A “Love is Blind” participant is essentially confirming what many fans of the show have long suspected: Its quick path to marriage isn’t exactly healthy.
Paige Tillman and Josh Simmons were a couple that got engaged while participating in Season 5 of the Netflix reality dating show, but they were not featured in the final cut of the season.
“It’s sad it wasn’t shown because it was beautiful,” Tillman told Today in a piece published Wednesday about her experiences on and after the show.
“We were adorable. So in love. So cute together. I don’t know who’s hitting their heads right now for not showing us,” she added.
Even if a couple gets engaged on “Love is Blind,” it doesn’t necessarily mean their journey to the altar will get any airtime.
“Each season, there are lots of stories that we don’t tell, regardless of whether couples get engaged or not,” the show’s creator Chris Coelen told Variety in September. “Some of them even, we will follow for a little bit and not show their story on the show … It’s a little bit of a judgment call.”
Yet Season 5 only featured two couples who made it to the altar, and only one that actually tied the knot — a much slimmer offering than in prior seasons. Fans of the show were disappointed by the lack of storylines this season, and many were annoyed to discover that there were at least three other couples that got engaged. This includes Tillman and Simmons, who announced they had gotten engaged on the show via Instagram earlier this month.
“We were each others first pod dates and number one picks from the beginning,” they wrote in a joint statement on Instagram. “Our story is filled with love, beautiful moments and happiness with no drama.”
This may be why the couple wasn’t featured on the show, which usually follows the most dramatic or straight-up chaotic couples who get engaged.
“We’re both happy, positive people and that radiated through our connection,” Tillman told Today.”
Despite Tillman and Simmons apparently lacking toxicity, deception or the need to navigate a love triangle during their courtship on the show, Tillman told Today that she was “definitely upset” when producers told her they would not be proceeding with filming her relationship after she got engaged.
But she also said this blow quickly evolved into “relief” because she and Simmons got to know each other on their own terms and at their own pace — rather than being rushed into marriage in a handful of weeks like the couples that the cameras do follow.
“Finding out it wasn’t going to be filmed was a blessing in disguise,” Tillman told Today. “We got time to enjoy ourselves outside of the experiment. We got to do it the right way and actually get to know each other.”
Tillman said that she and Simmons decided to stay engaged but to plan a wedding for 2024 in order to give themselves time to truly get to know each other.
She said they stayed engaged for five more months before deciding to split in a “mature and healthy” way.
Tillman explained to Today that the two simply wanted different things out of life. She wanted to move to Los Angeles to further her career, and Simmons wanted to settle down and have a family.
“We had an issue about not talking about what we wanted out of life. That’s a huge thing you think we would’ve spoken about. But it’s different when it’s in person,” she said.
According to Tillman, having that breathing room to truly get to know one another outside of the show helped them slowly process that they weren’t quite the right fit.
“I would’ve rather us figure that out than get married and resent each other for making the other make choices,” Tillman said. “The way we ended was great — we had a mature conversation like, ‘This is what you want. This is what I want. Let’s move on.’”
She added to Today: “I won in this situation.”