‘Love Is Blind’: Sara Hints That Ben Was Not Honest About His Religious Beliefs
Sara Carton from Love Is Blind Season 8 is opening up about her decision to dump her fiancé Ben Mezzenga at the altar.
Sara, 29, stirred up major controversy when she chose not to go through with her wedding to Ben, 28, in part because they did not share similar values.
“I love you so much,” Sara said in the season finale of the Netflix reality series. “But I’ve always wanted a partner to be on the same wavelength. And so today I can’t [say yes].”
Ben didn’t care about important issues, Sara said
Ben and Sara’s strong pod connection was challenged several times in the weeks leading up to their wedding day. A TikTok from a woman who claimed Ben had mistreated someone in a past relationship gave Sara pause, as did claims on social media that Ben had handed out business cards advertising his YouTube channel to past hookups. But one of her biggest concerns was his lack of interest or engagement in various social and political issues that were important to her.
After the aborted wedding, Sara talked to her mom and sister about her decision to back out at the last minute. She said that when she asked him about the Black Lives Matter movement, he said he hadn’t given it any consideration. She thought that was strange, given that they live in Minneapolis, where the murder of George Floyd sparked massive racial justice protests in 2020. Sara also had major concerns about Ben’s church. He was evasive when she asked about the church’s stance on LGBTQ issues, so she watched a sermon online. The pastor expressed support for “traditional” ideas about sexuality, which bothered Sara because her sister is partnered with a woman.
“He doesn’t have much to say about it. I want someone who thinks about that stuff,” Sara said.
‘Love Is Blind’ star says there was ‘no curiosity’ from her fiancé
Some Love Is Blind viewers have criticized Sara for dumping Ben because they didn’t share the same political stance. But she said she wasn’t ending the relationship because of Ben’s specific views, but rather because he was unwilling to discuss those issues at all.
“Equality, religion, the vaccine. I brought up all these things,” she said in an interview with the producers. “I think they’re all important conversations, whatever you believe. At least have the conversation. There was no curiosity coming from his side.”
In an interview with Us Weekly, Sara stressed that it was Ben’s unwillingness to talk about topics that mattered to her that caused her to get cold feet.
“Ultimately, throughout our relationship and continuing to talk about the values and having those hard conversations, I felt like we never progressed,” she said. “I was constantly asking and talking to him about these values way more than I ever would. Like, they’re important to me, but I wasn’t asking [about those topics] just to ask him — I wasn’t getting anything in return.”
The oncology nurse also said that Ben was not transparent about how religious he really was, which she found odd. On his wedding day, Ben and his friends engaged in a heartfelt prayer after Sara left him at the altar. But she says she never saw evidence of that faith during their brief time together, which left her “confused.”
“I realize watching it back how important religion really is for him. I never heard that from him,” she said. “You would think someone religious or with that spirituality — that they would want their partner to have the same level. But I never got that from him. So that’s why I kind of figured it’s just, like, ‘He goes to church.’ He never talked about his faith or prayer or anything with me in a day-to-day setting. I’m still learning about him.”
Love Is Blind Season 8 is streaming on Netflix.
For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.
