For the couples involved, The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On is a stressful show. That’s by design, as the format is a stress test on each couple’s relationship. By breaking them up and pairing them up with a new “spouse,” The Ultimatum gauntlet is meant to expose any cracks in a couple’s foundation. There isn’t a question of if a participant is gonna break so much as when — and for Lisa Horne and Brian Okoye, that breaking point comes at the end of Episode 1. SPOILERS ahead, obvs!
To put this blowout in context, Lisa actually issued the ultimatum to Brian, her boyfriend of two years. She’s ready to commit, but he’s hesitant because he wants to get their finances in order first. Lisa’s counter: she is a “six figure chick,” so what is he waiting for? Enter: The Ultimatum. and enter: Riah. Riah was issued an ultimatum by Trey, her boyfriend of two years. During the cast’s second mixer, Brian hit it off with Riah. This did not sit right with Lisa, who was not about to let her boyfriend live with a 24-year-old Hooters waitress.
That’s when Lisa — who was mid-conversation with another participant, Roxanne Kaiser — hit her breaking point. “I was having a conversation with Roxanne and I even tuned her out after a while,” Lisa told Decider over video call.
Roxanne, also on the video call, backed up Lisa’s assessment of the situation. “It was actually a really intense night. I remember talking with Lisa, and her and I were talking for a while,” said Roxanne. “I forgot there were cameras when Lisa was talking to me about how she felt. I mean, it was crazy. It was it was really intense.”
“I walked towards [Brian and Riah],” continued Lisa. “I just kind of lost it.”
Lisa sat down right next to Brian, looked right at Riah and staked her claim: “I feel like you like him more, and that’s bothering me.” Riah, sensing the abruptly shifted vibe, excused herself and left Lisa and Brian on their own. And that’s when things went down.
What follows, and continues into Episode 2, has to be the biggest Netflix reality TV fight since Carlton chucked an engagement ring into a pool. Lisa’s livid because she doesn’t think Riah even loves Trey, and therefore assumes that Riah has an ulterior motive for being on the show: “This bitch ain’t got nothing to offer and that’s who you’re connecting with. Why? Because she probably easy and can give you some ass. You can’t learn shit from her.”
Looking back on this heated exchange in a parking lot, Lisa told Decider, “I’m not gonna lie to you: in that moment, I didn’t care about that camera, that camera, those people.” Everything faded away except for Brian.
Brian echoed Lisa’s comments, also in an interview with Decider via video call. “The cameras don’t exist, honestly,” said Brian. “At that point, you’re in a moment where you and your partner are trying to figure things out, right? Whether it’s a heated discussion, you’re not seeing eye to eye on something, the cameras don’t exist.”
That’s why the fight between Lisa and Brian goes so hard: it’s almost too real for reality TV. Things continue to escalate, with Lisa ultimately declaring, “Fuck marriage. Fuck the ultimatum. Fuck you.”
More than anything else about the fight, Brian remembers wanting to make things right. “I can tell you that in that moment, I more than anything wanted things to be good between us, as I do any other time,” Brian told Decider. “And I think it’s important to know that Lisa is a very beautiful woman inside and out. She’s super funny, as you can see probably through the show, and she has a lot of personality and I think [the process] was just a lot on her. I mean, it was a lot on everybody, all the cast members, as you can see throughout the show.”
The pressure cooker of The Ultimatum got to Lisa and Brian. They went through another round of dates with other participants, Brian with Riah and Lisa with Trey, but they ultimately decided to leave the show when Lisa discovered that she was pregnant — but that’s a whole other chapter of Lisa and Brian’s short-yet-memorable stint on The Ultimatum Season 2.
The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix, with a finale and reunion episode dropping on Wednesday, August 30.