Aaliyah confronts Lydia over her intentions for joining 'Love Is Blind' at reunion

Aaliyah Cosby and Lydia Velez Gonzalez became fast friends during the pod phase of "Love Is Blind" Season Five. But a shocking reveal about Lydia and Aaliyah's beau, Uche Okoroha, sent Aaliyah packing her bags.

Halfway through the season, Uche revealed that he and Lydia previously dated before the pods. Aaliyah was shocked by the reveal and walked from the show altogether. ("Love Is Blind" creator Chris Coelen confirmed that Lydia and Uche were asked not to disclose their pasts with the other contestants and were not allowed to speak together in the pods again.)

Aaliyah felt blindsided by Uche, who was prepared to propose to her at the end of Episode Four, and Lydia, who was her closest confidante through the pods. She told Uche she left the show partly because “there was, like, an exchange of words between Lydia and I … that didn’t really go well.”

Now, Aaliyah and Lydia are talking about what transpired between them.

During the reunion, which dropped on Netflix Oct. 15, Lydia said she had the "best intentions" and was trying to be honest with Aaliyah, who she "loved."

However, Aaliyah accused Lydia of disrespecting her boundaries after they spoke about her past with Uche in the women's quarters.

"I didn't feel like (her boundaries) were gonna continue to be respected throughout, and that's not the type of situation that anyone should have to endure or deal with going into an engagement," Aaliyah said. "That should be a happy moment. That should be a sacred moment."

Aaliyah echoed this point in an interview with TODAY.com ahead of the Season Five premiere, saying she wanted her engagement experience to be "enjoyable," which she struggled to feel after Lydia and Uche's "betrayal."

“To this day, I don’t really know what her intentions were 100%,” Aaliyah told TODAY.com. “But I do feel like, after just having discussions with her, I understand where she may have been emotionally and what guided her decision-making throughout everything — as far as just navigating having a friendship with me and having the past relationship with him.”

During the reunion, Lydia said the situation was "unfair" to Aaliyah, Uche, Milton and herself.

"I think the public is a little too quick to judge on a situation that you don't get a training manual how to deal with," she said.

Aaliyah agreed that Uche and Lydia should have been allowed to stay, with the caveat that "they should have allowed them to share that information with us."

She said if she had known about Lydia and Uche earlier, she would have "separated" herself from Lydia's friendship.

"Especially knowing that the past was so recent, I would have given (Lydia) the space to process her emotions regarding that realization," she said.

During the show, Lydia told Aaliyah the former couple had met up and slept together just a few months before filming began.

In the reunion, Aaliyah asked Lydia to comment on her intentions behind coming on "Love Is Blind," and whether they had anything to do with reuniting with Uche.

"We had a conversation, one-on-one, outside of filming, where you told me that you and Uche discussed coming on this show," Aaliyah said. "And I just feel like it's better to just be real about what happened and how you both got here."

"I loved and cared for you, and I say that from the bottom of my heart," Lydia responded. "In terms of Uche and I, we had a conversation of two seconds in November of 2021."

Lydia said that conversation consisted of, "'Oh yeah, I saw the casting.' 'Oh yeah, I did, too.' I had no confirmation that Uche was gonna be there."

"My instinct that day was not hope. If I had that power, he would have not been there," Lydia continued.

Milton added that the situation was “unfortunate for Aaliyah.” But he also defended his wife's character. "My wife is a fantastic woman. She motivates me to be better everyday," he said.

Milton gave his own take on his bond with Uche. He and Uche were never friends, but he was "interestingly obsessed with (his) relationship with Lydia" and Milton "didn't know why."

Aaliyah said she and Uche dated briefly after leaving the pods but the relationship did not last. Uche was invited to appear on the reunion but declined. TODAY.com has reached out to Uche for comment.

Since filming wrapped, members of the cast said they rarely hear from Uche. The day the season premiered, Aaliyah and Lydia said they received the same text from Uche which read, "Hey, I'm going to watch later tonight. If there's anything that you want to discuss that you hear, I'm available."

Aaliyah said she is now in a relationship with someone who "treats (her) like a queen."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com