Johnie Maraist and her boyfriend, Alex Yovanovic, almost met each other for the first time on Love Is Blind.
In a Monday, February 19 Instagram post, Johnie, 33, revealed that current boyfriend Alex, a structural aerospace engineer, had been offered a spot in the cast on her season of the Netflix dating show, but ultimately turned down the opportunity.
“Alex was recruited for my season of Love Is Blind,” the Houston lawyer captioned the post, which was accompanied by romantic photos of the couple on a beach. “He said no because he didn’t feel like it was the right option for him. Sometimes we wonder if my season would’ve gone differently for me if he’d said yes. But at the end of the day, all that matters is that we found each other.”
Instead, the two met by more conventional means — via a dating app. Johnie gave “special props to [Bumble]” for kickstarting their relationship and concluded: “Life is a crazy story, huh??!”
The Love Is Blind alum hard-launched her relationship on Instagram in October 2023 shortly after her ex, Chris Fox, admitted to cheating during the Love Is Blind season 5 reunion. Johnie found out about his infidelity after a friend saw him out with his girlfriend before he had officially broken things off.
At the reunion, Johnie and Chris explained how their relationship, which already had a rocky start on the show, came to an end. “That weekend was my birthday weekend and Chris had a wedding out of state, so he left the state and I didn’t see him,” Johnie explained. “And then the next week I didn’t see him, and then I found out the following weekend that Chris was seeing someone else. And yeah, I never saw him again.”
Chris admitted he “didn’t handle the situation as someone would properly,” and confirmed that he was now living with his new girlfriend. “We’re very happy together,” he said. “And I’m sorry if that hurts to hear. I know I was wrong. I felt guilty and heartbroken and as many emotions as I could because I did fall in love with [her].” He added, “One of my biggest regrets is not being forthcoming with you.”
By the time the reunion aired in October 2023, Johnie and Alex had already been dating for a year. “hell was the journey but it brought me heaven,” Johnie wrote in an Instagram caption after the reunion. “happy one year, Alex – thank you for showing me what true love is.”
