‘Love Is Blind’ Reunion: Aaliyah and Milton React to Lydia’s Explanation of Her and Uche Joining the Show

Spoiler alert! If you haven’t watched season 5 of Love Is Blind and the reunion special, proceed with caution. 

The season 5 reunion of Love Is Blind forced two former friends to come face-to-face in an awkward encounter. Lydia Velez Gonzalez and Aaliyah Cosby addressed some of their tension on the show after it was revealed that Aaliyah’s main connection — Uche Okoroha — was Lydia’s ex. 

Lydia has been criticized for forming a close friendship with Aaliyah, despite knowing that she was dating her ex. 

During the reunion, Lydia addressed the criticisms, saying, “Looking back, it’s really hard and hurtful because from the bottom of my heart, I wanted her to have her happy ending. It’s unfortunate that that didn’t happen. I didn’t read the room correctly, as you may see. However, I had the best intentions. I was just trying to be honest.”

For Aaliyah’s part, she said that she felt Lydia had robbed her of having the genuine experience that the experiment promises, forcing her to leave the show early. 

“I felt I came here to have the genuine Love Is Blind experience and I didn’t get that,” she shared. “I feel like I set my boundaries with Lydia when we had the discussion on the couch, and she didn’t respect my boundaries.” 

As for Lydia, who went on to marry James Milton Johnson IV (a.k.a. Milton), she added, “I think the public is a little too quick to judge on a situation that you don’t get the training manual [for] how to deal with that.”

Aaliyah asked Lydia to explain what she and Uche communicated to one another about their participation on the show prior to arriving. 

“We had a conversation of two seconds in November 2021, ‘Oh yeah, I did some of the casting. Oh yeah, I did too.’ And that was it,” Lydia said. “I had — and I’m going to say it really clearly for the public — I had no confirmation that Uche was going to be there.”

As for her comment that she thought she might see someone from her past, she said that it was her “instinct” not her “hope,” and if she’d had it her way, Uche would not have been there.

Milton also spoke up in Lydia’s defense, saying, “I will talk about my wife’s character, because I guarantee you, it’s a lot better than mine.”

He claimed that Uche, who chose not to attend the reunion, was “interestingly obsessed with my relationship with Lydia.”

“I know his character. He gave me so much unwanted information about Lydia,” Milton alleged. 

No one on the cast had complimentary things to say about Uche, with Aaliyah saying that he was “mean” when they briefly dated after the show. 

“That’s not even the person that I feel like I talked to in the pods,” she shared. 

ET spoke with Lydia, Aaliyah, and Milton directly after filming wrapped for the reunion to discuss their shared history. 

“I know who I am and I know my intentions were pure and genuine and honestly, I don’t have anything to prove to anyone besides myself,” Lydia tells ET of the exchange between her and Aaliyah.

Aaliyah also seems satisfied with how things turned out. 

“I think we ended up having a productive conversation and I think it went well overall,” she says. “I’m glad I came to the reunion, and I’m glad I was able to say my piece.”

As for her relationship with Lydia and Uche today, Aaliyah says, “I don’t have a friendship with Lydia or Uche at the moment. I think we’re in a respectable place. I respect them, and I wish them the best.”

Milton has no doubts about his wife or her intentions. 

“I’ve never doubted my wife’s intentions. I think it’s a tragedy that there are people who would try to distract or convolute who my wife is,” he says. “I think it’s unfortunate that my wife got backlash based on people of her past or what they said. I know my wife better than anyone else. She’s gone through so much adversity that she’s kind of just rolling through that.”  

Season 5 of Love Is Blind as well as the reunion special are currently streaming on Netflix.

RELATED CONTENT: