Love is Blind's Monica Davis Took Reality TV Breakups to Another Level

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for the first batch of Love Is Blind Season 7 episodes. Read at your own risk!]

When Love Is Blind's Monica Davis found fiancé Stephen Richardson had been texting another woman, the cameras weren't rolling. That's why the show's eighth episode of Season 7 picks up with their conversation after the fact, instead of with Monica finding the texts, that Stephen sent to an ex. Monica, who'd previously discussed her history of being cheated on in the pods, had made it clear cheating was a hard line for her. But in the latest batch of episodes released by Netflix, she didn't just break up with Stephen off-camera. No, instead, Monica made sure their breakup would be something worth discussing.

First, the facts. Monica Davis and Stephen Richardson seemed like the perfect couple coming out of the pods. The only red flag was his history with cheating, and how easily she dismissed it, just because he brought it up and seemed contrite about it. After they left the pods, however, things got a little more complicated. First, it was Stephen not living up to her standards of "romance," which to be fair, they'd discussed in the pods, with Stephen promising to "bring her flowers" and romance her every day.

Then, it was Stephen's anxiety, as he confessed that "I'm just nervous about the whole thing because it's a huge, huge commitment," adding that he was feeling "overwhelmed," which set Monica on edge, considering these words were uttered after they came back from Mexico and were already living together. The time to get cold feet, Monica pointed out, was way before they committed to each other.  

"You, day one, were like, 'I'm in love with you. I'm gonna marry you.' And you knew what this was. Like, we knew what we were getting ourselves into," she told him, and though at that point the two more or less kissed and made up, the writing was already on the wall. A cutesy date pressing flowers together could not fix their issues.

Still, no one expected what transpired between the couple in Episode 8. After Monica told Stephen that she wanted to wait to have sex until they were married because she wasn't feeling comfortable now that she knew he wasn't 100% sure, things took a turn fast. At the moment, Stephen seemed to take it pretty well, though he made it clear his preference would be to continue to have sex. Later, though, it would become obvious how much that conversation changed, or let's say revealed, Stephen's true character.

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"I did make a completely stupid mistake while being drunk at a sleep test with somebody who texted me," Stephen admits on camera. "I know that it was a stupid decision."

But that's downplaying the reality. Monica, who insisted the breakup be televised, can be seen on camera confronting Stephen about texting the same woman the next day, with "disgusting" messages about "fetishes." There is, of course, also the fact that Stephen claims he also did it after the conversation the two had in which Monica indicated she wanted to wait to have sex because Stephen didn't seem 100% committed.  

"Don't you f***ing blame me at all for you being gross," Monica tells Stephen, and then in a boss move, proceeds to request Stephen Venmo her for the money she has loaned him the past couple of days. (An earlier conversation had them discussing Stephen had lost his job, and Monica saying it didn't matter, she could take care of both of them financially while he got back on his feet.)

ALSO READ: Love Is Blind's Leo is the Season 7's villain, and not just because he can't stop talking about how rich he is

"I'm almost embarrassed about how much of my heart I've given you. You were gonna shake my dad's hand this weekend? While you were planning on cheating? I don't understand," Monica also tells Stephen, who to his credit, at least doesn't try to defend himself. But the breakup scene — the most "scripted" moment in a supposedly unscripted show — is less about his mistakes than it is about Monica's decision to get her side of the story out there for everyone to see.

Just like Leo and Brittany disappeared from our screens with a basic text explanation, considering the reveal happened off-screen, the same thing could have happened with Monica and Stephen. In another world, she could have even taken his supposed contrition at face value and continued with the experiment. That she picked neither of those options and instead decided to not just have the messy breakup but to have it on-screen shows that Monica was in this experiment to find a partner, and she wanted to make sure it was clear to everyone that Stephen wasn't.

And as for the Venmo request, well – it's already a little suspect to have your partner pay for all the groceries and cover dinners, but after you just got caught cheating? Monica might have just coined the most iconic breakup phrase of all. It's no longer just "we're done," it's "we're done, and Venmo me for what I paid for you." And she made sure Stephen did just that before kicking him out of her life for good.

Love is Blind Season 7 Episodes 1-9 are now streaming on Netflix.