Nearly every season of Love Is Blind includes a love story the cameras don't follow. But few have as many twists and turns as the one that played out behind the scenes on Love Is Blind: UK Season 2.
So far, fans have seen a handful of proposals, as five couples moved on to the next phase of their journey. But, another not-so-linear romance was developing between Amy and James, two singles who didn’t leave the pods engaged to one another. In fact, Amy even said yes to a proposal from another UK dater, Ross M. But, in a twist of fate, she found her way back to James. “I’m a big believer in the universe,” Amy tells Tudum. “Everything unfolds exactly how it’s meant to unfold.”
So what happened, and where does this mystery couple stand now? Below, James and Amy share their Love Is Blind: UK experience for the very first time, including the highs, the lows, and the lessons learned along the way.
Amy viewed Love Is Blind as a “last resort” before stepping into the pods. “I’d honestly resigned myself to being single forever,” she says, adding that the superficial nature of modern swiping had all but quashed her search for a life partner. James, similarly, was looking for a new approach to romance. “I very much based my choice of women on looks first and foremost,” he admits. “I remember speaking to my brother, and he said it would be an awesome test for me to not actually focus on looks for once."
Turns out, the experiment was exactly what both needed. During their brief, but ultimately life-changing first date, James and Amy managed to form a close connection and discover they shared a lot in common. In fact, Amy had recently returned from a trip to Thailand, where James had been living for the last two and a half years. During her vacation, she’d taken time one night on the beach to “manifest” falling in love within the year. Three months later, there she was talking to James for the very first time. “It was really bizarre,” she says of the powerful coincidence.
Both agree that the intensity of the Love Is Blind experience melted away whenever they were in the pods together. “When I’d hear his voice, my anxiety would just disappear,” Amy recalls. Luckily, James felt just as strongly. “It was our third or fourth date, and as soon as I walked out, I was like, ‘This is why I'm here. She’s the one,’ ” he shares, adding, “And then it all went wrong.”
Both Amy and James rated their first pod date together highly, but due to the other relationships they were forming, their next date didn’t occur until days later. And, in a process this fast-paced, every day makes a difference. “We always felt like we were playing catch-up,” Amy explains. “That day we missed was key because by day three, I had a strong bond with somebody else.”
While their dates were always wonderful, there were also lingering doubts about how deeply they felt about each other. Both also had other connections that seemed like sure things: Amy was getting closer to Ross M, with whom she had “great banter” and shared goals for the future, while James was still dating both Holly and Laurie. By the penultimate day of the experiment, Ross M made it clear to Amy, as well as all the other men in the lounge, that his sights were set on her. Holly had also assured James that she was ready for him to propose. “We just got into situations where it was safe,” he says. “In hindsight, I should’ve laid it on a bit thicker with Amy, but I didn’t want to propose and then have her say no.”
Amy, meanwhile, was drawn to the safety she felt with Ross M, who was clear from the beginning about their connection. “I had somebody there that was all in for me,” she says. “All any girl wants is somebody to just be like, ‘I see in you what I want in a future partner.’ That feeling of security with somebody was a relief.” James tried to reassure Amy, but his communication needed some refining. “He kept saying, ‘My gut’s with you. My gut’s with you.’ And I was like, ‘I don't know what that means,’ ” Amy explains.
Torn between Ross M and James, Amy spent the entire day before the proposal crying. She had started to sense some incompatibilities with Ross M, but the other women encouraged her to give him the benefit of the doubt. Plus, she knew she hadn’t given James enough for him to feel comfortable popping the question the following day. She woke up in the morning, resigned to the idea that whatever was meant to happen would happen.
Amy’s first date of that final day in the pods was with Ross. He proposed, and she said yes, assuming James had done the same with Holly. But he hadn’t. “When I got into the pods with Holly on the proposal day, it was just something that I could not do,” James shares. “Holly’s great, but it’s serious. I’ve got two daughters and emotions are quite high, and I just had to be completely honest with myself.” Though James and Amy weren’t leaving the pods together, on their final date, he told her, “If it had been on the outside, maybe things would've been different.” Something about the way he expressed that stuck with Amy, and she thought, “Oh, I feel like this isn't the end.”
Though Amy and Ross got on very well, within 24 hours of exiting the pods, she knew something wasn’t right. On their first night out together, Amy says it immediately became clear that she and Ross had vastly different values and senses of humor. So, when she found out that they would not be one of the couples followed by cameras on their journey to the altar, it felt like a “blessing in disguise.” Ross, it turns out, wasn’t all that interested in making a go of it either. They met for breakfast at their hotel in London following their first date. “I was like, ‘Are we just leaving things here? Because I think that’s for the best. I don’t think we’re right for each other,’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, I agree,’ ” Amy shares. “That was it. I got on the train and went back to Wales, and he went home.”
But moving on from her relationship with James wasn’t as easy. A couple of days after exiting the pods, Amy looked James up on Instagram and slid into his DMs. “It was amazing, obviously, seeing the message pop up,” James says. And once she had explained that she was no longer engaged, they arranged a quick call that ended up lasting an hour. “We were both very much like, ‘How is it possible to miss somebody you’ve never met?’ ” Amy says. At the time, she was in Spain, so James agreed to pick her up when she returned to the UK. He drove six hours to the airport, and then waited another two hours after her flight was delayed, before finally meeting the woman who got away. “It was pretty epic.”
From there, James drove Amy home to Wales. They booked a hotel in Cardiff and went out for their very first in-person date. “From that day, I don’t think we’ve had a day apart,” James shares. They made their relationship official around two weeks later. James was the first to say, “I love you” about a week after that, and then introduced Amy to his kids a couple of months later. The two have spent the last three months living together in Malta and are now starting to think about settling down, maybe in Cardiff, London, or back abroad.
“We’ve taken each week as it comes, and it’s been great,” James says. “It’s just been easy.” Amy agrees, adding that though they have a lot in common, their different personalities create a perfect balance. Beyond that, though, the couple credits the experiment for their relationship’s ultimate success. “Love Is Blind sets a foundation where you have to be vulnerable and emotional because there’s nothing else you can offer,” Amy says. “Communication has been a strong point in our relationship, and I think that has genuinely come from starting in the pods.” As for a future engagement, James and Amy are enjoying developing their relationship on their own timeline. “We’ve kind of just been bouncing about in this little bubble and not necessarily planning.”
Curious about where the other Love Is Blind: UK Season 2 couples stand now that they’re out of the pods? Find out who’s still together and who’s already called it quits with Tudum’s official status update.
