What did Stephen do before breaking up with Monica?

Spoiler alert: This story contains details from the first nine episodes of season seven of Netflix’s Love is Blind (now streaming).

Love is Blind says goodbye to another couple in new episodes released earlier this week.

According to Netflix, Monica Davis and Stephen Richardson broke up after Monica found incriminating text messages of a “sexual” nature to another woman on Stephen’s phone.

The moment that unfolded off-camera was “like a dagger in the chest,” Monica, 37, told Entertainment Weekly, adding that she was “devastated” by the lyrics.

When she confronted Stephen, 34, about the text message, Stephen said he drunkenly texted the other woman during a sleep test and tried to admit his “completely stupid mistake” and calm her down, according to Netflix, but Monica said , she is finished.

“At this point, I don’t think there’s anything I could say that you would believe,” Stephen told her on the show. “I’m almost embarrassed by how much of my heart I’ve given to you.”

Monica told EW that she came across the lyrics completely by accident and that she made the spontaneous decision to go through them, so she couldn’t even remember the details other than that they were “really, really sexual.”

“I remember someone specifically saying, ‘No one has ever been able to satisfy my desires like you can.’ And they just went back and forth,” Monica told the media outlet.

Monica wanted the breakup to be filmed

Monica told EW that she wanted their breakup to be filmed because she didn’t want to give Stephen a chance to pretend it didn’t happen. However, she didn’t explicitly reveal when exactly the two split, telling the media outlet that viewers should watch the reunion episode scheduled for October 30 to get the full story.

After the two officially ended things, Monica asked Stephen to cover her expenses and told EW that her ex-boyfriends, some of whom have yet to pay her back, inspired her.

“It was all about relationship things and I thought, ‘I’m happy to pay for everything and then you can pay me back when you can.’ So, groceries, I think dinner one night — it was a couple hundred dollars,” the sales manager told EW.

Despite the heartache, Monica told EW she was “really grateful” for the experience and “wouldn’t change a thing.”

“Lovely memories for me,” says Stephen

Stephen also said he would never trade his experience on the show “for anything.”

Stephen posted a series of photos of himself and Monica on Instagram and wrote: “You know, it’s a show based on context clues and about not judging a book by its cover. His fans definitely like to take a lot of things at face value.”

“These are all beautiful memories of mine that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world,” said the electrician. “Both in front of and behind the camera. Memories that I will share forever with amazing people in an experience I never thought I would be a part of.”

As Stephen left their shared apartment at the end of the episode, he apologized to Monica for hurting her and wasting her time.

“There’s nothing I can do to change this, I’ll live with it,” Stephen had said during the show. “I’m really sorry for hurting you, for wasting your time, for coming on the show and doing this to you. I shouldn’t have come on the show.”

Stephen later told People that he really fell in love with Monica “within 10 days” in the capsules.

“As a cynic, I can definitely say with confidence that I fell in love with Monica within ten days,” Stephen told People. “I 100% fell in love with these capsules. There is no doubt about that in my mind. And it was easy because the experiment was set up for us.”

He added that he will use his time on the show as a learning experience for future relationships and hopes not to repeat the same mistake.

“I made a completely stupid mistake when I was drunk on a sleep test with someone who was texting me,” he said in the episode. “I know it was a stupid decision.”

What is a sleep test?

A sleep test, also called a polysomnography, is a test used to diagnose sleep disorders, according to the Mayo Clinic. The test records “your brain waves, the level of oxygen in your blood, and your heart rate and breathing during sleep,” says the Mayo Clinic, adding that it also measures eye and leg movements.

To prepare for the sleep study, the Mayo Clinic advises patients not to consume alcoholic or caffeinated drinks or foods before the test because alcohol and caffeine can affect your sleep patterns.

“I’ve been waiting 36 years to find you”

Monica and Stephen got along well in the group and engaged in a tearful and emotional marriage proposal.

“I’ve waited 36 years to find you,” Monica had said to Stephen when she accepted his proposal. “You are the nicest, nerdiest, talkative, loving, compassionate, caring and sweetest man.”

The two then flew to Mexico with the other couples and stayed together during the romantic retreat until Monica discovered the texts.

Who else has parted ways with Love is Blind Season 7 so far?

Brittany Wisniewski and Leo Braudy, who also got engaged in the pods, broke up at the start of the show. Although the couple wasn’t selected for a trip to Mexico, they took their own trip to Miami, where they realized they didn’t have chemistry and couldn’t imagine the engagement turning into marriage, so they decided , that they would be better off as friends.

“We had a lot of conversations during the trip and collectively came to the conclusion that we just didn’t expect it to turn into a marriage,” Leo told People.

“No chemicals”: “Love is Blind”: Leo and Brittany talk about their breakup

Here’s how to watch Love is Blind

Episodes 1 to 6 of Love Is Blind season 7 were released on Netflix on October 2, while episodes 7 to 9 were released earlier this week on Wednesday. The next two episodes – Episode 10 and 11 – will be available to stream on Wednesday, October 16th. The full schedule can be found here.

The remaining couples on the show include Taylor and Garrett, Nick and Hannah, Marissa and Ramses, Tim and Alex, and Ashley and Tyler.

Saman Shafiq is a featured news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.