“Love Is Blind” is back — and it’s found its newest polarizing character.
That would be Leo, a 31-year-old art dealer whose primary dating insecurity is that a woman may be only interested in him for his wealth. He deals with that in the pods by not concealing his lucrative career, or considerable personal wealth, whatsoever — and the show’s edit leans into it gratuitously.
Unfortunately, when you’re on “Love Is Blind,” it means that your dating gaffes and personal quirks are exposed to an enormous audience. Netflix’s dating franchise draws millions of views: According to the platform’s own numbers, its sixth season drew 20.9 million views (hours watched divided by total runtime) in the first half of the year. Undoubtedly, the flagship series has boosted the streamer’s profitability as Netflix’s stock prices this month are enjoying an all-time high of $725.
To be fair to Leo, he’s taking his less-than-favorable edit on the show in stride, posting jokes about releasing his tax returns on social media. Despite not being one of the cast members to make it to the couples’ vacation to Mexico (more on that later), he’s still one of the most memorable parts of the season so far.
Here’s what we know about where he is today.
Leo forms two connections in the pods, but the experience ends poorly for him
Going into the appearance-concealing pods portion of “Love Is Blind,” Leo tells the other male cast members in episode one that he’s not on the show to boost his own profile.
“I grew up financially very well-off,” he said. “I’m not trying to build an influencer career. I’m a rich fucking art dealer. I grew up, like, I went to a coutnry club, went to private school. My college was paid for.”
Leo forms strong connections with 33-year-old esthetician Brittany, who wants to be taken care of in a relationship, and 26-year-old Hannah, who quit her job to be on the show. In episode two, he tells Brittany that he feels equally confident in his relationship with both her and Hannah.
Eventually, that leads to some tension. After Leo questions Brittany about what kind of ring she may like in episode three, she takes issue with his indecision after he tells her that he was planning on having the same conversation with Hannah.
For a moment, it seems like the issue is going to resolve itself after Hannah tells Leo in episode three that she and Nick D., another cast member, have confessed their love to each other. Leo doesn’t take the breakup attempt well, demanding to know whether Hannah would agree to marry him if he asks in that instant and bringing her to tears.
During another meeting in episode four, Hannah and Leo agree to end their relationship after Hannah tells him that she has stronger feelings for Nick. Leo asks Hannah to tell Brittany that their split was mutual, so that Brittany doesn’t think that she’s his second choice. Hannah declines — but does tell Brittany that he asked her to do so.
In episode four, Brittany tells Leo that she’s still “hurt” by the way he handled his relationships with her and Hannah. Leo attempts to propose, but Brittany turns him down and tells him to ask again. In episode five, he tries again, and she says yes.
When the two meet at their reveal, however, the tension is palpable. Brittany still can’t tell Leo that she loves him, and the pair agrees that if they aren’t selected for the show’s couples trip to Mexico, they will travel to Miami together instead.
Mexico wasn’t meant to be, and neither was this couple.
“Brittany & Leo were not one of the six couples chosen by producers to continue their journey in Mexico,” an on-screen card reads right after Leo and Brittany’s first in-person meeting. “They took their own trip to Miami and broke off their engagement weeks later.”
Leo and Brittany’s relationship ‘didn’t work out’ after episode 6
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly published on Wednesday, Brittany explained how her relationship with Leo progressed after they finished filming and how it eventually ended.
Brittany told EW that she and Leo spent two days in Los Angeles, where the pods are filmed, before going to Miami. And while they had “a blast” on the trip, they realized after several days that their relationship wasn’t going to work out.
“There wasn’t anything major that happened,” Brittany told EW. “Honestly, I sometimes wish there was, because maybe it would give a better explanation to why things didn’t work out. It’s really just, you know when it’s right and you just know when it’s not, and we’re better off as friends.”
She told EW that their breakup was “super mutual,” and “nothing crazy happened” when they decided to split.
Leo has been poking fun at himself on the show after its premiere
On Instagram, Leo isn’t taking things too seriously. After Netflix posted a video showing him making kissing noises on the show — “mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah” — he reposted it to his own Instagram story.
“Listen to on repeat if you are interested in losing your mental sanity,” he captioned the post.
On Wednesday, Leo posted a screenshot of an exchange that he said was with reality television blogger Reality Ashley discussing his net worth.
“Release my tax returns?” He asked in a poll.
Leo also posted a video on Instagram reacting to Netflix changing its bio on Instagram to “art dealer,” referencing him on the show.
“I was thinking about it, and shows and cinema is art. And Netflix is selling us shows and cinema. So in a sense, they are also art dealers,” he said in the video. “From one rich art dealer to another richer art dealer, you know, respect.”
Leo still works at his family’s company, based in New York City
According to the company website, Leo runs his family’s art business, Capital Art Advisory, which he took over in 2015 and relocated to New York City, where Brittany told EW he now lives. He serves both domestic and international clients and also provides advice on NFT collections.
He’s active on Instagram, where other cast members — including Hannah and Brittany — follow him (for what it’s worth, he still follows both of them as well).
Leo regularly posts videos on Instagram and TikTok about art world topics, such as price negotiation and whether the woman in da Vinci’s famous Mona Lisa painting is smiling.
He’s also promoted “Love Is Blind” on Instagram, teasing the seventh season with his cast portrait.
“‘Hey Leo, how’s your love life been?'” he captioned the video.
The next episodes of “Love Is Blind” season seven will air on Wednesday, October 9 on Netflix.
Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider’s parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.
