‘Love Is Blind’: Stephen Embraces His Villain Arc After Monica Dumps Him Over Scandalous Texts

If Stephen Richardson had a chance to redo his Love Is Blind experience, he’d do some things differently. But not in the way you might think. 

Stephen from ‘Love Is Blind’ says he should have put a password on his phone

A new batch of Love Is Blind Season 7 episodes dropped on Netflix on Oct. 8, which featured a major twist for Stephen and his fiancée Monica. While snooping on her husband-to-be’s phone, Monica discovered a string of scandalous sexts with another woman. 

While Stephen initially tried to apologize for his actions, calling the messages a “stupid mistake” that happened while he was “drunk at a sleep test.” 

Monica wasn’t having it. She slammed the “gross” and “disgusting” messages “filled with fetishes” and called off their engagement. Then, she demanded he Venmo her to cover her expenses over the past few days.

Thanks to the texting scandal, Stephen has emerged as Love Is Blind Season 7’s resident villain. It’s a role the 34-year-old electrician has decided to embrace. Since the new episodes dropped, he’s been all over social media sharing his take on the drama. 

At one point, he posted on his Instagram Story about entering his “villain arc.” In another post, he shared a video of himself wearing a reflective vest and practicing knife moves in front of a pile of wood. 

“Training to battle all the stay-at-home wives that hate me for ruining their fantasy of who they THINK I am,” he wrote. 

In an interview with People, Stephen discussed what he’d learned from his experience on the show. His takeaway was simple: “It is probably smart to put a password on your phone.”

“But in all seriousness, the main things are self-talk, self-reflection, and a lot of the things that I believe I said it in the pods, where it’s like you don’t know if you’re fully healed until your next relationship,” he added. 

Stephen says he truly wanted to find his ‘soulmate’ on ‘Love Is Blind’ 

Though Stephen’s attitude hasn’t exactly been contrite since the episodes dropped, he did apologize to Monica at the time. During their breakup conversation, Stephen told her he was “sorry for hurting you, for wasting your time, for coming on the show and doing this to you.”

“I shouldn’t have come on the show,” he added.

In recent posts, Stephen acknowledged that his commitment issues meant he wasn’t ready to get married. But he insisted he didn’t have ulterior motives when he signed up for Love Is Blind. 

“Maybe I try because I WANT to be monogamous,” he wrote in response to a critical Instagram comment. “Because contrary to everyone’s belief I genuinely wanted to find my soul mate on this show.”  

Love Is Blind Season 7 Episodes 1-9 are streaming on Netflix. New episodes drop on Wednesdays. 

For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.