Kenny Barnes of Love Is Blind proposed to his girlfriend, Alexandra Garrison, earlier this month. Barnes was previously engaged to Kelly Chase on the show, who left him at the altar. It looks like he finally found love!
Twenty-eight-year-old Kenny Barnes went on Love Is Blind in 2018 not knowing what he would find. He and Kelly Chase hit it off and became one of the engaged couples. On the show, singles pair up in “pods” where they can’t see each other until one of them proposes to the other. Then, they are released from the pods and vacation together in Mexico before going home and meeting each other’s families. Chase and Barnes seemed like they were the real deal. While other couples were fighting and openly had doubts, Chase and Barnes were fairly solid throughout the process. Chase did express some concerns about their sexual chemistry, but overall the couple seemed like a good fit. Fans were shocked when Chase said “I don’t” at the altar. Since the show, Chase and Barnes admitted that their engagement wasn’t real. They planned to go along with the experimental TV show, and then date normally after the show ended. However, it didn’t work out, and the two grew apart after the show’s end.
But Barnes found love at last, according to People, just not with Kelly Chase. After purposely staying single for about a year after Love Is Blind, Barnes met Alexandra Garrison through his younger sister, Anna. The pair dated for a little over a year, and Barnes popped the question on August 7 at Duke Mansion in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the couple resides. They plan to take time during the COVID-19 pandemic to plan the wedding. Garrison had been friends with Barnes’ sister for about three years, and they even had an inside joke that Garrison should date Kenny. When Barnes came to visit North Carolina, the two hit it off. “Alexandra knew who I was during that entire three-year period,” Barnes said. “But since we lived in separate cities and had never met, there was never an opportunity to entertain anything.” Barnes said that early in their relationship, he and Garrison had a long conversation on a trip to Lake Gaston, and it was then that he knew they were “meant to be.”
It seems Barnes has no regrets about appearing on Love Is Blind. He described the experience as “physically and emotionally draining,” but also said that he “would not be there today” without Love Is Blind.
“The most important thing I learned was how to honor and love the things that make me truly happy,” Barnes reflected, “To take those things, and instead of catering to someone out of convenience, find someone that truly has your best interest in mind to share it with.” In a previous interview, Barnes said the show made him, “really focus on the things that matter.” Hopefully, this new chapter of his life will allow him to focus on love.
