- Netflix released the second batch of “Love Is Blind” season seven episodes on Wednesday.
- Monica finds sexual text messages that Stephen exchanged with another woman during their engagement.
- Stephen is now posting through his “villain arc” — but reminiscing about his time with Monica.
“Love Is Blind” season seven’s latest batch of episodes has seemingly brought an end to yet another engagement.
In the first batch of season seven episodes, which premiered on October 2, the series revealed that controversial art dealer Leo and his pod fiancée Brittany had split after getting engaged on the show. But in episode eight, Stephen and Monica split after he owns up to exchanging sexual messages with another woman — and it seems to be pretty definite.
Mistakes on “Love Is Blind” are incredibly public, given the series’ reach: It regularly draws millions of eyes on Netflix, and has been spun off into multiple international editions. Stephen has been posting through it, labeling it his “villain arc” in social media posts.
Still, he’s fondly reminiscing about his time with Monica on the show — here’s what he’s doing today.
Stephen tells Monica early on that he cheated in a prior relationship
Netflix
Stephen and Monica hit it off in the pods, opening up to each other early in their relationship. On a date in episode two, Stephen says that he places emphasis on communication in a relationship. He also shares something from his past: He cheated on a previous partner and had been “cheated on multiple times as well.” He explains that he had been “emotionally cheating” by flirting with another woman over direct message, and was in therapy to parse through those actions.
Monica responds with empathy. She says she previously had “really gross and very, very bad” experiences with cheating but had managed to forgive others in the past.
On another date in episode two, Stephen tells Monica that he considers himself a “centrist” politically and had voted for Donald Trump in 2016 because he didn’t like Hillary Clinton. However, he says he disliked Trump’s conduct in office and voted for Joe Biden in 2020.
On that same date, he also tells Monica that he recently learned he had West African ancestry, not Italian as he previously thought. In turn, Monica tells him she’s multiracial with Honduran, African-American, and Cherokee ancestry.
In episode four, Stephen proposes to Monica, and she accepts. Later in that episode, they meet for the first time. They’re one of six couples selected to travel to Mexico on a post-engagement trip. It’s mostly drama-free for them (compared to others), though Monica tells Stephen in an episode six conversation that he’s talking too much and not letting her “get a word in.”
After Stephen hints at potential doubts, Monica finds texts with another woman on his phone
Netflix
Monica and Stephen’s relationship hits a bump in episode seven when the pair discuss their love languages — Monica enjoys gifts, and Stephen has been slipping — and impending marriage. Stephen alludes to the possibility of having second thoughts, confusing Monica, but denies that he is hesitant about marrying her.
“I’m by no means afraid to marry you,” he says. “Like, I am genuinely in love with you. I’m just nervous about the whole thing because it’s a huge, huge commitment. And it’s not that I’m second-guessing being with you. You know, I just don’t wanna feel overwhelmed when the moment comes to meet you at the altar.”
Stephen notes Monica’s expectations and takes her on a flower-pressing date in episode eight after they move in together. It’s a good step in their relationship, but things fall apart at the end of the episode.
During a conversation in her apartment, Monica tells fellow cast mate Taylor that Stephen did a sleep test the night prior — or at least, he didn’t sleep at their apartment. Later, she and Stephen debrief on what really happened: While he was out of the house, he sent another woman sexual messages that Monica says were “filled with fetishes.”
Stephen tells Monica that he didn’t “pretend anything” in their relationship and genuinely wanted to marry her, calling the texts a “stupid mistake” he made while drunk. When Monica tells him that she had seen texts from the day of their conversation, he says he didn’t remember sending them.
After Stephen tells Monica he’ll leave, Monica asks him to send her the money she spent to front their expenses. He does, apologizing for hurting her and saying that he shouldn’t have agreed to appear on “Love Is Blind.”
“What a selfish thing to say,” Monica replies. “What a selfish piece of shit. You fucking put a ring on my finger, and now you shouldn’t have been on the show?”
After the conversation, Taylor and her fiancé Garrett comfort Monica.
Stephen is heralding his ‘villain arc’ on social media
Stephen doesn’t appear in the teaser for the next batch of episodes shown at the end of episode nine. However, he teased that he would potentially unpack his actions in a TikTok posted the day that Netflix released the second batch of episodes.
“Man, we’re gonna have to wait a whole year until I can talk about — oh wait,” he said. “Tune in next time on ‘Love Is Blind!'”
In an Instagram story posted two days before the second batch of episodes premiered, he responded to a video alleging that he was in a relationship when he applied to be on the show and that he had seen his ex and been active on dating apps shortly before filming the show.
“OoOoh this one is interesting considering I haven’t talked to my ex in roughly 3 years,” Stephen wrote in an Instagram post. “But my friends and family already knew that. Sorry to disappoint strangers in the internet overly invested in my personal past.”
After the episodes premiered, Stephen posted several memes on his Instagram story about entering a “villain arc” on the show. He also reposted someone else’s Instagram story calling him a “dirty dog,” saying that he was “whatever the fans of love is blind want me to be.”
Finally, he directed fans to watch the latest episodes for the “drama.”
“I hope I didn’t ruin anyone’s day by existing… and if I did I’m sorry you had to wake up this morning. I wish you didn’t have to either. But I’ll love you all just the same,” he wrote.
@officialrichardson/Instagram
On TikTok, Stephen has posted videos about how people perceived him on the show. In one, he swings what appears to be a metal ruler at planks of wood, set to a battle theme from the video game “Final Fantasy 7.”
“Training to battle all the stay at home wives that hate me for ruining their fantasy of who they THINK I am,” he wrote.
Still, Stephen and Monica follow each other on Instagram, and have posted about their relationship on the show. Stephen posted a set of photos from their vacation in Mexico on Instagram, reminiscing about his time with Monica in the caption.
“You know for a show based on context clues and meant to be about not judging a book by its cover. Its fans certainly like to take a LOT things at face value,” he wrote in the caption. “These are all beautiful memories of mine that I would never trade for the world. Both on and off camera. Memories I will forever share with amazing people in an experience I never expected to be a part of.”
Monica reposted Stephen’s post on her own Instagram story. She didn’t add a caption.
The next batch of “Love Is Blind” season seven episodes will air Wednesday, October 16 on Netflix.
