HOUSTON, TEXAS: Lydia Velez Gonzalez may have staged her and Uche Okoroha's participation in 'Love Is Blind' to revive their love, indicating a possible motivation for their involvement on the show. Here's what viewers learned with the latest episode-drop of the Netflix show.
'Love Is Blind' Season 5 differs from previous seasons in several ways, notably Lydia and Uche's relationship prior to the program. Unlike previous seasons of one of the finest reality TV series, not everyone who appeared in the pods spoke to a complete stranger.
Lydia, a 32-year-old geologist, and Uche, a 34-year-old lawyer/entrepreneur, were in a committed relationship before starring on 'Love Is Blind' Season 5. Uche withheld that knowledge from Aaliyah Cosby, his closest friend in the pods, until he was prepared to propose.
However, it's probable that Uche and Lydia's casting was not by chance, but rather a premeditated maneuver by the 'Love Is Blind' producers and Lydia. Throughout the first seven episodes of 'Love Is Blind' season 5, there were several indications that Lydia attempted and failed to engineer a prospective reconciliation between herself and Uche.
Did Lydia Velez Gonzalez and Uche Okoroha date in 'Love is Blind' Season 5 pods?
When Uche disclosed to Aaliyah that he had dated Lydia in the real world, the 29-year-old ICU travel nurse was understandably taken aback. Uche harshly condemned Aaliyah for her history as a "recent cheater" despite her fragility and guilt; thus, his withholding information from her appeared hypocritical.
Uche doesn't recognize Lydia at first when shooting Uche and Lydia's first date, but she quickly recognizes who is on the other side of the wall. Uche didn't appear thrilled when he discovered an old flame was in the pods, but Lydia called it "fate" and thought it may be a sign they wanted to start again.
Uche objected, claiming that it would contradict the premise of 'Love Is Blind' because they had previously seen each other.
'Love is Blind' star Uche Okoroha claimed Lydia Velez Gonzalez stalked him and his friends after breakup
Lydia was accused by Uche of following him and keeping close tabs on his buddies on Instagram after their separation. While he first claimed that their split was amicable, he gradually raised red flags to Milton Johnson and anyone else who would listen.
There are allegedly screenshots of Lydia checking numerous Instagram stories to figure out Uche's location and goings-on.
'Love Is Blind' creator opened up on Uche Okoroha and Lydia Velez Gonzalez reveal
"We had absolutely no idea," 'Love Is Blind's creator Chris Coelen told People about the big twist.
He asserted that the production goes through a rigorous screening procedure based on a wide range of factors. They go to tremendous measures, and to the best of their abilities, they strive to guarantee that the people in the pods don't know each other.
"Obviously, we're not infallible, and this one happened. However it happened, it happened, and we had to deal with the ramifications of it."
"The intention is that we have a pool of people that don't know each other, We have had a few instances in the past with people on the same side, like it's two women who know each other a little bit, but we haven't had people, to my knowledge, on the other side of the pod that knew each other, and we've never had, to my knowledge, people who have had a relationship in the past. It's just mind-blowing that that was the case, and truly shocking on day one that that information was delivered to me."
Speaking on how the production finally found out about Uche and Lydia's past, Chris said, "I was sitting in the control room on day one of dating. I think we have 89 cameras in the pods, and there's lots of stuff happening. We have a big team of hundreds of crew members, and there's always somebody listening to something.
"Whoever was listening in to Uche and Lydia's conversation, as soon as that date was coming to an end, they came over and said, 'These two people know each other. They had this relationship [previously].'"
The crew quickly intervened, separated them, kept them from re-entering the pod mix, and conducted individual interviews with each of them.
They initially stated, "I don't know how this happened, this is awful. I know you've planned to be here, and you've gone through this whole process, and now you know each other. I don't know how we can continue with you in this experiment, and I know that sucks."
Uche and Lydia said, "You mean you're going to send us home?"
The production said, "I don't know how you can continue," and the Netflix stars replied, "We want to continue."
Episodes 1–7 of 'Love Is Blind' Season 5 are streaming now on Netflix, with new episodes dropping October 6.
