Viewers of Love is Blind in the US have been left furious after one of the contestants left her fiancée at the altar over his views on Black Lives Matter, sexual identity and vaccines.
Stars of season 8 Ben Mezzenga and Sara Carlton had made it to the final episode where the couples walk down the aisle and choose whether they wish to marry each other.
In a shocking clip, Sara has a sudden change of heart and decides not to marry Ben.
She told him: ‘I love you so much, but I always wanted a partner to be on the same wavelength.’
She admitted she still loved Ben and believed everything about him ‘was amazing’.
The families of the bride and groom watched on in astonishment as Ben told Sara he would like to continue their relationship.
Sara left the venue and spoke with her mother and sister in the car, where she admitted it was Ben’s views which had given her cold feet.
In earlier episodes Sara had quizzed Ben about his political views, including asking him about Donald Trump, Black Lives Matter and views on sexuality.
Ben attends church every Sunday and grew up in a strong Christian household, Marie Claire reported.
Sara Carlton and Ben Mezzenga made it to their wedding day at the end of the series before Sara decided to call it off
She told Ben she ‘loved him’ but said she could not marry him because they were not on the same ‘wavelength’
She later explained that Ben’s political views were the reason she could not go through with the wedding
Speaking after leaving him at the alter, Sara said: ‘I remember I asked him about Black Lives Matter, and I’m no expert. But when I asked him about it, he was like “I guess I’ve never really thought too much about it”.
‘That affected me. Especially in our own city. How could it not?
‘How did it not make you think about something?
‘I asked him too, what his church’s views are and he said he didn’t know.
‘So then I watched a sermon online about sexual identity and it was traditional.
‘I told that to Ben and he doesn’t really have much to say about it, you know?
‘I want someone to think about that stuff.
‘Sometimes I did wonder if it was surface, fun, carefree love that we had.
‘Equality, religion and the vaccine, right.’
Ben told Sara he hoped they could continue relationship despite not getting married
Ben previously told Sara he was ‘ignorant’ to politics including views on Trump and Black Lives Matter
Oncology nurse Sara Carlton called off the couple’s wedding over her fiancée’s political views
Real estate developer Ben Mezzenga was left at the alter on his wedding day
She added: ‘I brought up all these things because I think they’re all important conversations. Whatever you believe, at least have the conversation.
‘There was no curiosity coming from his side. I’ve always just thought I’d want to be with someone more curious, who was more curious about my brain and how I think about things
Viewers took to X (formerly Twitter) to fume over Sara’s decision to dump her fiancee over his political views
One viewer wrote: ‘This girl on Love Is Blind said NO at the altar because of BLM, the vaccine, and sexuality. Liberal women are INSUFFERABLE & MISERABLE.
Another said: ‘This woman turned down her fiancé at the altar because of his views on the BLM movement, sexual identity, and the vaccine. This man just dodged a bullet.’
One user also wrote: ‘Best thing that never happened to this guy. Dodged a bullet.’
Sara was raised Catholic but told Ben she was no longer religious.
Her sister Lisa is a lesbian and Sara said the church’s stance against LGBT people made her feel uncomfortable.
In an earlier episode she said she was not interested in politics until Donald Trump was elected as President in 2016.
She also asked Ben about his views about the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, where both Ben and Sara live.
Ben admitted he was ‘ignorant’ about both Trump and Floyd and told her he did not vote at the last election.
In the show Sara said it was ‘not right’ that Ben was not politically motivated.
The reality TV show follows 32 single men and women aged in their 20s and 30s as they choose their future life partner without ever seeing them.
Male contestants propose to their chosen date after several conversations from inside ‘pods’ where they can hear but not see one another.
Season eight is set in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after the previous season was set in Washington DC. It premiered on Valentine’s Day, and is available to watch on Netflix.
It is not the first controversy in this season of the US reality show.
Ben told Sarah attends church every Sunday and grew up in a strong Christian household
Sara was raised Catholic but told Ben she was no longer religious due to the church’s views on sexuality
Ben and Sara speaking to each other from inside their pods on the set of the TV show
Fans called out a contestant for what many believed was a textbook example of ‘floodlighting’.
On the latest season, Minnesota-based Madison Errichiello was accused of ‘floodlighting’ one of her suitors, Alex Mason, and ‘treating every date like a therapy session’ by one Reddit user.
Not to be confused with ‘trauma-dumping’, or sharing traumatic experiences in a way that might be overwhelming for the listener, ‘floodlighting’ involves divulging lots of sensitive details about their lives very early in a relationship in a bid to ‘speed up intimacy’.
‘Floodlighting in dating is about using vulnerability as a high-intensity spotlight,’ the co-founder of dating app So Synced, Jessica Alderson told Glamour UK.
‘It involves sharing a lot of personal details all at once – to test the waters, speed up intimacy, or see if the other person can ‘handle’ these parts of you.’
Commenting on Madison’s behaviour towards Alex, Louella noted there’s a ‘fine line’ between opening up to your date and ‘floodlighting’ while highlighting how couples on the show have a limited amount of time to build connections.
However, Madison and Alex’s experience, which ultimately ended in the couple parting ways, has turned the spotlight on how using vulnerability to test your compatibility can be harmful for everyone involved.
