Love Is Blind star and former Bachelorette contestant reveal they have a marriage pact

Two reality TV show worlds have collided, with a former Bachelorette contestant and a Love Is Blind star revealing they have “a marriage pact”.

Blake Moynes, who previously got engaged to Katie Thurston on The Bachelorette, appeared on Love Is Blind stars Deepti Vempati and Natalie Lee’s podcast, Out of The Pods. During the episode, released on 3 April, Lee confirmed that she and Moynes dated in 2022. While they’re not a couple anymore, she did share that they have a pact in place if they’re both single in their mid-thirties.

“I don’t think we’ve ever talked about it, but Blake and I have a marriage pact. If I am not married by age 35, he said that we would have kids and get married,” Lee said.

After Veepti acknowledged that “35 is coming up pretty soon,” since Lee just turned 32, Moynes noted that they may push the age rules on the pact back. “I’ll settle on 37,” Lee agreed.

Moynes appeared on season 16 of The Bachelorette, which featured Clare Crawley. However, she got engaged in the middle of the season, so Tayshia Adams was brought in as the lead. Moynes then appeared on season 17 of the show, where he got engaged to Thurston. The pair announced their split in October 2021.

Meanwhile, Lee appeared in season two of Love Is Blind, where she got engaged to Shayne Jensen. While she opted to say “I don’t” at the altar during the season finale, Lee revealed at the reunion special that she and Jenson continued to date when the show ended. However, their romance didn’t last.

During the episode of Out of The Pods, Moynes and Lee recalled that they officially met in 2022, when they went on an animal conservation trip to the Caribbean. They also acknowledged that during that summer, they were still navigating their feelings for each other.

“We shared agencies and things like that on that front, so there was a connection there,” he said. “But it really took the conversation to think, is this someone I get along with?”

Lee agreed that she was still getting to know Moynes on that trip, since she wasn’t familiar with his experiences on The Bachelorette.

“I had never been on an animal conservation trip before and I didn’t know you,” she said. “I didn’t watch any of the seasons of The Bachelorette you were on. I had heard things about you through social media, I mean, good things, but there was a lot of news at the time regarding your ex.”

Although they’re not together anymore, Lee still referred to Moynes as “one of [her] favourite people”. She also revealed why she was initially attracted to the Bachelor in Paradise star during the animal conservation trip.

“I feel like the reason why I was so drawn to you is because we share the same sense of humour,” she said. “I’m very self-deprecating but also, as people saw through my season of Love Is Blind and just in general, I have a mean sense of humour. I feel like you also have [it].”

After Moynes agreed that he “could take” Lee’s sense of humour, he also shared why he thought they were compatible. “We could be very much ourselves and it didn’t take long to get to that comfortability point,” he said.

Although they didn’t specify how long they dated, Lee noted that they still “talk pretty often” and she goes to Moynes “for a lot of advice”.

In August 2022, the pair first sparked speculation that they were in a relationship after they shared multiple photos from their trip to the Caribbean on Instagram. At the time, Lee shared a series of photos from the trip, including one snap of her and Moynes posing on the beach, and a video of a turtle on the sand.

“It’s been a week but I’m still thinking about my time in Nevis and the opportunity with the Sea Turtle Conservancy @conserveturtles to learn more about the endangerment of hawksbill sea turtles down in the Caribbean,” she wrote in the caption. “We found and tagged two hawksbill sea turtles (‘Splash’ and ‘Brownie’) with satellite transmitters.”

She gave her pal a special shoutout, writing: “And lastly, thank you @blakemoynes for bringing me on this trip of a lifetime! I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard with someone. You’re a friend for life.”