‘Love Is Blind’ Star Devonta Clears up Misconceptions About Race, Brittany, and Fatherhood (Exclusive)

Not many Love Is Blind fans were surprised that Season 10 participants Devonta and Brittany didn’t end up at the altar. But they left the show at an impasse, at least Devonta did.

He was obviously struggling with not knowing if he wanted to continue a relationship with her after calling off their wedding. Brittany, on the other hand, was committed to making it work and ending up marrying him down the line.

By the reunion, it was revealed that they split shortly after filming, with Brittany feeling ghosted after Devonta had minimal text/phone communication with her and failed to see her for the two weeks after the show wrapped. Devonta admitted he didn’t know how to end things firmly without hurting her feelings. 

The two disagreed on timelines and what actually led to the breakdown of their relationship. Viewers felt Devonta was checked out as early as the pre-honeymoon in Mexico, where they clashed over him not being physically affectionate. Either way, he’s moved on. He dropped the bomb that he is not only expecting a baby, but is also engaged to be married, something Brittany was unaware of heading into the reunion taping. Ahead of the reunion special airing on Netflix, PopCulture spoke with Devonta about what went wrong, regrets, and his new lease on life after the show.

PC: Congratulations on completing season 10. I know it’s very intense. Looking back, what would you say was the ultimate reason that Brittany wasn’t the person for you? What ultimately led you to decide that this relationship was not worth continuing?

Devonta: Yeah, I think for me, going through this experiment, I think it’s very rigorous, where you are tested – you’re tested mentally, you’re tested physically, you’re tested through hard conversations – through everything. We went through a lot of stuff where I was like, ‘That’s all amazing.’ And for me, it just came down to like the feeling of it, where I was just like, ‘Man, are the feelings there strong enough going into a marriage, spending my life with this person?’ I didn’t have that flame, I guess, ignited for me, where I was just like, ‘This is it. This is it, I am absolutely all in.’ 

And I was like, after going through this experiment, after going through all of that, I was like, ‘I don’t know how much more there is to figure out about each other.’ Because your timeline of what feels like two years of dating crammed into 3-4 weeks, or however long it is. We kind of learned a lot about each other, but I was like, ‘I don’t really feel it.’ And it felt more like a friendship to me, and I was like, ‘I can’t.’ I don’t want to force into a marriage just to be married. That’s not who I am, and I don’t think I would ever do that.

There was a lot of talk during the season and a few mentions of you talking about you never dating a woman of color. So for starters, what is your racial makeup? Because obviously there’s been a lot of chatter about your name. Your name is Devonta, and you appear to be a person of color. And what do you have to say to people who believe that this may have been a contributing factor in you not ultimately wanting to marry Brittany?

Yeah, great question. I don’t know if they show this at the reunion, but there’s a very specific clip that’s shown at the reunion, because they asked Brittany, ‘Hey, have you ever had this conversation if Devonta’s dated a woman of color?’ The clip was shown of Brittany asking me if I’ve dated a woman of color, and when you show the full clip, I say no, and then I say, ‘Well, actually I have, but I’ve never gotten into a serious relationship, but I don’t care about race.’ So, the woman of color comment came from being interviewed. It’s like, ‘Hey, were you surprised Brittany is a woman of color?’ And I’m like,’Well yeah I’m surprised, blah blah blah.’ 

Because Brittany and I had conversations in the pods, where it’s like, the girls were guessing if we all closed our eyes, what do I sound like and what would I look like? So there were a lot of conversations like that where I’m like, I had no idea what ethnicity Brittany was, and I was like, I didn’t really care. So the woman of color comment came from just re-asking a question Brittany had already asked me. So me answering that, I was like, I’m not confused about my identity, my race or whatever. I’m half Black, I’m half white. It’s very clear cut and dry, and race has nothing to do with it. 

Things were taken out of context. I’d never refer to someone as a woman of color, but when you’re repeating an interview question, it comes off that way. They want to hear what the question was, so the audience understands what you’re talking about. I think that all kind of got twisted. And Brittany and I actually had a conversation with her using women of color specifically in the pods, and that was shown at the reunion, and I remember Brittany had looked at me and was like, ‘Now I’m going to look dumb.’

Brittany’s dad confronted you at the reunion, but he also spoke life and encouragement into you. What did you make of that entire interaction?

I think as a father, I look at it myself, you always want to protect your children first. It’s like, he was coming to protect his daughter, which no man can fault another man for doing that. And obviously, you know, still wishing me the best. I think the conversation personally, if it’s me, I’m having that kind of off camera. I think everything he’s doing post reunion now, posting a TikTok about me almost every day, I think it was kind of more theatrical in the way that he approached it versus truly caring about me. And we’ll leave it at that. I have no ill will towards him. He had to do what he felt best and how he grieves and how they get through this. I think I handled it well where I was like I wish I could have been more direct.

It’s a high pressure situation. There’s only been a handful of people who have gone through this where it’s just like, I don’t have all the answers. I wish I would have just been more direct being like, ‘Hey, this, this isn’t it for me.’ And just been more direct than simply saying that.

Now, you also dropped a bombshell at the reunion that you’re now engaged and expecting a baby. Can you explain the timeline of the breakup with Brittany and your new relationship?

I want to say Brittany and I were done, and gosh, don’t quote me. I want to say it was like the end of April and this new relationship just started about two months ago, so there wasn’t really any overlap or anything there. Brittany and I obviously ended almost a year ago now, so it’s been a, it’s been a long time with that.

What do you feel like you ultimately learned with the experiment that will stick with you for the rest of your life and throughout hopefully your marriage?

I think the biggest thing that stuck out to me in this, this whole experiment, I still say this to my friends today, is like, just being more direct and being more open about exactly how you’re feeling. I’m obviously, what you see from the show is like, I can tend to be very quiet and get into what everyone calls like my nothing box. I think just being a little bit more direct, regardless of how it’s gonna make the other person feel, because at the end of the day, Brittany has her right to make her own decisions. I have my own right to make my decisions, and sometimes our decisions don’t need an explanation. And I think for me, I always felt like I needed an explanation, and I didn’t have an explanation other than like, I just don’t feel it. I don’t feel it in my heart that this is the person I’m supposed to marry. So I think just being more direct.