If there is one thing that viewers have learned after four seasons of Love Is Blind, it’s that there is always more tea to be spilled. Netflix’s blockbuster reality romance series has only gotten wilder with age, with each new season bringing shocking twists — like how Season 4 gave us a face-to-face proposal on a show called Love Is Blind and a couple breaking up so that one of them can start dating someone else from the show. And then there are the rumors, like claims that Kwame hired an actor to play his sister. With the release of Season 4’s three new After the Altar episodes on September 1, Love is Blind will put one rumor to rest with a moment that will have fans talking: we know who Monica was engaged to — and there’s footage.
To put this in context, Monica Rodriguez — a 31-year-old elementary school teacher looking for a man with good etiquette — was one of the many Season 4 participants whose time in the pods was edited out. Unlike a lot of cast members who entered and left the pods single, however, Monica did get engaged. She’s actually one of three couples that got engaged only to have the show choose to not follow them. Admittedly, this happens every season. What made Monica’s engagement peculiar was that when Netflix released an article about the lost couples of Season 4 on their site TUDUM, Monica’s “I do” moment was nowhere to be seen. Even weirder: by that point, Monica had already posted about her engagement on Instagram, showing off her engagement ring alongside a caption about her journey in the pods and why she ultimately broke off the relationship. The post is currently unavailable as Monica is private on Instagram, but according to ET Online, the caption read:
“I accepted his proposal and we were onto the reveal. During the reveal, reality set in and my heart and mind were torn. I wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision or picked the right person. The only thing I did know was that you shouldn’t feel torn on your engagement day. It should be a decision in your life that is made with great confidence and no second thoughts. This is when I realized that this wasn’t gods plan for me. I wasn’t at peace with my decision and ended our engagement shortly after filming.”
Monica posted her story to Instagram in mid-April, and the TUDUM article excluding her engagement went up on April 26. All of this caused a major stir deep in the Love Is Blind fandom. How could Josh go from saying in the pods that he was there for Jackie or no one to turning around and proposing to someone else? It couldn’t be true! After all, the TUDUM article didn’t list Monica and Josh as a couple.
Love Is Blind: After the Altar Season 4 confirms that it is all true. Josh did propose to Monica, Monica said “yes,” and the two got to film their hallway meetup and first face-to-face chat. It’s all shown — and, uh, you can see why the couple did not work out.
You can see the unease during Monica and Josh’s first meeting outside of the pods. Josh is excited and ready with all sorts of jokes and one-liners (“You thicker than a bowl of oatmeal” being one). Monica comments on this, saying that he has jokes in his “back pocket” — and Josh instinctively mimes pulling a joke out of his back pocket and handing it to her. In a voiceover, Monica says, “I’m engaged to a lunatic.”
Now that we know that the engagement absolutely happened, let’s talk about the timing of when After the Altar was filmed and when Monica made her Instagram post. You can tell that the After the Altar episodes were filmed around May 2023 because you can see the sequin gown that Chelsea’s wearing in the trailer in this Instagram post from May. Plus Season 4 was filmed in May 2022, and Chelsea’s birthday — which is one of the get togethers in After the Altar — is April 27.
Knowing the timing makes Josh and Monica’s reunion in After the Altar even more intense — and we know it’s intense because Monica calls Josh a “six-year-old” in the trailer. Josh, who is angry about the Instagram reveal, isn’t holding on to a grudge from months ago. In that moment, it’s likely only weeks if not days after Monica’s Instagram post. No wonder things got so heated!
As uncomfortable as that reunion — or showdown — may have been for Monica, Josh, and Jackie, it actually clears up a major Love Is Blind mystery that’s perplexed highly engaged viewers for four months. If only the Marvel Cinematic Universe could tie up plot threads with this much speed and efficiency.
Love Is Blind Season 4’s After the Altar episodes premiere on September 1 on Netflix.