I’ll admit that I’ve been a fan of rerun dating. I was in an on-again/off-again relationship for most of my 30s. At the beginning, we were just dating, but he broke it off because he wanted to date someone else. A few years later, we just got together for sex, even though I wanted an actual relationship. I broke that off because he couldn’t make a commitment. About five years after that, we had an actual relationship that I thought was going somewhere. He broke it off after another woman he’d been seeing DMed me to find out where he was. Apparently, she thought she was in a relationship with him, and I also thought that I was in a relationship with him. She was correct, and they’re now married.
My point is that going back to your exes, or hanging around them, or considering them as more than discards leads nowhere good. There’s a reason things didn’t work with them the first time, or the second time, if you’re hard-headed like me. Most of the time, people haven’t changed since the last time you were with them. Trying to rekindle an old flame is just asking to repeat the same situation that broke you up initially. And the season one Love Is Blind reunion has convinced me that I’m correct about leaving your exes in the past, where they belong.
Before I dig into the have-nots, though, I need to talk about the folks from Love Is Blind that have love. Lauren and Cameron are still together, and just as cute as they ever were. They’ve embraced their role as the breakout sweethearts of the show, while also sporting some seriously curated fashion looks. There’s no doubt that these two are meant to be together. Amber and (Matt) Barnett are also still together, and still as kooky a couple as ever. They definitely belong together, since their personalities are completely matched, and have a great, upbeat vibe. The premise for the Love Is Blind reunion is a two-year anniversary party for both couples.
Now for the couples who prove that past loves belong in the past.
Jessica and Barnett
If Love Is Blind had real-life timing, these two would have done the equivalent of dating for about six weeks. One of those relationships where things look promising for a while, but you don’t feel that “click,” so you call it quits. We know that Jessica felt that “click” for Matt, since she kinda tried to break up his engagement with Amber. She should have stopped at the first “no.”
Even though Jessica has found a new man since the taping, she still can’t leave Barnett alone. By the time they get to the anniversary party, Barnett has already blocked her on social media (the second “no”). Yet, she feels the need to bring the couple a gift (I believe it was a ruse so that she could talk to Barnett), which starts a fight between Matt and his wife.
You shouldn’t be holding that much of a torch for someone that you dated briefly two years ago. And you shouldn’t really be trying to talk to them after you tried to break up their engagement, let alone come to their anniversary party to talk to them. Jessica just looked desperate and sad, which is never a good look. LEAVE HIM ALONE!
Mark and LC
Fans of the original run will remember that Mark and Jessica were engaged, and she left him at the altar. Maybe Jessica was still pining for Barnett. The bigger news is that Mark and LC hooked up, or were dating, or fooling around at some point before the reunion. Some of the cast members heard that Mark was dating a bunch of women around town, even though LC believed that they were exclusive. The kicker: Mark got someone pregnant while he was seeing LC, which is why he broke up with her. Instead of taking her punches, LC DMs Mark’s new girlfriend, ostensibly to break them up for his two-timing. It doesn’t work, though LC comes to the reunion believing that Mark will be there with a pregnant plus-one.
Mark does not show, but that doesn’t stop the fur from flying. LC tells Diamond that she wants to see Mark again, because LC feels that he owes her an apology for seeing other people while they were together. At some point, Amber gets into the conversation, because she is close with Mark outside the show. First, Amber argues with LC, representing Mark’s side of the story. We don’t really know what that is, but the argument is heated. Then, Diamond turns on Amber, and their argument goes from talking about Mark to them threatening each other, while LC looks on, unable to interject. Reader, I thought it would come to blows, and I supposed that if Love Is Blind was on MTV instead of Netflix, there might have been fisticuffs.
You can’t come to someone’s party, thinking you’re going to confront your ex, because something is going to go sideways. And the fact that your ex doesn’t show up where they’re supposed to be is pretty much a tip off that they’ve moved on. That is, if the baby with another woman wasn’t enough of a signal. READ THE ROOM, LC!
Giannina and Damian
These two are the couple that proves the “no exes” rule. When your relationship basically starts with someone getting left at the altar, there’s nowhere else to go but down. If you remember the Love Is Blind original series, Giannina and Damian fought all the time, and then he said “I don’t” at their wedding. Gigi ran off in a huff of shock and dismay. That should have been the end of their relationship.
But some people don’t know when to throw in the towel, so Damian and Gigi got back together a few months after the original show wrapped. They’ve been seemingly insignificant others for the whole two years, though there has been no talk of commitment. At least, that’s what I gather, given Giannina’s frustration level. Her mother insisting that she loves Damian and calling him her “other son” really isn’t helping things.
Soon, we learn a potential reason for Damian’s reluctance to commit to Gigi: his “friendship” with Francesca, a woman from another reality dating show. Francesca appears to have more than a friendly interest in Damian, and spends far too much time discussing his physical transformation over the last two years. He’s gotten jacked, gotten fillers and Botox, and started driving a Porsche. Basically, he comes off as a self-centered douchebag, but at least two women are interested in that.
Gigi should realize that something is awry when Damian doesn’t make plans to arrive at the anniversary party reunion with her. That’s because he’s bringing Francesca, and arrives with her. At this point, I’d stop talking to Damian ever again, instead of waiting for him to come talk to me and have awkward introductions with Francesca. But Gigi stays invested in Damian’s whereabouts for the entire party
(Let me say right here that Francesca has some damn sense. She talks to Giannina, realizes that the relationship with Damian is more serious that he’d let on, and takes her leave. No waiting around for sloppy seconds. That’s how you do things when you’re surrounded by relationship messiness.)
Even after Francesca leaves, Damian and Giannina are on their mess. He ignores her. She clocks his every move. Then, at the end of the party, she confronts him and his behavior. He insists that it was “honest” of him to bring Francesca to the party, so Gigi could see that they were just friends. Giannina counters (correctly) that Damian is the worst kind of person, flaunting “the other woman” in her face. Harsh words are spoken, and Gigi storms away saying, “I can’t take this anymore.” The truth is that she shouldn’t have been taking leftovers from Damian for the last two years.
Apparently, Giannina and Damian had a real breakup after the taping. Even though they didn’t take the easy way out, they finally did the right thing. Here’s hoping they stay away from each other at the next reunion.
