Love Is Blind season 7 contestants Monica Davis and Stephen Richardson seemed like they were headed toward “I do” — until she caught him sending inappropriate texts to another woman.
Monica, 37, discovered the texts during the eighth episode of the season, which was released on Wednesday, October 9. After being away one night on a “sleep test,” Stephen, 34, allegedly sent “kink”-fueled text messages to an unidentified woman, which Monica discovered the next day.
Before the two had it out on camera, fellow contestant Taylor Krause — who is engaged to Garrett Josemans — came over to console her friend and confessed that she had found Stephen’s behavior to be strange since they were all in Mexico after the pods.
Taylor recalled one conversation where Stephen told her off camera that “in a year” a “bunch of women” would “be in my DMs, wanting to suck my d—,” which Monica called “disgusting.”
When Stephen returned home, Taylor excused herself so he and Monica can talk it out. “Reading those text messages filled with fetishes … it’s disgusting, Stephen,” she told him, to which he replied, “You’re right.”
That isn’t enough for Monica. “Say something else. Why did you propose, why did you come here? Who are you?” Stephen claimed there isn’t “really anything” he could say that she would “believe.”
“I did make a mistake while being drunk at a sleep test with somebody who texted me,” he confessed, but Monica corrected. “You were doing it today. You texted her today. And the really gross ones were today.”
When Monica asked to look at his phone to confirm, Stephen admitted he’s already “deleted the messages because I didn’t want to look at it either.” He adds that he doesn’t “remember” texting the woman that day but knows it was a “stupid decision” that spawned from a “conversation” he and Monica had the night prior.
“Don’t you f——g blame me at all for you being gross,” Monica fired back. “I’m not at all,” Stephen retorts. “I’m blaming myself for my actions based on how I took our conversations. I am taking full responsibility for it which is why I’m getting my stuff and I’m leaving you alone.”
Before he left, Monica requested he send her a sum of money that he owes her “from carrying your weight the last couple of days.” After getting out his phone and sending the cash via Venmo, he told her “I’m sorry” one last time before packing up his clothes and leaving.
After he’s gone, Monica broke down under a blanket and Taylor and Garrett returned to console her. “I’m so sad,” Monica said through sobs. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Monica and Stephen fell for each other early on in the pods, connecting over their desire for honesty in a relationship despite their opposite lifestyles. When Stephen admitted that he had emotionally cheated on a previous girlfriend by sliding into someone else’s DMs, Monica decided she still wanted to move forward as she wants someone who isn’t “afraid to be imperfect.”
“I want you to feel like you can tell me anything,” she told him. “We’re all human.”
The pair continued to fall hard for each other before eventually confessing their love and getting engaged. They then jetted off to Mexico with the rest of the season 7 couples for a romantic getaway, which, despite a few tense moments over Stephen’s tendency to ramble, seemingly was smooth sailing.
When returning to Washington D.C., the pair continued to have frank conversations with one another, including about sex and intimacy. During one talk in episode 8, Monica reveals that Stephen is into “butt stuff,” which she is “saving for my husband.”
“I mean it’s cool, but it’s not like ‘I wait until my birthday to be lucky enough to have it’ situation,” Stephen quipped in response. “Let’s be honest, there’s so many different things you can put your dick inside: pineapple, bowl of macaroni and cheese.”
When Monica asks if he’d ever seriously done something like that, he immediately denied it.
“I don’t believe you,” she replied.
Episodes 1-9 of Love Is Blind season 7 are now streaming on Netflix. New episodes drop every Wednesday.
