'Love is Blind' reunion: Tyler clarifies his kids, Ramses denies birth control 'ultimatum'
The "Love is Blind" Season 7 reunion addressed widespread speculation about issues like, say, Tyler Francis' biological children. It also left viewers with even more questions.
This season, it seemed as if the couples were largely taking their arguments off-camera, leaving viewers confused about what led to massive events such as Alex Byrd and Tim Godbee's (should we be calling him Drake?) near-breakup in Mexico and Monica Davis and Stephen Richardson imploding over alleged infidelity. The reunion episode filled in a few of these gaps in the storyline.
Here are some of the highlights from the "Love is Blind" Season 7 reunion.
Which 'Love is Blind' Season 7 couples are still together?
To start off easy, yes, of course Taylor Krause and Garrett Josemans are still married and living in Virginia, though they're planning a move to Washington D.C.. And yes, his hair and styling glow-up did happen on her watch during their first year of marriage.
But what might be surprising for those who have followed online claims about Tyler's relationship with his children is that he and Ashley Adionser are, too, still married.
'Uncomfy comments': Taylor opens up about why she kept her mom's name a secret
What did Tyler say about his children?
Tyler admonished viewers for digging into his private life, saying his children's birth certificates have now been made public. "Things that shouldn't be happening are now happening," he said.
Unfortunately for those who futilely hoped for Nick and Vanessa Lachey to engage in an in-depth investigation into the time Tyler allegedly has (and hasn't) spent with his children and his role in their and their mother's lives, he kept his explanation brief.
"I did help a friend and her wife start a family. But her wife ended up leaving her and left her high and dry. This was my very close friend, so I voluntarily stepped in and helped. So there are some pictures of me around," Tyler said. "I've spent holidays with all my friends, all their kids. And I played a part that became very shaky with a friend."
Though that was as far as he went in clarifying his personal life, he and Ashley took the opportunity to show a unified front.
"I do want to let people know Ashley knows all this. This is news to the world; this has never been news to us," he said. "I'm giving this explanation now because the world is waiting for it, but I don't owe anyone an explanation but my wife."
Ashley says Tyler confessed involvement with his kids before their on-camera conversation
Ashley then said Tyler had been honest about being in his children's lives before the on-camera conversation, in which viewers assumed Ashley first learned the news.
"Who do you think has better insight on what's going on, social media or me? So for people to imply 'She was blindsided! She didn't know' is insulting to my intelligence," Ashley said. "Number two, for the record, this is something he never wanted to share on camera. I just didn't feel like it would be an authentic experience or that I could continue the experience if we didn't."
"So I told him, in some capacity, we have to talk about this. There were things he was comfortable sharing and things he wasn't," she continued. "For example, one time I asked him, 'Do they know what you look like?' And he's like, 'I don't think so.' And you could tell he was (lying). Of course, he divulged that information."
She also seemingly confirmed Tyler is no longer involved with the children when she said that due to his childhood in a single-parent household, "It was very hard for him to remove himself and not be involved when this is now a single mom." Ashley also called her husband "a good person who went in a little too deep and didn't know what to do next."
"When I said 'I do,' I said 'I do' to all of it. I was aware, and I took on what I wanted to," Ashley said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. This is a rarity, and it's something that's worth risking anything for."
Ramses says he never gave Marissa an 'ultimatum' about contraception
In their designated segment, Ramses Prashad addressed some viewers' anger over his comments about disliking using condoms as Marissa George said the birth control pill was not her preferred method of contraception.
"At no point did I ever try to present Marissa with an ultimatum," Ramses said. "She had very valid reasons as to why she didn't want to use hormonal contraception. I'm well aware of the effects it has on a woman's body. So I would never try to force that on her.
"We had a conversation about multiple methods; it was a very nuanced conversation. We arrived at sort of a solution that worked best for us."
During this conversation, Ramses, unfortunately, doubled down on his previous on-camera claim about Marissa's energy being too much for him — though, to his credit, he added, "She deserves a person and a love that will embrace who she is fully, as she is. I just felt that person couldn’t be me."
Batting for Team Marissa was her mom, Vanessa, who admitted from the crowd that she "wanted to punch him in the throat" after their breakup conversation but was "thankful he called it off." She blamed Ramses for leaving her daughter "devastated."
He conceded he regretted "not having been more forthcoming" about his concerns earlier.
'Love is Blind' women accuse Nick of calling Hannah a 'grenade'
When Vanessa went in on Hannah Jiles, coercing her into apologizing for her brutal honesty with Nick Dorka, Hannah flipped the script by redirecting to casting doubt on Nick's intentions.
Hannah said she found a notebook in their shared apartment in which Nick wrote he wanted "to be the most famous person ever on 'Love is Blind.'" Nick explained he was detailing 90-day goals for himself that were written while he was in the casting process, "way before I knew I was going to be on 'Love is Blind.'"
After maintaining he was "super genuine" in his intentions going on the Netflix show, Hannah volleyed another accusation: that he told his friends about not being attracted to her after they met. She, Alex, Marissa and Monica claimed they were told Nick said Hannah was "ugly" and looked like "a grenade," or someone perceived as the least attractive in a friend group.
The offense against Nick gained steam as the cast members on stage weighed in, with Nick claiming, "I never brought your looks up once. This whole thing is blown out of perspective."
But Stephen confirms there were conversations of that nature, and even Ramses encourages Nick to come clean, saying, "Things were said. ... This is the moment to take accountability."
Nick immediately caves: "I said I was underwhelmed when I saw Hannah at the reveal. I never said she was a grenade."
Chatting with Hannah and Nick: 'Unfortunate' Hannah felt he lied about his looks
What are the sexual texts Stephen sent while engaged to Monica?
To start, Stephen did participate in a sleep test.
The show revealed photographic proof on screen ("I have sleep apnea," he said). What was less clear was what he does and doesn't remember about what he called "pretty juicy" texts between himself and another woman.
He denied any recollection of the exchange, claiming he deleted the communications. Later, he claimed to never delete text threads. But hey, he was here to take "full accountability."
"I had a moment of weakness where somebody texted me, and they were talking about a heart condition. And then immediately after that, they go into, 'So I've gotten into some interesting fetishes lately,'" Stephen said.
"I entertained that conversation, and I knew I shouldn’t. And then I put my phone down in the sleep study and I said, 'You know what? I’ve done this before; I know where it ends. This is the man I don’t want to be.'"
Stephen clarified the person on the other end of the sexual communications was "someone I knew through Instagram" for a few years but had never met her.
Meanwhile, Monica was clearly uninterested in rehashing events from a year ago, given they'd already buried the hatchet off-camera.
Texts and sleep tests: What happened between Stephen and Monica?
Which 'Love is Blind' Season 7 cast members are in the reunion?
The following cast members appeared in the reunion trailer:
Marissa George
Taylor Krause
Ashley Adionser
Brittany Wisniewski
Garrett Josemans
Leo Braudy
Stephen Richardson
Hannah Jiles
Nick Dorka
Monica Davis
Ramses Prashad
Alexandra Brown
Tyler Francis
Timothee Godbee
Katie Bollinger
These "Love is Blind" alumni and family members also showed up:
Nancy Rodriguez
Season 4's Bliss Poureetezadi Goytowski and Zack Goytowski
Taylor's parents, Fong and Tom Krause
Marissa's mom, Vanessa
Ashley's mom, Carla
Season 4's Marshall Glaze
Season 6's Amber Desiree "AD" Smith
Season 1's Jessica Batten McGrath and her husband Benjamin McGrath
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Love is Blind' DC reunion recap: Tyler clarifies bombshell about kids