“The Shocking Truth Unveiled: Inside the Mind of ‘Love Is Blind’ Creator (Exclusive Interview)”

Exclusive insights from Chris Coelen reveal the story of how Uche and Lydia, former partners, snagged a spot on the show and the challenges faced during production that almost led to their exit from the Netflix series. Get all the juicy details on the behind-the-scenes drama.

Attention Love Is Blind fans! If you haven’t caught up with episodes 1-4 of the new season, brace yourself for some juicy spoilers ahead. Despite only a handful of episodes being out, Love Is Blind season 5 is already serving up some intense drama.

One of the biggest bombshells so far has been the revelation that exes Lydia Velez Gonzalez and Uche Okoroha found themselves on the show together. The jaw-dropping moment occurred when Uche spilled the beans to his pod partner, Aaliyah Cosby, causing shockwaves all around. Aaliyah, who had grown close to Lydia in the women’s quarters, was completely caught off guard by the news, especially because Lydia had been there for her during a rough patch with Uche.

But the drama didn’t stop there. Lydia had to come clean to her pod connection turned fiancé, Milton Johnson, about her past relationship with Uche. It was a tough pill to swallow, but they managed to work through it together.

Curiosity about how all this unfolded led PEOPLE to sit down with Love Is Blind creator, Chris Coelen, to get the inside scoop on what went down. Get ready for more surprises and drama as the season continues to unfold!

Let’s talk about how Lydia and Uche both ended up getting cast on the same season. Was there a screening process to prevent exes from being on the show together?
Chris Coelen: Yes, we have a thorough screening process where we vet participants using various criteria. We make every effort to ensure that the individuals in the pods are not connected in any way. While we strive for this, we are not perfect, as seen in this particular situation. When it happened, we had to address the consequences.
Were you unaware that they were exes?
We had no knowledge of their past relationship. Our goal is to have a group of contestants who are strangers to each other. While there have been cases where some participants know each other slightly, we had never encountered exes on opposite sides of the pod before. It was truly surprising and shocking when we found out on the first day.

Netflix has shared an interesting story about the moment when production found out that Uche and Lydia had a past history of dating. They discovered this information while monitoring the conversations in the pods. As soon as the crew realized the connection between the two, they intervened and separated them to discuss the situation.

The crew informed Uche and Lydia about what they had discovered and expressed their concerns about continuing with the experiment knowing about their previous relationship. Surprisingly, both Uche and Lydia expressed their desire to stay and participate despite their history. They made it clear that they had no interest in rekindling their past romance and were serious about finding a new connection.

After much deliberation, the production team decided to allow Uche and Lydia to continue with the experiment under the condition that they keep their past relationship a secret from the others. This was a unique situation where the participants were given a special allowance due to their dedication to the process.

Thanks to Netflix, the agreement was pretty straightforward. Uche and Lydia were asked to refrain from engaging with each other in the pods, to focus on connecting with other participants, and to keep their past relationship a secret to be fair to themselves and others. Despite this, they decided to reveal their relationship to Aaliyah and Milton in the pods around day six or seven when their feelings for each other became more intense. The producers gave them permission to disclose their relationship if they felt it was necessary, and this decision ultimately influenced the outcome of the show.

Netflix information shared
Do you believe Lydia and Uche were aware that the other person would be on the show secretly? Honestly, I have no clue if Lydia had any idea about Uche’s participation or if Uche knew Lydia was going to be there. They might have known about each other and planned it together, but I can’t say for sure. It’s not my job to investigate, so I won’t go back to analyze what happened. It was surprising and disappointing when we had to figure out how to handle the situation and keep them both on the show. It was disheartening to take out two people we really liked from the mix.

Were you surprised to see Lydia forming a close bond with Aaliyah in the living quarters? Personally, I had no idea that was happening. With so many cameras in the pods, it’s hard to keep track of everything that’s going on. Usually, I focus on watching dates when I’m in the control room.

How did you respond when Aaliyah expressed her desire to leave the experiment? We have a set process for communication between the participants, where we never pass on messages from one person to another. It’s their responsibility to share their feelings. In the case of Uche and Aaliyah, they had agreed to see each other, with Uche planning to propose. However, Aaliyah surprised everyone by deciding to leave. We scheduled the date for them, but we wouldn’t relay a message from Aaliyah. It seemed like Aaliyah made a spontaneous decision to leave without fully composing her thoughts at that moment. She simply expressed her wish to go home, and that was the end of it.

Netflix is always evolving its approach to casting on shows like Uche and Lydia’s drama, making sure that they find new and innovative ways to keep the experiment fresh and positive. They are constantly looking for ways to prevent contestants from knowing each other before the show. While it may happen again in the future, they are dedicated to doing their best to avoid it. Stay updated on all the latest celebrity news and human interest stories by signing up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter. Catch episodes 1-4 of Love Is Blind season 5 on Netflix now, with the next batch dropping on Friday, Sept. 29.