put in his formal resignation to seek new career opportunities. “My boss isn’t getting the most out of me. My son’s not getting the most out of me, so something’s got to give,” he says. “Right now, that’s work.” After opening up about his son Luca’s Type 1 diabetes, Jordan hopes to continue to advocate for that community in his next chapter, starting with the publication of his new children’s book, Dear Luca. “I’m very proud that I was able to go on this TV show and just be real about how hard it is,” he says. “It’s also so inspiring because you have a little trooper who’s just living life every day the only way they know how.”

Jordan has already received well wishes from his ex-fiancée Megan about his decision to quit his job, which was a source of major tension during their relationship. “I was thinking, ‘Ah, what would’ve happened if she would’ve been able to just hang on for a little bit, put up with my busy work schedule, and then now we’re going to have some free time?’ But that’s a big what-if. I don’t really like the what-if games.” 

Even before Megan told him she’s welcomed a baby boy with a new partner, Jordan had “heard casual rumors around town,” but chose not to engage — even when a burner Instagram account reached out to him directly. “It’s none of my business,” he says. “They sound like they’re healthy and happy, and that’s all I want.” After what Jordan describes as a “brutal” on-camera breakup, he and Megan have managed to find their way back to each other as friends. “We’re still super cool. We’re making sure we’re staying mentally healthy and taking care of ourselves.”

Reliving their tearful conversation on the couch, however, wasn’t exactly easy for Jordan. “I cried,” he says about watching the scene. “I cried with every emotion possible.” But Jordan believes Megan ultimately made the right decision, as they’d agreed they wouldn’t meet each other at the altar if they weren’t completely certain about their future together. “She feels like our lifestyles did not align, and there’s nothing wrong with that. She made the right decision for her personally, which in turn was the right decision for me and my family,” he says. “We didn't want to get married going into it with a mindset like, ‘Oh, we can just annul or get a divorce.’ We did not treat it like a game.”

Since their relationship ended, Jordan has gone on a few casual dates, but considers himself very much single — and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. “My son is at this tender age where stability is extremely important,” he says.  Should the right person come along, however, Jordan is open to a “compassionate, loving, and caring woman” who can easily blend in with his life. “I’m a very simple guy,” he says. “You can look however you want. I just want you to love me for being me.”

Ali 

While Ali doesn’t feel the reunion provided any fresh clarity on the end of her relationship with Anton, she’s grateful that chapter is closed. Watching the relationship back, she empathizes with the “distant version of herself,” feeling that she’s significantly grown and matured since then. She cites the challenges of dealing with a different version of Anton outside of filming. “On camera, he was becoming the lively, talkative, more interactive Anton from the pods,” she tells Tudum. “When the cameras weren’t there, he was kind of shut off, and I couldn’t get a conversation out of him.”

For Ali, the decision to say no at the altar ultimately boiled down to their fundamental differences in habits and values. “He presented himself in the pods as active, healthy, and a man of God. In the real world, that just wasn’t the case,” she says. “He was eating fast food every day, [and] he was apparently partying and drinking and going out to strip clubs. I just felt like I was sold a person in the pods, and he wasn’t able to keep up that persona.”

As for the online chatter labeling her a gold digger, Ali simply doesn’t agree. “I do have a traditional mentality on gender roles within a heterosexual relationship, and I was very clear about what I wanted,” she says. “I was clear about my career goals.” She believes her desire to focus on being a full-time student without being stretched thin working a full-time job created a misconception about her work ethic. However, she acknowledges that some of her comments, which were intended to be silly, were taken seriously, contributing to the discourse.

“If we were going to be in a relationship, then yes, I would expect him to help me finish my degree more comfortably,” she says. “But I wasn’t expecting the private chef that I mentioned. That was a complete joke. He didn’t actually spend any money on the ring, so [the remark about wanting a bigger ring] was obviously another complete joke. I am a very reasonable person. I grew up in poverty in Brazil, so my standards were never anything that were unrealistic for his income level or mine.”

For the time being, Ali isn’t disclosing whether she’s found romance in the year and a half since filming ended.  When asked about her current dating life during the reunion, Ali declined to answer: “I appreciate the interest in my personal life, but I do want to keep it personal.”

Anton

Since his engagement to Ali unraveled, Anton has moved forward with life. He bought a house in the Denver mountains, where he now resides with his girlfriend. “She’s all the things that I really needed,” he tells Tudum, describing a romance that bloomed from a platonic connection. “At first, attraction wasn’t the main thing that bonded us. [But] as we got to know each other on a deeper level, emotionally, then it led to an amazing relationship.”

Reflecting on his time in the pods, Anton believes his and Ali’s core incompatibility simply came down to lifestyles and values. “She was expecting this bougie lifestyle — private chef, nanny, all that — and that’s not me,” he says. Despite their mutual desire for a traditional relationship, he says their time together seemed more transactional than reciprocal. “It felt like she just wanted someone to pay for everything and didn’t want to do anything in return.”

The tension came to a head during an off-camera conversation, in which Anton claims Ali admitted she couldn’t see herself saying yes at the altar but wanted to go through with the ceremony “to honor the experiment.” Anton questioned why they would do that if she was so certain about her answer. He says Ali told him, “If you want to look better, I can be the one to say yes, and you can say no.” He declined, saying he “would never” say no, calling it a waste of resources and time.

Anton says he believed he’d fallen in love with Ali, but love alone isn’t enough to get married. “It’s also about lifestyle and compatibility,” he says. Anton also opened up about relying on alcohol to cope with his nerves and the pressure of being filmed. “I leaned on drinks as a crutch, to calm [my] anxiety and all the things I was dealing with in an unhealthy way,” he says. He made a point to stay sober at the reunion, proving to himself how far he’s come. “That was a testament to [my] growth in the sense that I was myself, with all the nerves and anxiety.”

Kalybriah

KB has navigated a whirlwind of emotions since Season 9 of Love is Blind premiered. “I get a different feeling every two days,” she says. “It just depends on what comments I’ve read that day.” She acknowledges that the majority of her social media interactions are supportive — “the positive definitely outweighs the negative” — but KB also described the complex swirl of pride and discomfort she felt when watching her journey with Edmond.

“It’s very triggering because you see yourself on TV, like, ‘Girl, why are you being so vulnerable in front of all these people?’ But it’s also refreshing to see how patient I am. I always knew that I give so much grace, but to actually watch it, it’s just like, ‘Oh, wow, girl.’ ” After filming wrapped, KB hit an emotional wall. “It’s weird going from being engaged and having all these cameras around you 24–7 to being by yourself and having no one to talk to,” she says. “I probably didn’t get out of bed for a week. I needed … to decompress.”

KB and Edmond had a healthy conversation at the reunion, but a meaningful interaction in the hotel lobby afterward gave her closure. “We talked, just catching up and chatting. I’ll always have a soft spot for Edmond because, deep down, I don’t think he means any harm. Seeing him shut down on stage [at the reunion] … he couldn’t answer any questions, and he was talking in circles. It’s just like, ‘OK, just breathe.’ ”

Now on good terms with her ex-fiancé, KB also calls out the harmful discourse surrounding Edmond online. “I hate that for him, because he’s such a sensitive person. He said he’s ignoring it, but I feel like the world is always telling people, ‘Be your most authentic self,’ and he’s being displayed in front of the whole world, showing who he is individually, wholeheartedly. And everybody’s like, ‘I don’t like the way you act.’ ”

There are moments when Kalybriah wishes she’d been more patient, especially during heated exchanges with Edmond. “It’s icky seeing myself doing some of the things I thought I outgrew. For example, cussing at [Edmond]. One of my biggest takeaways from watching this show is [that] no matter how angry you are, just go take a breather. … Words really do hurt, and they really do stick with you.” Now freshly self-aware, KB welcomes the idea of a new romance. “I’m very open to dating. I am single,” she says. After a journey that tested her patience but proved her empathy and strength, KB plans to move forward gracefully. “I just like to give grace, because I like to have grace back. I’m not perfect.”

Edmond

Typically, the three magic words associated with romance aren’t “funny, surprising, and embarrassing,” but that’s how Edmond describes watching himself on Love is Blind. The avid rollerblader and realtor has been readjusting to life after the volume of attention he’s received. “I’m getting the most messages on Facebook and Instagram ever in my life,” he says. The reactions are mixed after his bumpy relationship with Kalybriah.

The reunion allowed Edmond and KB to come to terms with the outcome of their relationship. “I know KB loved me, but she couldn’t choose me,” he says. “It just sucks to feel like you found your person and they don’t feel the same. I don’t even know how it makes sense … but I know how I feel. It was just unfortunate. It’s a thing that you grow from. Right now I’m in therapy. I’m learning how to better listen to my partner’s side and be vulnerable and heal and grow from this.”

Edmond remains in contact with the guys from his cast, particularly Patrick and Jordan, and he viewed the reunion as an opportunity to move forward and “finally be done with the experience.” Still, he does wish some of his more thoughtful gestures were shown throughout the season. “I got [KB] a lot of gifts. That’s one thing it would’ve been nice to see.” Edmond is now working hard on personal growth, though he tells Tudum he’s open to meeting someone new. “Right now I’m single and focused on myself, [but] I’m able to work and start a life with somebody,” he says. “I’m focused on myself because I’m not with anyone right now.”

Annie 

“Nick made it very clear that he really was there to apologize to Kait,” Annie says of the reunion, citing that her ex-fiancé didn’t exactly extend her the same courtesy. “He wasn’t the person I needed to be with, and I was just continually trying to convince myself that I made the right choice,” she tells Tudum. Still, Annie is confident Brendan, her other connection in the pods, wasn’t right for her either. “While I think Brendan's a great person, he and I just never really connected on anything super deep.”

Annie states that she and Nick wasn’t openly apologetic to her at the reunion because they’ve managed to build a “decent relationship off camera, post-show.” Though they called off the wedding when they exited the show, they didn’t end their relationship: immediately after moving out of their shared apartment, Nick came to stay at her place. “We actually had so much fun together because it seemed to be more stress-free,” she shares. They continued dating for about three weeks, and made plans to visit one another every other weekend. Nick, however, didn’t live up to his promise. Soon after, he dumped Annie over text. “He was like, ‘So glad we gave it a good try,’ and we kind of just left it at that.” 

A few months later, Nick texted again saying that he hoped they could be on good terms; that was fine with Annie. “I'm just not one to hold a grudge,” she says. “I'm not a malicious person, I have no hard feelings towards him, I have no ill will.” Nick even met her new boyfriend after the reunion. “[He] texted and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love your new boyfriend.’ Nick and I have a weird rapport. It's not negative, but we're not like best friends.”

Annie calls her new relationship “serious” and has noticed a very important difference between it and the one she had with Nick. “Watching myself back, I have a really hard time being in silence. A lot of the scenes where I'm repeating myself, it's because Nick isn't saying anything. In turn, it just makes me look pretty unhinged,” she admits. “But now that I'm in a healthy, safe relationship, I don't ever feel not validated.”

Aside from her communication struggles with Nick, there’s one other thing she wants to address: her comments in the pods about potentially raising LGBTQ children. “The only reason I hesitated was because I have friends and family that are so close to me that are queer, and I've seen the difficulties that they've faced. That's something I would never wish on anyone,” she explains. “I am nothing but compassionate and loving towards everyone, all people.”

Nick

"That's really me?" For Nick, the experience of watching himself engage in “crass humor and dirty jokes” in early episodes of Love Is Blind felt “really dissociative” and “very jarring.” But as his romantic connection blossomed, he began to see more of his recognizable self. “Going up to the mountains, talking with Annie, being able to have conflict resolution; real traits that you need in a relationship. I'm like, ‘Okay. I'm there. That's me.’ ”

Of his many conversations with Annie, the one about the LGBTQ community  was the toughest to relive. “I expressed being annoyed by TV introducing sexuality to kids at a young age and how that might influence them and their decisions. But that's wrong in and of itself. That’s a full sentence right there that can hurt people in a marginalized community and I take full accountability for my ignorance and my comments.” Nick adds, “It's sad that it took that long to be shaken awake. It's [all about] having uncomfortable conversations and looking at my hidden biases. We’re all here to love, not to judge. And I’ll love my future children unconditionally, regardless of their sexuality.”

While Nick ultimately ended his relationship with Annie before their wedding, the two cleared the air even before stepping on the reunion stage. “Annie and I are on good terms now. We tried to date for a little bit after the fact, because I wanted to see if I could actually reconnect with somebody that I felt so close [to] within the pods. We realized it was more than just the cameras.” After splitting up again, Nick says he and Annie stopped communicating. Six to eight months passed before he reached out to extend an olive branch. “She had moved on and started dating,” he says. “Her new partner is an absolutely fantastic guy. I see the connection they have and wish them nothing but the best.”

Nick, however, is currently single and happy to focus on himself for the time being. “It’s clear that I need to do some growing,” he says. Living a more isolated life has proven to be beneficial to Nick’s self-improvement journey, as he believes he’s more socially reserved than the rest of the pod squad. “A lot of the cast was having parties and meetups when we got back, but I’m not into the party culture. I would rather be up in my house, hermit a little bit, watch the snowfall and sit by the fire. That’s just me.”

Madison 

Madison says the only consistent thing in her relationship with Joe was the confusion, and that continued even after they broke up. About three weeks after filming ended, she reached out, hoping to gain clarity and closure. “It was the same old thing, me trying to understand and not really getting much back,” Madison tells Tudum. After the conversation, he walked her to her car, they kissed, and he started crying. “I’m like, ‘Why are you crying? You ended this.’ And he’s like, ‘I don’t know. That was weird.’ ” That was the last time they spoke one-on-one until the reunion. Even after facing her ex on that stage, Madison doesn’t feel like she got any answers, but she’s at peace with that. “I feel like I said everything I needed to say,” she explains. “I’ve come to terms with the fact that I will not get a complete sentence from Joe on anything.”

Madison says that, at the reunion, she was also able to apologize to Joe for not always being her best self during the experiment. Watching it back — especially that kitchen scene, in which she dramatically gives Joe her engagement ring — she learned a lot about herself, including that she often takes things too personally. “When I’m really invested in something, I take things to heart, and I have a hard time just seeing something for what it is and not taking it as a personal attack. I definitely learned I could be a little bit more patient, a little bit more receptive.” And she’s grateful she was able to tell Joe that. 

As she also alluded to at the reunion, Madison also started hearing rumors that Kacie and Joe were in a situationship. “I believe that they were just mutually using each other’s bodies. I did also know that Joe was talking to another girl, who’s a mutual friend of ours, and there seemed to be quite a bit of overlap.” When she saw Kacie at Mike’s pool party, she told her, “I do not respect your actions. It feels very calculated and just generally gross.” That’s when, Madison says, Kacie complained to her about the way Joe had treated her and made that “out of touch” comment. After all that, Madison simply doesn’t trust Kacie. 

Even with all the challenges she’s faced, Madison is extremely grateful she was able to speak publicly about having retinitis pigmentosa. “I remember feeling so alone in my diagnosis. I really truly was in denial for probably three or four years, and then I found [a] community and started talking about it. I’ve learned that monsters are scarier in the dark, so the more that you talk about it, the better it is for the whole community. It’s just been incredible to let people see that these diagnoses don’t hold you back.”

Joe

“Honestly, I hate watching myself back on TV,” Joe says. “Especially some of the scenes that I don’t think directly reflect my character.” For starters, he regrets being “a little bit belligerent” at times. “I could have worded certain things better, but you live and you learn.” Joe thinks his mistakes may have overshadowed his love story with Madison and the depth of their connection. “It kind of looks like it was a whirlwind of conversations that didn’t go well, but we really fell deeply for each other,” he explains. 

Joe believes that he and Madison “still have love” for one another, especially after speaking at the reunion. “I think we made amends,” he explains, adding that what he said about his typical type in Mexico was absolutely not meant to “hurt or shame” his fiancée. “I’m truly sorry. I was unaware that that was an insecurity of hers.” That wasn’t the only misunderstanding he was able to clarify at the reunion. Joe says he was surprised that his relationship with Kacie was a topic of conversation and that Madison thought it had affected their engagement. “I just wanted to make it clear that it didn’t,” he says. Joe maintains that he and Kacie only went on “a couple dates” months after he and Madison had broken up.

At the reunion, Madison asked Joe why she was not privy to his tux-fitting breakdown. “I had a heaviness in my heart, but it was not the right time, when I was out with my friends, to have that conversation with her,” Joe says. He understands that this decision may still be a point of contention for Madison, but overall he came away from the reunion with a sense of relief and closure about their relationship. “I think two people can be great — just not great for each other.”

Joe’s biggest takeaway from the experiment, which has served him in his new relationship, is the importance of knowing what you want and clearly communicating that. “I kind of tried to mask the feelings that I had and not feel and express them,” he says. “Don’t try to convince yourself of something that you know deep down in your heart is not right.”

Kacie

When she exited the experiment instead of heading to Baja with Patrick, Kacie told the producers, “I just unfortunately don’t think my attraction to him is going to grow that much.” Now, though, she says the demise of their romantic relationship was really just due to timing. When they returned home, Kacie did want to have a conversation with Patrick and maybe even date, but she really needed space to decompress from what had been a “really emotional experience.” Patrick, though, Kacie says, was being an “eager beaver” and needed that conversation to happen sooner than she was ready for. 

“He didn’t get that conversation when he wanted it. Then, a couple days later, I get a text that he wants the ring back and that he wants to be friends.” Being asked to return the engagement ring without a one-on-one conversation upset her. “You want me to, what, mail you the ring? I’m just not doing that,” she says. “I didn’t understand that, and it was very hurtful to me because I didn’t get my fairy-tale ending either.” Because Patrick hadn’t paid for the ring, and it represented their shared experience on the show, Kacie believed it was as much hers as it was his. She had also heard that Patrick wished Anna had stayed in the experiment, which added to the pain. “I feel like I’m the girl that these guys always choose somebody else [over], and it just happened again with somebody that I had this crazy experience with — an experience we only know together.” 

Kacie is currently “very single,” and while her cat Chardonnay — who is doing great, by the way — is “super pumped” that there are no boys in their apartment, she is still trying to date. And now, thanks to her time on Love Is Blind, the physical aspect of a relationship feels a lot less important. “I’ve set more boundaries. I ask different questions. It’s totally changed how I’ve approached everything, and I really think it’s going to help me find my future husband,” she says. “Although it has been very emotional, I would do it all over again just for how much it has changed me as a person.” She may not have left the experiment married, but Kacie did gain a best friend in Megan W. And she got a gorgeous new piece of jewelry. “I love the ring,” she says. “I wear it to the grocery store.”

Patrick

Ahead of the first post-pod group hang, Patrick wanted to have a conversation with Kacie. “I wasn’t trying to pressure her or anything,” he explains. “I was just trying to be her friend.” Kacie claims she told Patrick she needed more time, but he says that was never clearly communicated. “It’s OK to just be like, ‘Yo, Pat, let’s have a conversation in a few weeks.’ She could have just said that instead of just ghosting me,” he says.

At the time of his final on-camera conversation with Kacie, Patrick did not think they were breaking up. Yes, he had concerns about what might happen between them once back in Denver, but he never expected the relationship to fall apart. Having formed such a strong bond in the pods, he assumed they would remain friendly even if their romantic relationship didn’t go anywhere. “I was under the assumption we were going to be cordial.” He didn’t even really want the ring back, but Kacie’s reaction gave him a definitive answer on where the two of them stood.

Of course, that wasn’t the first time Patrick was ghosted. When his strongest connection, Anna, stood him up at the end of Episode 2, he was surprised and disappointed. “I was really upset, because, dang, we were really hitting it off,” he says. “I didn’t see her bouncing. I didn’t have that in my cards.” But, unlike with Kacie, Patrick and Anna are now on good terms, though they haven’t met up one-on-one. “We’re cool,” he says. “There’s not a lot of pain or anything. … The momentum kind of just died.”

Now Patrick is dating and taking his time getting to know the women he’s going out with. “I definitely approach it looking for more compatibility rather than physical attributes,” he explains, adding that the dating apps still aren’t working for him, so he’s trying to meet people in person. “A lot of people are really superficial and shallow and don’t understand how important it is to have a compatible emotional bond. I learned a lot about that through this experiment.” He also learned that confidence is key. “Aside from anything — like race, money, career, any other factor — if you’re true to yourself, and you’re confident in who you are as a person, you’ll attract the right person.”

Anna

While Anna doesn’t regret her decision to exit the experiment, she does wish she’d told Patrick she was leaving instead of just ghosting. With guilt looming over her, Anna sent both Patrick and Blake DMs. To her surprise, Blake responded soon after, sharing that he had also left the same day. She was extremely relieved that Blake wasn’t upset with her. “We [found] a little bit of comfort in each other that we weren’t the only ones feeling that way,” she says. “Honestly, we just built a really good friendship.” And yes, the bond between them is purely platonic, but it is special and strong. “We both just adore each other as friends. He's an amazing person, and I think his person is out there, but I don't think it's me.” 

Anna was also relieved when she found out that Patrick had gotten engaged to Kacie, believing that he had found his person. But, of course, that relationship didn’t last, and not long after, Anna and Patrick met face-to-face. “I think that first interaction between [us] probably set the tone pretty poorly,” she says. “It was a little messy. I think he really wanted to pour his heart out, which is very fair. For me, it was just a lot.” Now, Anna describes them as “pretty good friends” but nothing more. “I realize that the little things that were holding me back from our connection were real-life incompatibilities. Romantically, I don't think that we're compatible, but I respect him. I think he's a sweet guy.” 

Anna calls what unfolded between Patrick and Kacie a “really tough situation.” “I'll just say I think Patrick went on there for the right reasons and not everybody else did,” she explains. “But with that being said, if she feels like he wasn't her person, and she couldn't go through with it, that's also fair. I don't think they should be together.”

Re-entering the dating scene post-Love Is Blind, Anna felt much more confident in what she wanted in a long-term relationship. She was upfront about the fact that she was looking for a serious commitment, which she says isn’t easy to find in Denver, and that attitude helped her meet an “amazing guy.” They’ve been together for over a year, and it’s going “very well.” In addition to her “very cute” new partner, Anna also opened up her own hair salon in Denver. “I'm a business owner, so that's cool,” she shares. “I'm very happy.”

Mike

Mike says that Megan reached out in a surprising way not long after ending her engagement with Jordan. “She sent me a picture of the love letter I wrote her in the pods,” he shares. The two started chatting and decided to meet up, but ultimately, nothing romantic developed between them. “I think we were kind of just in different places,” says Mike. “It felt like I kind of lost that spark over time.” 

What initially attracted him to Megan was how much they had in common. After the experiment, though, Mike began to wonder if they were possibly too similar for a relationship to stay exciting in the long run. He also admits that not being picked in the pods still stung. “Not to say anything bad about Jordan, but we're very different people, and she chose to go this direction, so I think for me, it was just tough to really put myself out there and maybe give that a shot again,” he explains. 

While romance wasn’t in the cards for Mike, he walked away with unexpected friendships. Every couple of weeks, he gets together with a group of guys from the experience — including Jordan. “I've gotten to know Jordan much better as a friend, and I really respect him all around, how good of a dad he is.” Between pod dates, Mike says he became close with the other men through deep conversations about fatherhood and their own relationships with their dads. But he’s never struggled to open up to friends like that. Being vulnerable was only difficult for Mike in the context of dating, and since building emotional intimacy in the pods, he’s tried to be more intentional about sharing who he is on dates.

Mike has also become less focused on looks — even branching out to date some brunettes instead of all blondes. “I'm much more likely to be open-minded, have a conversation, go on a couple dates,” he explains. That new approach has led to positive results. Mike is currently dating someone, but they’re still figuring out how serious it’s going to be. “I didn't want to put myself in a scenario where I was going to get my heart broken again.” While his hair color preference for a potential partner has changed, he’s still working in real estate and living in Denver, but he plans to move to San Diego next year and eventually get a place in Hawaii.