Love is Blind is one of the hottest tickets on Netflix. Season 7 was based in Washington, DC and hosted some of the most interesting singles in the reality series’ history. As soon as hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey opened the pods, 29 singles “rush in” hoping to establish enough of a connection to win as much television time as possible. The men deepen their voices and attempt to flirt with the anonymous woman behind the wall who laughs coyly at anything resembling a joke, while playing with their hair and making every effort to sound as attractive as possible. The social experiment has proven successful in gaining a faithful audience, but it’s fallen short in terms of establishing a real connection for the majority of couples. While there are outlier couples such as Lauren and Cameron Hamilton from season 1 that have defied the stereotypes, most singles do such a great job introducing their representative to a fantasy they envision in the pods that the reality of seeing that person in real life is a drop-off they aren’t able to recover from. Season after season, singles enter the pods hesitantly reveal attractive stats about themselves until they find one or two points of synergy. After finding any semblance of connection, they immediately start love bombing one another until their two weeks in the pods feels like an extreme case of false emotional attachment.
In the DC pods, the majority of singles shared as many hints as possible about their looks and lifestyle in order to find their match, but Garrett and Taylor were the only couple that refused to focus on anything superficial and instead remained committed to connection based totally on substance.
Leo Love Bombed Brittany With Promises of His Extensive Bank Account
For most people, dating relies heavily on proving one has an edge over their competition. For Leo, a 30-year-old art dealer, his alleged financial portfolio gave him the comfort of feeling he was the best catch in the men’s dorm. In every conversation Leo entered during his time in the pods, his financial stability and generational wealth managed to take center stage. Leo’s long money was impressive to some, but ultimately, the only woman who found it irresistible was Brittany, a beautiful blonde esthetician who was clear about her obsession with men with the ability to provide.
Brittany readily acknowledged during confessionals that she dated rock stars and wealthy men. She asked Leo and her other suitors their perspective on 50/50 relationships while offering the context of her last ex providing her with a particular lifestyle and taking care of all her bills. Hearing Brittany’s past lifestyle assured Leo that she was the type of trophy-wife he was looking for, and he proceeded to profess his obsession with her. Brittany became teary-eyed at Leo’s confession, exclaiming that she too, found herself falling in love with him through the partition of the pods.
Nick D Immediately Love Bombed all the Women In the Pods
Leo and Brittany weren’t the only singles dropping hints about their looks and financial appeal. Nick D – aka Nickie D – proudly opened every conversation with his former professional football career stats, even though he currently spends his days as a fledgling real estate agent. Nick led with what he believed to be his strengths and then proceeded to douse the ladies with compliments, hoping for confirmation that he’d discovered the prettiest girl. Most of the women saw through Nick’s empty compliments and managed to avoid them, but 26-year-old Hannah wasn’t used to love bombing, let alone limitless compliments and fell, lock, stock and barrel, for the King of Superficiality Nickie D.
Taylor and Garrett are a Breath of Fresh Air on ‘Love Is Blind’
Taylor, a 30-year-old clean energy policy consultant, didn’t appear to be the typical dating reality show girl. Coming from a stable family, Taylor’s parents have been married for over 35 years, giving her a real-time example of a working marriage. In her Netflix bio, she insisted, “The key to my heart is loving me for my mind.” Taylor’s wishes seemed far-fetched on a show that casts sexy singles and builds audience anticipation as they judge the reality of their intended versus their pod fantasy, but cupid was on her side. Garrett, a 33-year-old quantum physicist, ironically seemed just as out of place with the other men as Taylor did with the girls. Admittedly used to leading with his mind, Garrett wasn’t wooed as easily as some of the other men by giggles and the usual flirtatious compliments. He insisted on leading with his intellect, which, surprisingly, Taylor was able to match pound for pound.
Both Taylor and Garett realized early on they were equally matched in the pods. They joked about science and even shared a moment of kismet when they shared similar science-inspired tattoos. Their humor was dry, but both Taylor and Garrett were intentional to push past the knee-jerk desire to swoon over one another and instead to listen carefully and weigh the possibility of connecting with each other in real life. Taylor decided not to share her mother’s name with Garrett because it would tip him off to her ethnicity. She shared her reason for keeping her mother’s identity anonymous and Garrett respected her wishes. Taylor’s decision allowed Garrett to consider he may be involved in an interracial, albeit virtual, relationship, something he had never been a part of. Garrett wrestled with the foreign idea, but when compared to the undeniable connection he and Taylor were building, he admitted looking forward to it. After he and Taylor met in person, he again admitted he’d never dated outside his race, and probably wouldn’t have approached Taylor in a bar, but after getting to know her and falling in love with her, he found her physical appearance more desirable and sexy with each passing day.
Taylor and Garrett Refused to Take Shortcuts In Their Relationship
Taylor and Garrett were one of the biggest, love stories in the pods, but after leaving for Cancun, the couple continued taking the relationship slow. Taylor would often mull over his responses and instead of attempting to appeal to Garrett’s ego, Taylor challenged him and gained his respect. Garrett complimented Taylor, but the majority of his conversation rested on asking her perspectives on family and parenting. The two made a striking couple, yet their appreciation for each other remained rooted in their similarities and admiration for one another’s intellectual prowess and perspective. While their colleagues gushed “I love you,” over and over again, Taylor and Garrett asked each other the hard questions and pushed each other to be honest, even when the topics were uneasy and uncomfortable.
As a result, Taylor and Garrett appear to have the most grounded relationship on Love is Blind. Their journey offers a blueprint for future Love is Blind couples who desire to have something substantial based on more than just fantasizing with a stranger behind a blue partition. Admittedly, it feels good to have a stranger profess their undying love unconditionally sight unseen, but the reality is the probability of that happening is as unlikely as two successful scientists meeting on a popular reality show and falling in love. Taylor and Garrett have defied unspeakable odds thus far, and we hope their love will continue proving the statistics and critics wrong.
