‘Love Is Blind’s’ Raven on Her Hopes to Marry SK and Bartise’s ‘Smokeshow’ Comment: ‘Throw the Whole Man Away’  (2024)

SPOILER WARNING:This post contains spoilers for the reunion episode of “Love Is Blind” Season 3, out now onNetflix.

Things didn’t work out at Raven Ross’ wedding to SK Alagbada on Season 3 of “Love Is Blind.” Alagbada shocked his fiancée by rejecting her at the altar — a decision Ross tells Variety she didn’t see coming.

While Ross formed a connection with Bartise Bowden in the pods, she ultimately accepted Alagbada’s proposal. The couple faced some bumps along the road during their journey, largely stemming from Alagbada’s revelation that he was moving to California for graduate school.

While the wedding left her in tears, Ross still got her happy ending, as she and Alagbada revealed during the season’s reunion’s episode that they’re back together.

In an interview with Variety, Ross opens up about her rekindled romance, the public response to her appearance on the show, and that moment when Bowden called her a “smokeshow” in front of fiancée Nancy Rodriguez.

Do you think it was fair for SK to sign up for this experience knowing that he was moving to California so soon?

It’s so funny now —looking back, I was just trying to be so open-minded. I knew that our connection is so strong, so let’s just figure it out, and take it day by day. Regardless of where we are geographically, I don’t want to live without that person. It’s so funny looking back on it after knowing SK so much better now: That is totally an SK thing. He just didn’t realize, and was just like, “I’m gonna go on this show! Oh right, I have grad school too!” Of course it was not ideal, but it became part of our story. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Walk me through the first conversation you had with SK after the wedding.

After the wedding, he reached out and said, “I’m sorry. Ihope we can rebuild things and just keep going with our connection in the same way.” I waslike, “Yeah, you have to say sorry, sir!” Luckily, after a few days, we were in the same place mentally of, “OK, I don’t want to lose this person. So how do we move forward?”

Before the wedding, did you have any inkling he would say no?

I knew it could go either way. I just felt very in limbo, because I was so confident. I was just really trying to hope for the best. Clearly, I was super emotional. We hadn’t talked about, “What are you gonna say,” but we had talked about, “Regardless of what happens, I see a life with you. I see us growing. That needs to be always at the forefront of our minds, regardless of what happens on this very day.”

We learned at the reunion that you’re back together. How have your families taken the news?

We’ve visited my family. I’m originally from New Orleans, so we went down to New Orleans. My family has come to Dallas. We’ve stayed at my house. We’ve done it all. We visited his family a lot in Austin. We’ve all made those connections, and he feels a lot better about it. My mom just really loves him.

Have you thought about the possibility of another wedding to SK down the line?

Yeah. We’ve only talked about it once or twice, because neither of us are in the place to plan a wedding immediately. I’ve said that’s not until at least two years. I’ve got to shake this one off first! I’ve got to let everyone forget about this one!

And the next one, you’ll go in knowing his answer!

Right? This time, I’m gonna need it written down on paper, and I need to record him saying it so that I know exactly what I’m gonna get!

What was your reaction to the scene when Bartise tells Nancy that he thinks you’re a smokeshow?

Oh my God. SK and I watched it together for the first time. We were both like, “What is going on?” Of course, we had no idea of any of this. I just feel so bad for Nancy, because you can tell on her face, she’s like, “Is this really happening now? Are we in a different universe?” It was just crazy to see. Of course, yeah, I’m flattered, but, can you at least just stand by your woman? It’s cringe.

Did you and Nancy speak about it beyond what we saw on the show?

Nancy and I have spoken a lot. I don’t know necessarily about that moment, but I’m sure that was hard for her. It was hard for me to watch. Her journey has been so hard. I let her know that I’m here for her. Throw the whole man away. I am Nancy’s No. 1 fan.

The women this season really seemed to support each other.

Oh my God, I could not have asked to do this with a better group of women. We are all literally best friends. We do everything together. I’m so glad I came out of this with best friends. I would not trade that for anything.

How have you dealt with the public response to you on the show?

It was definitely challenging at first, becauseI’ve had an arc on the show. It started off really bad for me! But it’s been so interesting. I’m already a very community-driven person — I just love connecting with people, specifically other women, lifting each other up. I’ve really been focused on that positive part of it, and I feel so happy that now I can share positivity with more people. So I’ve definitely been trying to lean on the side of positivity, because the internet is literally crazy. It’s also helped me to be more comfortable in sharing myself and making fun of myself. There’s all these funny, cringe moments of me on the show. I love just laughing about it with other people. So that has been really fun.I’m trying to look on the bright side, baby!

This interview has been edited and condensed.