‘U did me dirty’: A ‘Love Is Blind’ star calls Netflix out for editing an intimate conversation
Despite starting with the largest initial cast of any season, Love Is Blind season 8 is pretty low-key. This season’s main drama comes from Lauren and Dave, who got engaged after a love triangle in the pods and went on to Honduras to test their physical relationship before moving in together in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
As is seemingly the norm for Love Is Blind, the show’s editors have taken some creative liberties this season. One particular conversation between Lauren and Dave in Honduras confused the audience and Lauren herself. During their first official night together—bearing in mind that by this point, they’ve only seen each other once before—Lauren tells Dave how she prepared for the trip.
In Netflix’s version of events, Lauren says, “I got a bikini wax. In the middle of my wax, she was like, ‘Yeah, for the next 24 hours, no sex, no working out.’ And I was like … I was so bummed, ’cause that was like, I was so pumped to do that.” After Lauren’s “reveal,” there’s a shot of them looking at each other forlornly, with the implication being that Lauren was ready to be intimate with Dave on this trip and the bikini wax was putting a damper on their plans. Dave even lets out a massive sigh. It’s a weird moment, though. It feels like context is missing.
Now, Lauren has come forward to provide that missing context. In a post on Instagram, she wrote, “I need to clarify some editing work here… in this convo I was telling Dave that after my bikini wax I couldn’t have sex or workout within 24 hours and I was bummed bc I had to cancel a SPIN CLASS that night (not bc I couldn’t have sex).” Under an image of that particular conversation, she wrote, “I literally don’t even talk like this lol I was so confused. @netflix I love you but u did me dirty here, count ur days!!!!!”
Clearly, Netflix was trying to make Lauren and Dave’s supposedly innocent conversation seem more … R-rated, and I can understand Lauren’s desire to set the record straight. It’s certainly not the first time a Love Is Blind star has accused Netflix of twisting the truth with some sneaky editing. Of course, as Lauren herself acknowledged in a recent interview with Vulture, Netflix is condensing “hundreds of hours” into a “ten-hour TV show,” and they “can’t include every single conversation, because that would be boring. And it wouldn’t work with the storytelling. So I’m trusting the process.”
During Love Is Blind’s resort trips, the engaged cast members always meet up with one another for a party. The girls and guys reunite and each side finally gets to see who they were talking to in the pods. In previous seasons, this moment has led to a lot of drama. There was certainly less of that this time, though Dave’s behavior during said party might explain why Netflix chose to edit Lauren and Dave’s bikini wax conversation that way.
Weirdly, and rather invasively, Dave asks almost every single cast member present whether they’ve had sex with their respective partners yet. Most of them answer no, and Dave essentially says “same,” looking slightly depressed because of it. During a confessional, he thankfully admits that he could tell Lauren wasn’t ready for that step yet and that he didn’t mind waiting—but still. Was Dave trying to see if the others were in the same boat as him? Or was he worried he and Lauren were falling behind? And if that’s the case, why should that matter? Every relationship has its own timeline, even if the show’s format essentially forces these couples to say “I do” in less than two months.
While I can understand Lauren’s frustration with her words being taken out of context and Netflix’s dedication to their “storyline,” at least Lauren had the opportunity to provide some clarification of her own. There’s no question that Lauren and Dave are surrounded by the most drama this season, as Lauren’s supposed ex has been getting in the way of Dave fully trusting Lauren’s love for him. (Honestly, it’s a never-ending cycle that should probably end with Lauren saying “boy, bye,” to Dave, but that’s another post entirely). We’ll have to wait and see what happens when—or even if—Lauren and Dave walk down the aisle together.
New episodes of Love Is Blind season 8 premiere on February 28, only on Netflix.
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