Entertainment
Love Is Blind’s Keya Says She Ended Ohio Pod Dates Over Politics
Love Is Blind season 10 participant Keya Kellum knew exactly what she was looking for in the pods.
“I did not have many other strong connections,” Keya, 31, said on the Wednesday, February 18, episode of the “What’s the Reality” podcast, referring to her onscreen bond with Kevan Jones. “What I did have was really good conversations. I can’t put names to them, but, obviously, we talked a lot in those pods.”
According to Keya, she had “a ton of conversations” with men who had opposing political affiliations.
“Something I stood really firmly on was my political beliefs,” she stated. “I do think a lot of the men were able to understand a little more of what was going on because the framing that it is Republican against Democrat is just so not true. It is all of us against hate, and what I do not stand for is hate.”
Keya continued, “Someone who’s hateful is definitely not going to be lying in bed next to me or someone who voted for hateful s***.”
As Keya entered the season 10 pods, she became expressly aware of her dates’ opposing views.
“It’s Ohio, you know, so my dates dwindled in the beginning,” Keya recalled. “I was walking out on dates actually. There were a few [I mentioned] that was my dealbreaker. So, [most people were] starting their dates with, ‘What’s your favorite color?’ I was, like, ‘So, what are your dealbreakers?’”
After Keya politely let her dates answer the question, she stated her dealbreaker is someone who “voted for this man.” (Keya did not mention the political candidates by name on “What’s the Reality,” though Donald Trump was elected president over Kamala Harris in the 2024 general election.)
Keya Kellum, Emma Betsinger, Dynasty Ballard and Tyler Lanier. Courtesy of Netflix
“There’s no way around that for me,” she said, noting that she was willing to walk away if one of her dates voted against her interests in the presidential election.
Keya did end up finding a connection with Kevan, 32, at the same time he was getting to know Tyler Lanier.
“There was never a time that it felt like a competition,” Keya said of the love triangle. “I didn’t even know we were dating the same man until everything, kind of, came to a head.”
While the premise of Netflix’s Love Is Blind is to help singles find their perfect match, the experiment hasn’t come without drama. During season 2 of the dating show, which premiered in February 2022, multiple love triangles blossomed. In one corner, Shayne Jansen connected with both Natalie Lee and Shaina Hurley, and in another, Jarrette […]
Kevan tried to keep an open mind until the very end, ultimately deciding that he wasn’t ready to commit to marriage by the end of the experiment. Keya and Tyler, 33, ultimately each cut off their respective connections with Kevan when it became clear that they weren’t his No. 1 priority.
“I think a lot of our conversations was him coming to an understanding of what marriage really is [and] what it means to be a partner,” Keya said on Wednesday’s episode. “It was a little bit of a learning curve, but me being in this experiment, I was allowing myself to give time to something I typically don’t give time too. … I was doing the best I can with what I got.”
Love Is Blind season 10 is currently streaming on Netflix. New episodes drop weekly on Wednesdays.