Reality

‘The Ultimatum’s Lisa and Brian Open up About Their Relationship Today After Welcoming a Baby Boy

‘The Ultimatum’s Lisa and Brian exited the Netflix reality show early after learning Lisa was pregnant with their son.
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The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On. (L to R) Brian Okoye, Jelisa Horne in Season 2 of The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On Cr. Adam Rose/Netflix © 2023

The Ultimatum experience may have come to an early end for Brian Okoye and Lisa Horne, but the couple is happier than ever after welcoming a son almost four months ago. Okoye, 29, and Horne, 32, opened up to PopCulture.com about their lives today after an unexpected pregnancy led to their exit from the Netflix show just two episodes in, insisting that the heated argument they had on the show is not indicative of their actual relationship. 

After welcoming their son Mason almost four months ago, Okoye told PopCulture that life has been “amazing,” and that he and Lisa have been focused on making sure their little one receives all the love and care he needs. Lisa said she already knew Mason would be a “great dad” because of the way he’s always treated her older daughter and become “super involved in her life.” She gushed, “I already knew he was going to be a great dad, but seeing him with a child with us has been amazing.”

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When it comes to their relationship, Lisa and Brian have never been better. “Obviously, it’s been some time – a year plus – since we actually filmed [The Ultimatum], so we’ve had so much time to just reflect and really just spend time with each other … and that’s really helped us now at this stage,” Brian explained. “Especially with bringing Mason in, we wanted to make sure that we had a really solid foundation and that we would set the best example for him.”

Lisa admitted that it was “a lot” for her initially when The Ultimatum premiered because she and Brian have “grown so much from that point” that people were just now getting to see. Hearing people’s feedback about their tough moments on the show was “kind of an overload,” especially postpartum, and especially in regards to the “smushing in the face incident,” in which Lisa put her hand on Brian’s face mid-argument, sparking accusations of domestic violence. “That’s just not the case at all,” Lisa assured. “[I] never put my hands on him behind closed doors or in public ever before and never again afterward, and neither has he. … But it was more like we really do have the utmost respect for each other, even though that wasn’t showcased.”

Both Lisa and Brian wish that viewers could have seen the “fun, goofy, loving” side of their relationship that’s much more prevalent than the arguing they did on the show. “We feel like we live with our best friend because of how we interact with each other on a daily basis,” she said. “But it happened and we grow from it and learn from it.” 

Despite their unexpected journey on the show, Lisa told PopCulture that she and Brian are able to act as one another’s support systems in the aftermath of The Ultimatum‘s premiere. “[Brian] was like, ‘Look, that’s not where we are anymore. That doesn’t matter. What people have to say, whether good or bad, it doesn’t matter. What matters is what we have going on, how far we’ve come as a family, and that’s what we need to continue focusing on,’” Lisa recalled. “And I can say for the past week or two, we’ve pushed that stuff out of our mind and really have focused on our family and still building our family, nurturing our family, nurturing our business, still getting into our hustle.”

When it comes to marriage, the two maintain from the reunion filming that a proposal is coming down the line, but that they’re staying focused on their family for now. “I’ve seen the growth within us individually and together, and I know … that there’s no one in this world that I’d rather be with,” Brian said of Lisa. “I mean, that still hasn’t changed. So we are still on that journey and that path, and as we continue to grow, this is not a thing that ever stops. It’s ever-changing. I know that time will come soon.” The Ultimatum is streaming now on Netflix.