Spoilers for Love is Blind season 7 episodes 1-6 ahead. Netflix's reality TV juggernaut Love is Blind is designed so people can date someone they may have never pursued in the real world. The poster couple for that concept among the Love is Blind season 7 cast is Monica Davis and Stephen Richardson. Though they come from different walks of life, 37-year-old sales executive Monica and 34-year-old electrician Stephen quickly connect over their interesting conversations about race and curiosity in the pods.
However, early signs of discord once they reach Mexico have left fans wondering whether they will end up at the altar by the season's Oct. 23 finale. Read on for a breakdown of Love is Blind season 7 stars Monica and Stephen's relationship, including any clues about whether they're still together after filming.
What happened between Monica and Stephen on 'Love is Blind' season 7?
From the start, Monica and Stephen's personalities quickly spark an attraction, even though their lifestyles hint that they're opposites. Monica admits in her confessionals throughout the season that she tends to go for physical connection first, and that she has tended to care about her past boyfriends' credentials and where they've traveled. However, she falls for Stephen as they speak on the importance of communication, not expecting perfection, and appreciating their partners' flaws in a relationship. Even when Stephen admits on one of their first dates that he "technically holds the title of being a cheater," after he emotionally cheated on an ex-girlfriend he felt he "didn't deserve," Monica gives him grace for being open with her. She even says he may be too hard on himself about his past; after this, he immediately asks her on another date.
It even goes smoothly as the pair begins discussing politics (in case you forgot this season is set in D.C.). Veteran Stephen describes himself as a centrist and admits that he voted for Trump in 2016 because he "didn't like Hillary." However, he says he "despised the way that Trump handled his time in office," and that he voted for Biden in 2020. He also "happily admits" that his first vote wasn't his most educated vote.
Then the conversation moves to race. While Stephen "for the most part" identifies as white, he previously discovered that—rather than being partly Italian as his family claimed growing up—at least half of his dad's DNA came from West Africa. Monica enjoys this story and how Stephen has since researched West African countries. Monica's mom is Honduran and her dad is African-American, so she appreciates Stephen's openness to experiencing new cultures. (There's also a moment where they both describe her as a mutt, which people are having a field day with on Twitter.) By the end of the day, they're already dropping hints about a possible future engagement.
By episode 3, the pair calls each other boyfriend and girlfriend in the gender-separated lounges, and Stephen tells the men he loves her and he's considering having kids. In the pods, they trade "I love you"s and promise to be weird together (which is just as good as a tagline for this couple). Their both crying after dropping those three words is a genuinely sweet moment, and so is their subsequent proposal, where Stephen's line is quite smooth: "Monica Jade Davis, if you're starting to get a little bored of that last name, I was wondering, will you marry me?" She said yes, and in her response speech, she said, "I love that you are so proud of the fact that you are barely that Black."
Ahead of the in-person reveal, Monica admits that she can get the ick easily, but the pair seem to get along, despite their nerves. The body language is good, and Stephen even gives her the "shirt off his back" he wore when he arrived at the pods.
Unfortunately, as the pair spend time together in Mexico, some cracks start showing in their love bubble. For one, Monica brings up Stephen's blue-collar job and two-year degree again in a testimonial, to say that she "doesn't give a fuck," but it's still a bit concerning whether that'll become an issue in the real world. Still, they spend their date time getting acupuncture, where they each help the acupuncturist put needles in each other, and they start a whole extended conversation comparing the needles to Stephen's erections. (Give that attendant a raise.) They're both pretty chill at the couples' beach party; a standout moment is Stephen calling quantum physicist Garrett a "middle-class Chris Evans." Also, Stephen has a wholesome response to the women's interrogation, saying that Monica makes him feel like he is on cloud nine.
But later, when they're back in their suite, there's a vibe switch. They're recapping the party and Stephen's sharing his thoughts about their dynamic, but eventually, Monica cuts in and says she cannot get a word in. It seems this isn't the first time she's called him out for being "chatty," but it's quite a 180 from what we saw in the pods. (On their proposal date, Monica says she loves how he's chatty.) Monica seems quite annoyed when she tells him he has to "share the space," and that it's "kind of not getting funny." They change the subject to another couple, Alex and Tim, but it isn't clear whether Monica was just tired or if there was a deeper issue they didn't resolve by the end of episode 6.
Episode 7 doesn't resolve the "chatty" issue—add it to the many dropped conflicts throughout the LIB seasons—but Monica brings up a new concern in the first full scene of her and Stephen. She reveals that Stephen mentioned in the pods that he was going to get her flowers, and now that they're together, she wants his actions to match up with his words. (It's unclear how he's supposed to find flowers mid-vacation, but I guess they have a production crew at their disposal.) She appreciated gestures like him writing a poem and singing to her in the pods, but now wants physical acts of devotion, too. (Thank you to the LIB producers for not showing the pod ballad; we're maxed out on those until the end of time.) "I don't wanna sound materialistic, but I also want to feel special," she adds.
Monica's coming off as a bit high-maintenance (honestly, work!), and there's also a brief digression where Stephen name-drops Kate Spade as a "top quality" bag, and Monica counters with YSL and Louis Vuitton. (Stephen has never heard of them.) Stephen then admits he's overwhelmed by the rushed timeline and doesn't want to feel "forced into doing something." Monica points out that, ideally, he would have thought through the pressures of the LIB process before presenting himself as so sure about being with her in the pods. They reaffirm their love for each other, but this scene seems like a good thesis statement of their relationship.
True love just can't run smoothly for these two. Their time in Mexico ends with weird vibes during an all-couples party when already-annoyed Monica gets mad as Stephen sticks back to talk to Garrett rather than running outside to watch the romantic fireworks. Later, Stephen gets to chatting and goes on a bizarre, misogynistic tangent about how much attention he and other cast members will get after the show airs. "There are women that are homewreckers out here that are like, 'I don't give a fuck what your situation is. I wanna suck your dick,'" he says at one point. Monica interrupts by asking, "What's happening? How did we get here?" while Stephen "brings it home" by talking about how the men will have to deal with temptation for the first time, and they'll have to know why they're with their specific person. Monica excuses herself from the conversation, but Taylor politely stays, and it looks like the wheels are turning in her head as Stephen claims he's "not once" questioned how he felt about Monica.
Once they get back to D.C., Stephen does get a win. After their first shared apartment scene features Monica ribbing him on the flower issue again, he takes her on a date to make pressed-flower art. Stephen's quite good since he spends his spare time making Dungeons and Dragons models, and Monica's only a little salty when the instructor likes Stephen's art better. Stephen also follows up this romantic date with a confessional about how he's "doing something right and getting rewarded with sex"—inevitably hurting the vibe.
After a small win comes a big L: Stephen goes to work and finds out he's unemployed. Monica's cool with fronting them for a while, and Stephen says he's only ever been without a gig for "a week and a half," so all seems well. But then the conversation gets around to sex and Monica admits that they've been having less after Stephen admitted his reservations about getting married. They discuss how they're not out of sync, while Stephen admits he's into pegging and tries to play off his fun fact that men can American Pie a bowl of mac n' cheese if they wish. He also says, "Giving birth is the only time a woman comes close to understanding what it's like when a man has a common cold.... I could win a Nobel Prize if I had a vagina." (Stephen needs to learn when to stop talking.)
Did Monica and Stephen make it to the altar on 'Love is Blind' season 7?
And then, it happens: By the end of episode 8, Monica and Stephen are done. It's very much a "something happened off-camera so we'll have the cast re-hash it" scene, but, while Stephen was away the night before at a sleep test (where he was intoxicated, which seems to go against the entire idea of a sleep test), he was sexting another woman and talking about fetishes.
The scene is difficult to watch. Taylor comforts Monica, bringing up Stephen's weird comments from Mexico and calling him "disgusting" and "fucking evil" as Stephen himself is maybe five feet away in the kitchen. When she leaves, Monica is not pulling any punches, and Stephen is just sitting there with a wide-eyed look, saying that he made a "stupid mistake while being drunk at a sleep test." Except, as Monica points out, he was texting her that day.
Stephen claims he didn't continue to text the woman after the sleep test; Monica wants to check his phone, but he deleted the messages because he "didn't want to look at it either." He tries to bring up a conversation they had off-screen as an excuse, but when Monica stops him, he tries to therapy-speak his excuse back into the narrative. Stephen takes "full responsibility" and leaves her alone, but before he does, Monica makes him Venmo her the money she spent "carrying his weight the last couple days."
Monica also points out they were about to meet her parents that weekend, and he was going to go ahead and shake her dad's hand while keeping all this a secret. Stephen says, "I should have never gone on the show," while Monica notes how selfish that is because he did sign up for it, and put a ring on her finger. As soon as she starts to tear up, he flees the apartment, leaving Taylor and Garrett to come in and console her. That's the end of Monica and Stephen (at least until the reunion).
Are Monica and Stephen still together after 'Love is Blind' season 7?
Obviously, the short answer is no, but all of us nosy Love is Blind fans would still love an update on how the former couple is fairing today. We hope Monica is thriving; for now, her Instagram feed of bikini pics and travel snapshots from London to Mexico City to the Bahamas will have to do. Meanwhile, Stephen's page seems to imply he's still a bachelor, with shots of his friends and his fur baby, a dachshund called Clementine. However, the exes may still be on relatively good terms; they both still follow each other and have shared behind-the-scenes pics from their time in Mexico to their feeds.
As of the release of episode 8, neither Monica nor Stephen have directly addressed the breakup or its aftermath. (Monica did appear on "The Viall Files" podcast on October 8, but that convo was limited to the first batch of episodes.) However, Stephen seemingly woke up on October 9 ready to face his "perceived villain arch," as he posted several Instagram Stories anticipating backlash once people watched the episodes. So far, he's re-shared what appears to be a selfie from the infamous sleep test and some tongue-in-cheek statements. "I am whatever the fans of 'Love Is Blind' want me to be," he wrote in one story, per TODAY.
