Love Is Blind star Dave Bettenburg and ex-fiancée Lauren O’Brien went through it during season 8 — and now they realize their drama paled in comparison to their fellow reality TV series alumni.
“So, Lauren texted me this afternoon and she was like, ‘Isn’t it crazy that after all this, we are the least messy couple of all the exes?’” Dave, 33, said in a Friday, March 14, TikTok video. “Funny how that works, right? And we just kind of laughed about that.”
Dave and Lauren, 31, met in the Love Is Blind pods when season 8 was filmed in Minneapolis in April 2024, later airing on Netflix last month. After getting engaged sight unseen, the pair faced multiple roadblocks in the real world and on their way to the altar.
Dave repeatedly struggled to accept that Lauren had ended a casual hookup weeks before joining the dating experiment, while the educational consultant questioned Dave’s commitment after he continuously hesitated to introduce her to his sister and his friends. They broke up ahead of their would-be wedding day.
“There was definitely an element of sadness, but I do feel like you see the moment that I shift — when he starts to get mad at me and mad at my family,” Lauren exclusively told Us Weekly about the moment the pair decided to break up. “The anger that came from him, I was done. I immediately knew we’re never getting past this. My husband would not speak to me like this. I hope that that comes across clear.”
The now-exes reunited at the March 9 tell-all reunion, where Dave proclaimed that Lauren was “the one who got away.” While they eventually walked away on amicable terms, not every Love Is Blind season 8 pairing was so lucky. (Joey Leveille and Monica Danus, Sara Carton and Ben Mezzenga, as well as Virginia Miller and Devin Buckley also broke up during the season. Taylor Haag and Daniel Hastings were the only duo to make it down the aisle and say “I do.”)
“I don’t know who needs to hear this — I do know who needs to hear this — [but] putting others down for your own personal gain, that ain’t it,” Dave stressed on Friday. “After everything we have been through as a group, I know everyone wants to protect their own image, but if you’re doing it for our own clout and you gotta drag others down with you, I’m sorry that’s just not it.”
Dave didn’t confirm which Love Is Blind participants he was referring to, though multiple exes had different accounts of why their relationships couldn’t ultimately prove that love is, in fact, blind.
Sara, 29, and Ben, 28, for their part, have each been vocal on social media and respective podcast appearances about their brief dating relationship after the show. While she claimed they were together when he ghosted her, Ben denied the claims and stressed that he tried to apologize for how they parted.
Love Is Blind is currently streaming on Netflix.
