It’s no secret that “Love Is Blind” doesn’t feature every single couple who gets engaged on the show. The producers and cast members have spoken out about unseen couples in seasons past (like Josh and Monica in season 4), and this season is no different. Creator Chris Coelen even confirmed to Variety in September that there were “multiple” engagements that weren’t followed by the cameras in season five.
But the show followed surprisingly few season five couples — only Taylor Rue and Jared “JP” Pierce, Lydia Velez Gonzalez and Milton Johnson, and Izzy Zapata and Stacy Snyder had storylines. Of the three couples, only the latter two make it to the wedding stage, leading fans to wonder why none of the “multiple” other confirmed engagements made the cut.
Adding even more confusion (and intrigue) were the viral rumors swirling on TikTok and Reddit about at least four unseen relationships formed in the “Love Is Blind” pods this time around. One pairing in particular seems to have had a messy story: Renee Poche and Carter Wall. And now, Renee has confirmed that, as some fans had speculated, she and Carter were filmed on their journey.
Carter and Renee were only briefly featured on one of their dates in the first episode of the season (they took a “moment of silence” for Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ hotness as a couple). The scene lasted under a minute, but Renee confirmed to POPSUGAR that she and Carter did get engaged and were filmed all the way to the altar. According to Renee, Netflix called her a few months before the season was set to air and let her know her storyline wouldn’t be a major part of the season.
“What I was told was, ‘We’ll just, point blank, say that Carter was awful and we don’t want you to have to relive that. That’s just not going to be a big focus,'” she said. “They also said timing was an issue, so they decided to cut our story. That’s what I was told.”
There’s still mystery surrounding exactly why the story was cut, though Renee suggested on an Instagram story that Carter had been unfaithful to her. (Netflix, Renee, and Carter did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.) Here’s a breakdown of everything we do know about Renee and Carter’s engagement and their participation in the show.
There were clues about Carter and Renee’s engagement before she confirmed it — like their marriage license application
Even before Renee confirmed the engagement, some online sleuths deduced that the two had matched up during the season, despite not being featured. Proof of Renee and Carter’s marriage license application in Harris County, Texas, shows up on the Harris County Clerk’s Office Marriage License Search Portal.
The status reads “license not returned,” which means Carter and Renee applied for a marriage license, but never legally wed. Renee confirmed that to POPSUGAR.
Renee had also alluded on Instagram to having ‘a man’ on the show
Renee has not been quiet on Instagram since the season began airing. Most pointedly, she posted a screenshot of herself and Taylor, overlaid with the text, “Us wondering where our men were Jan 6,” seemingly a reference to the January 6 insurrection. Taylor’s match, JP, has a noted love of American flag apparel, while Carter’s love of JP is memorably documented in a scene in which he says he’d want his daughter to date someone like him, calling JP “Captain America.”
A few strange moments in the Mexico getaway scenes also suggested that someone may have been edited out
Reality TV TikToker storytimewithrikkii, who shared an extensive video breaking down all the unseen engagement rumors before Renee’s POPSUGAR interview, pointed out that the couples getaway scenes in Mexico this season were suspiciously short. She also theorized that based on Renee’s Instagram activity and glimpses of an unidentified man interacting with the cast in the beach scenes, Carter and Renee were filmed there and later had their scenes cut out by production.
On an October 2 Instagram story, Renee posted a picture of herself in jeans and an orange bikini top, apparently relaxing while on vacation, and referenced the show. “Me after watching this week’s episodes,” she wrote in text overlaying the image.
“This week’s episodes” were the Mexico getaway episodes.
In that story, Renee is wearing the same outfit in photos from an earlier story that storytimewithrikkii captured in her TikTok. In those earlier images, Renee is on a beach holding a bottle of pink wine about to pour it into a golden goblet that looks similar to one of the signature wine glasses used on “Love Is Blind” and other Netflix dating shows.
Renee relaxing on vacation. Instagram
In the “Love Is Blind” footage filmed in Mexico, there’s also an unidentified man interacting with the engaged couples.
Carder blocked from view while joking with Lydia. Netflix
In the scene above, there’s a bald man in a blue shirt joking with Lydia Valez Gonzalez, and he seemingly matches Carter’s build. Izzy Zapata is also bald, but he announced to the cameras that he didn’t bring a shirt to the meet-up.
Below, the same man in the blue shirt shares a toast with Milton Johnson. He’s seemingly another contestant and not production, given the signature gold goblet he’s holding.
