Copyright Variety
Warning: This story contains spoilers from the Oct. 22 finale of “Love Is Blind” Season 9, now streaming on Netflix. The last remaining couples ended their relationships during the final episode of “Love Is Blind,” making Season 9 the first time in the show’s history where none of the contestants got married. In the finale, there were three couples left: Ali Lima and Anton Yarosh, Kalybriah Haskin and Edmond Harvey, and Jordan Keltner and Megan Walerius. Among the remaining couples, only the first two made it to the altar, with both women saying no at the altar. As viewers braced themselves to watch what they thought would be a third wedding, the show cut to Jordan and Megan in their apartment instead. While the pair sat on the couch, a tearful Megan decided to call off the engagement, citing their fundamental differences in lifestyles and other reservations as to why she wasn’t ready for marriage at the moment. Among the engaged couples, the duo appeared to be the strongest despite early hiccups regarding lifestyle and finances. Additionally, parenthood was a major topic of discussion between the couple, with Jordan being a single father to a five-year-old boy. In an interview with Variety, Jordan admits he wasn’t “blindsided” by their conversation in the end, as the two had previously made a pact not to go to the altar if they weren’t both certain. “We wanted to be open, honest and transparent with each other,” he says. “My son was supposed to be at the wedding, and I never wanted him to go through something like that. We tried until the last possible second. She made the best decision for both of us and our families.” Below, he shares more about his final confessional, viewers’ reactions to Season 9, rewatching the show more than a year later, and where he currently stands with Megan. How has it been for you to relive this experience more than a year later? It’s weird watching yourself fall so hard in love with somebody. We were compatible on so many levels. We finished filming almost a year and a half ago, and I haven’t seen her since. I’ve spent a lot of time processing, going to therapy about it and improving myself. It was hard to rewatch it because I don’t remember much of it. But I see why we fell in love. It sucked, but at the same time, so much time has passed. I loved my life before I went on the show, and I love it now. What has it been like seeing everyone’s reactions to the show? I’ve been diligent to stay out of the comments and not read them for the most part. But what I’ve seen has been humbling. I did not expect any of this to happen. I didn’t think it would affect the Type 1 diabetes community on this scale. I was just telling my story, and in a way, I was telling a bunch of people’s stories. I never thought about how relatable all our situations are. I didn’t expect any of this, and I feel undeserving of the love and attention. I’m so glad I get to be an advocate. From a viewer’s perspective, it seemed like you two had a strong connection, but there were clear differences around lifestyle, finances and parenthood. Do you feel like the relationship was accurately represented on screen? I do. We spent hundreds of hours with each other. We had every conversation there was to have. We understood each other’s intentions. We live two different lives. I’m a single dad. I never wanted her to have immediate responsibility with my son. That was never a conversation. It was like, ‘Ok, I got this. All I need you to do is love that guy. That’s it.’ I have a very healthy relationship with his mom and stepdad. We operate as a unit. The expectations with her being involved were hanging out with us and loving him. That was all I wanted. Everything else was just icing on the cake. What type of new insight about the relationship have you gained while watching the show back? I watched myself in Mexico. As a single dad, I work a lot and go to the gym. There are very few times when I’m out and about. We’re with these people in this crazy, unique situation. We’ve been pent-up for a little bit, and then we go to Mexico and get super drunk. Do I have regrets about doing that? For sure. I was being annoying, but we were able to move past that quickly. I’ve grown further as a person from her expectations. Most of my past girlfriends let me do whatever I wanted. It was refreshing to be held accountable. It helped me self-reflect. My end goal was to be a good example for my son. I know he’s going to watch it one day. I would have navigated that situation a little bit differently, but I was just excited. At any point in the relationship, did you have a feeling that she would end the engagement? Yes. I’m a regular, blue-collar guy. I was making decent money at the time, but she was just absolutely killing it. It seemed like every time she would hang out with her friends, she’d come back, and I could hear hesitation in her voice. That was off-putting for me because I want to get married to someone who wants to get married to me. I don’t want someone to have hesitations. That’s not fair to her. We had discussions about not wanting to annul our marriage. We didn’t want to get a divorce. We wanted this to be a forever thing. At the end of the day, she decided it wasn’t going to be a forever thing for her. She made the right choice. In your confessional after the split, you mentioned that Megan ended things because your lifestyles weren’t compatible and suggested that money played a significant role. Do you believe that’s the reason she called off the engagement? She kind of says that herself. I don’t want to speak too much for her, but she simply said the lifestyles weren’t compatible. We live completely different lifestyles, so she’s not lying. That was just the fact of the matter at the time. What do you think ultimately made the relationship not work out? It was time. I’m a single dad. I was working a very demanding job at the time. When we were in the pods, I was able to dedicate 100% of my time to Megan. Then we go back to Denver, and half of that gets ripped off to work. With filming, there was not a lot of time to decompress. Luca and Megan are two people I should have committed most of my time and energy to, but I have to support my family. They both got the short end of the stick during that time. I asked Megan to hang on because I knew the load was going to be light eventually. But, she didn’t make the wrong decision. Would you have said “I do” if you two had made it down the aisle? Megan is very strategic in how she thinks. I’m not. She checked all my boxes, and I was good. She was dead set on not wanting a divorce. I’m a chronic under-thinker. So I was like, “Oh, we could get a divorce if we hate each other.” She made the choice that was right for her, which in turn, was the right choice for everyone. How would you describe where you guys stand today? Since the cast announcement, we’ve been talking almost daily, but it’s just very fun banter. I have no interest in pursuing and trying to go back. We’re friends because we went through this unique experiment together. But it’s very casual. We didn’t talk to each other for a full year. But once everything started dropping, we were just checking in on each other. We think the memes are hilarious. There’s no bad blood between us. In your final confessional, you mention that you regretted introducing her to your son, Luca. What was going through your mind when you said that? I was going through every emotion known to man. I was so tired. I couldn’t communicate the way I needed to. My son is at this young, tender age where stability is very important. I was regretful that we brought Megan in like, “Oh, this is your stepmom,” and then ripped her out of his life. For a 5-year-old, that’s not fair. That was on me. Nobody signed anybody up for the experiment but me. It was unfair that Luca and my son’s mom got pulled into it in a very dramatic fashion. He doesn’t ask for a stepmom anymore. That was not a healthy thing for him to go through. All I can do is live and learn. I can’t see myself introducing Luca to anyone else unless I’m 100% sure we’re going to be together forever. Do you still regret introducing her? It was never about Megan. It could have been anybody. Megan is an amazing person. She and Luca got along so great. It was more that it’s not healthy to bring a young child into a situation like that and be like, “Oh, Luca, this is going to be your stepmom. We’re getting married.” Then two weeks later, we didn’t. It’s not Megan’s or Luca’s fault. I brought everyone into the experiment. That’s what I meant by I regret introducing her to Luca because she’s an amazing person. He deserves a stable environment, and what I was doing wasn’t necessarily stable.How was Megan’s meeting with Luca’s mother? How did she feel about you going on the show? We went to dinner together. It was important to me because I knew her [Megan] for three or four weeks. I needed her approval out of respect for her. It was amazing. Everyone got along perfectly fine. She didn’t care that I was going on it. She was concerned that I was going to be villainized because of my tattoos. But I was like, “Everything will be ok. There’s a reason I’m going on here.” And then everything turned out cool. What does your dating life look like now? It’s been casual. I haven’t introduced Luca to anybody. I haven’t even met anyone to introduce to my son. I’m not interested in dating seriously right now. Every once in a while, it’s nice to go out and go on a casual date. I don’t see myself doing anything serious anytime soon. But never say never. Your season made “Love Is Blind” history as the first season when no couples got married. Why do you think that the experiment wasn’t successful for your group? It’s a condensed experiment. Everyone was down to earth enough to be like, “This is my life, and I don’t need to get married to satisfy a bunch of fans.” It’s a real marriage. You get a real marriage certificate. Everyone made the right choice, because we’re not getting married just because it plays well on TV. We don’t care what the fans think because this is our life. We’re regular people. What surprised you the most about his experience? Megan and my cast mates are the greatest people I’ve ever met. It’s hard to meet people when you’re an adult. Megan taught me a lot about how I needed to treat and speak to a woman. We brought out the best in each other. Going forward in dating, I’m looking for someone who brings out the best in me, not the worst. I have to ask about your now viral Crystal Lite and chicken protein shake. How did you come up with that combination? I was on TikTok. I’ve tried to build my life around convenience, and I saw this bodybuilder doing that exact recipe. And I was like, “You know what? Fuck it. I’m going to give it a shot.” I’m sorry to say I don’t hate it, and I still do it every single day. I don’t think I’ll ever stop doing it. I don’t think it’s that gross. It’s not as gross as chugging 13 raw eggs. What was your reaction to seeing audiences so fixated on your recipe? There are a lot of people not doing the instructions right. You’re supposed to chug it, not drink it out of a straw. If you don’t want to do it, don’t do it. This is a free country. I’ve seen good and bad reactions. No one’s making you do it. It’s my thing!
