‘BLIND’ FATE
‘Love’ actually? What really happened on weird dating show
LOVE is in the air … or not. “Love Is Blind” is back for an explosive reunion that promises to bring the drama with three new episodes on Netflix, catching up with the cast two years after some couples said “I do” and others said “Hell, no.”
The aptly titled “Love Is Blind: After The Altar” brings the cast back together for a boozy anniversary party to celebrate two couples that actually made it down the wedding aisle: Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton, and Amber Pike and Matt Barnett.
“Love Is Blind” debuted in February 2020 and followed singles as they talked in futuristic pods without seeing each other — and then sped through 10-day engagements. It ended with three couples breaking up at the altar (Damian and Giannina, Kenny and Kelly, and Mark and Jessica) while the Hamiltons and the Barnetts tied the knot.
Spoilers ahead: here are the juiciest moments from “After the Altar.”
Is Mark a f–k boy?
Mark Cuevas seemed like a sweetheart on “Love Is Blind.” The big-hearted 25-year-old loved his mom and threw his all into his relationship with Jessica, 34 — despite her cold feet, her reservations about their age difference and her continued interest in Barnett. Their relationship ended with Jessica ditching Mark at the altar.
Mark is not in the new episodes, since he’s busy being a new dad (with his fiancée Aubrey Rainey, who was not on the show). However, both Jessica and LC (who was in the first few episodes but didn’t make it to the engagement phase) cast doubt on Mark’s character.
Jessica alleges that Mark went to meet another girl for “six hours” during the time that they were still engaged — implying that he cheated on her. LC also reveals that she was seeing Mark after the show ended, and she thought they had an understanding that they were exclusive until she saw photos of him on social media looking cozy with Aubrey Rainey. She calls him a “f–k boy.” So, was Mark’s nice-guy demeanor an act?
Jessica: evil or really evil?
When Amber talked to The Post, she said, “First of all, as someone who was also filming, he had no time to [cheat on Jessica]. Jessica was using Mark like a f--king yo-yo, one day telling him it was never going to work and the next day being all over him. He was confused and struggling and confiding in one of his friends during this time…that’s not cheating,” she said. “That is Jessica pushing someone away and trying to make them look bad because she got called out.”
If Mark is not as nice as he seemed on “Love Is Blind,” does that mean the show’s villain Jessica, who seemingly ditched poor Mark and tried to meddle in Amber and Barnett’s relationship, is not so scheming?
When asked if she felt Jessica got an unfair “villain” edit on “Love Is Blind,” Lauren Speed-Hamilton told The Post, “It’s hard to edit in something that’s not there. I feel like whenever you’re on reality TV, you have a responsibility to yourself to be sure that you’re placing yourself in the right light as best you can – so that when the show gets edited, they don’t have a lot to add in.”
Carlton has a hissy fit…. again, and blows up at Lauren
Carlton was once engaged to Diamond but their relationship fell apart halfway through the show, once the lovebirds went on their resort vacation. Carlton, who is bisexual, hadn’t told Diamond this.
When he came out to her, she was taken aback and asked if he would still need to date men. That was a bad reaction from Diamond. However, Carlton also didn’t give her time to take in his reveal before he called her a “bitch,” instigating their breakup.
In the new episodes, Lauren meets with Carlton in a restaurant and they discuss how he’s still not over his experience on “Love Is Blind.” Lauren validates Carlton’s feelings and says about Diamond, “Put yourself in her shoes… she’s receiving a lot of information. I think the main thing was she wanted you to tell her sooner. I’m... understand perspective.”
Carlton then blows up at Lauren, the most mild-mannered person on the show, accusing her of making him “look stupid.”
Damian is in a ‘Too Hot to Handle’ love triangle
Damian and Giannina had a volatile relationship. At one point she told him, “You know how you told me this is the best sex of your life? Have you noticed that I don’t return the compliment?”
At the end of the show, Damian jilted Giannina at the altar and she fled the scene. The new episodes reveal that they’re still together two years later (not married), but their relationship isn’t any less dysfunctional.
At the joint anniversary party, Damian shows up with Francesca Farago from “Too Hot to Handle” as his date. “Does she know she’s on the wrong Netflix show?” Diamond quips, while Lauren says, “Damian knew what he was doing, by bringing that girl to the party.” Later, Francesca scolds Damian that he should have been “more honest” if he and Giannina were “still together.”
Instead of owning his behavior about potentially two-timing both girls, Damian blames Giannina for it.
–“That’s on Gigi,” he says, “not on me.”