“I thought love was obsessive. I realized that’s not it.”
Marissa George was fresh off a crushing breakup when she found the guy who’d later become her boyfriend. “I met him in November 2023, right after the breakup with Ramses,” Marissa says of her new man, whom she just revealed on Instagram following the Love Is Blind Season 7 reunion. But the wounds were too fresh for the 32-year-old lawyer to dive into another romance.
“We went on a few dates and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m still in love with my ex right now.’ So we decided to be friends, then we officially got together in April,” she says.
In those five months after the show when she remained single, Marissa reached out to Ramses Prashad at one point to see if they could try again. “I called him one night and we just talked until the sunrise. It was eight and a half or nine hours,” Marissa says. “I just thought, ‘Oh my God, we’re still so flirty, and that emotional connection was still there.’”
The conversation led Marissa to believe there was hope for rekindling things, but Ramses’ response once again shut all of that down. “After that call, I sent him a text that was like, ‘I still think there’s something there. Do you think we should go on a date, start over brand new?’” Marissa says. “He waited all day and then he finally responded the next day, and was just like, ‘Nah.’ He said more words than that, but it was a no.”
Does she feel like he led her on by talking to her all night? “I don’t think so. I think that he was lonely. And I was lonely,” Marissa says. “We just needed to talk to someone who understood. We are not really talking now, but if I call him, we could talk for hours.”
Ramses isn’t the only Love Is Blind cast member Marissa has complicated feelings about. Below, she details where she stands with Hannah Jiles and Nick Dorka after diving into their drama at the reunion, and how her new boyfriend is handling the reality-show roller coaster.
Elite Daily: Did you notice anything watching this whole experience back that you didn’t realize at the time?
Marissa George: I didn’t realize how overwhelming I was. And the conversations that we were having were bigger than I thought they were at the time. It was a year ago, so some of those conversations I’m like, “Oh yeah, this did happen, but did it happen here?”
ED: What’s something that wasn’t shown that you wish had aired?
MG: I would have liked to see more of the conversations in the pods between Ramses and me. We had good conversations about the military and the energy stuff in the pods. Showing more of that would give people the context that we were having these conversations before and they weren’t issues at the time.
ED: You’ve mentioned Ramses’ ex-wife was getting married at the time of the breakup. Do you think that affected his decision to end the engagement?
MG: I don’t think his ex-wife getting married impacted the reason why we broke up. It was more just a culmination of him realizing he really hurt her, and not wanting to do the same thing to me.
ED: What exactly was said on this phone call Ramses had that led to the breakup?
MG: I can’t remember the exact details. All I know is a family friend provided more context of what the ex-wife went through after the divorce. He and his ex-wife weren’t talking at all. They hadn’t talked since they signed the divorce papers. So I don’t think he realized what she went through. And this girl who called him was her roommate, so she knew everything.
ED: How has your mom been handling her newfound fame?
MG: She gets recognized as Marissa’s mom here and there. But she doesn’t like it. She’s more of a private person than I am. She doesn’t understand when people want to message her or DM her. She’s so shocked, and I’m always like, “Mom, it’s just part of the process.”
ED: What advice has she given you since the breakup?
MG: I can’t say my mom’s an advice person. She has just constantly reminded me of what I’ve gone through, how hard that breakup was, how much I gave of myself in that relationship, and how I’m doing so much better now with my new partner. It’s just, “Remember he didn’t want you.” That was very helpful because I needed to hear that.
ED: During the reunion, I saw a lot of fan reactions about how you seemed angrier at Nick than Ramses. Do you wish you went harder on Ramses at all?
MG: No. I don’t wish I had gone harder on Ramses. We had a whole year to talk it out. I didn’t want to go up there and attack him because there was no reason to. I don’t hate him. There are other things I wanted to say. I wanted to express how we were on good terms, but at the time, I just was overwhelmed with lights, camera, action, and just watching my breakup scene. There was so much going on.
And I didn’t plan on attacking Nick. It was more like, I’m here to lay out the facts. I just wanted everyone to show up and be honest and accountable on that stage. And when people were sitting there silently, it kind of riled me up. The audience wants the truth. Let’s be honest.
ED: Where do you stand with Nick and Hannah now?
MG: Before the reunion, Hannah and I were close. We were friends. And when the show came out, I struggled with how she was treating Nick. I was like, “God, that’s really bad, Hannah.” I’m someone who will tell my friends when they’re wrong.
But after the reunion, we stopped talking, because I just didn’t really feel that her apologies towards Katie and Nick were enough. I love Hannah, but I also don’t think Nick deserved what he got. Hannah and I are not as close as we used to be because I’m just still trying to work out if this is someone that I could be friends with.
Me and Nick are not best friends either. We are just friends.
ED: Do you believe Nick only came on the show to get famous?
MG: I think initially, yeah. That’s not even really the issue; it’s the fact that he wasn’t honest about that. We all come on the show for our own reasons, and we just wanted him to be honest.
ED: What were your new boyfriend’s thoughts about watching Love Is Blind?
MG: It was hard for him to watch me be in love with someone else. I think what was shocking for him was seeing me compromise so much with Ramses or be so passive about some of the things we talked about, because with my boyfriend now, I’m not like that. So he’s like, “You’re much more of a people pleaser back then versus now.”
ED: Has he met Ramses?
MG: No. They actually live pretty close to each other, but they haven’t run into each other. The universe definitely does not want that.
ED: How is this relationship different from your relationship with Ramses?
MG: With this relationship, I argue more because I’m no longer rolling over for someone else. And my boyfriend takes care of me in a way that a lot of guys before haven’t. Usually, I’m the one who’s the caretaker, and I’m putting their needs ahead of mine. But with this relationship, I feel very taken care of. My boyfriend anticipates my needs.
ED: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from this whole process?
MG: Love is not a fairy tale. I’m such a delusional romantic that I got caught up in the high and the rush of emotion, and thought love was obsessive. I realized that’s not it. And that conflict in a relationship is OK. I’ve learned that through my therapy, you don’t always have to agree with your partner. It’s OK to speak up for myself. Love is not a fantasy. It’s work.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
