Why did Kenneth Gorham and Brittany Mills break up on ‘Love Is Blind’?
Kenneth #Kenneth
Warning: This post contains spoilers for “Love Is Blind.”
“Love Is Blind” stars Kenneth Gorham and Brittany Mills seem destined for each other when they get engaged in the dating pods, but their love story fizzles out when reality settles in.
Where did things go wrong for the couple? We’re breaking down the anatomy of their breakup and sharing some of the warning signs you may have missed.
The road to engagement: What happens in the pods?
In the pods, Kenneth and Brittany have the same approach to faith and morals. They also connect on a professional level: He’s a school principal and she’s a former teacher. Further, both experienced the death of a parent at a young age.
In Episode Three, Kenneth, 26, declares his love for Brittany, 25, during a romantic proposal.
“This experience, it allowed me to find you,” he says. “I have no doubt in my mind that you are the one who I am supposed to be with.”
While reflecting on her feelings for Kenneth, Brittany shares the following thoughts in a confessional interview.
“I feel like my body is literally on fire. To love someone for who they are emotionally, spiritually, their heart and their soul and their mind, without seeing them is something so incredibly beautiful. I don’t believe I’ve ever felt this safe in someone and so loved for everything that I am,” she says.
On their honeymoon, they confront interracial dating
Sparks fly in person when the duo meets each other. Their sweet bond continues during the couples’ trip to the Dominican Republic. During one group outing, several of the other women note how “attentive” Kenneth is.
The couple decides to wait to have sex until marriage, but Brittany makes it clear that she still craves physical touch.
“At one point, I did think, I was like, ‘Hmm, I don’t know if he’s really into me,'” she says and encourages him to touch her more.
Kenneth is surprised to hear this but doesn’t seem too fazed.
During a night out, Kenneth has a conversation about interracial dating with AD Smith, who is also Black. She asks him if he typically dated white women. Kenneth says Brittany is the first white woman he’s dated.
“It has superseded my expectations,” he says.
Kenneth and AD go on to speak about his compatibility with Brittany.
“My challenge right now is less around how similar our day to day lives are (and) more around how do we tackle the fact that when we get back, people are gonna be like, ‘Yo, Ken,'” he says.
“Life is gonna life,” AD says. She asks if Brittany is “strong enough” to handle the unique pressures that come with an interracial relationship.
“I do feel that it’s gonna be a big adjustment,” he says.
AD points out that if Kenneth and Brittany get married, Brittany will be raising Black children. “Are you confident that she can raise Black children?” she asks.
“I’m very much pro-Black. And I don’t lose sight of what we have had to overcome, what society still perceives that we can do and achieve,” he says.
“You can date white and be pro-Black. Those two things can exist,” AD replies.
“It’s definitely, it’s making me think. this is a big decision but she makes me feel very safe and that’s big for me,” Kenneth adds.
Trouble begins when they move in together
When they get home from their romantic getaway and move in together, Brittany jumps into action and starts unpacking and cleaning the house. Meanwhile, Kenneth seems more interested in catching up on his work emails.
“The hustle never stops,” Brittany says while her new fiancé is distracted by his phone.
Brittany says she struggles with overanalyzing their relationship, a dynamic that’s on display during one of their conversations.
Brittany comments that Kenneth wasn’t overly excited one morning when she greeted him enthusiastically. She senses bit of “distance” from him now that they’ve moved in together. He suggests that she’s reading into his actions too much. No one can show up energetically 100% of the time, he says, asking her to give him some grace in his lower energy moments.
The breakup happens after Brittany says she doesn’t ‘crave’ Kenneth
During Episode Eight, Brittany points out that she and Kenneth haven’t been spending time together since they moved in. She says she doesn’t feel how she “should” at this point in their relationship.
“You haven’t been home, silly goose,” she says.
Kenneth recaps what he was doing that day and says, “I called you between each transition of what I was doing, girl.”
“You get home very late,” she replies.
“I hear you. I hear your perspective. The only thing I’m asking transparently is that you don’t allow for me to have gotten home late one night to be the thing that shifts your mindset about me,” he says.
Brittany also says she’s lacking in feelings of intimacy.
“I feel like when we do talk about us, our minds and our heads are right there with one another, like what we want out of a marriage is there. But where is the intimate feeling between us and the crave of us having what we want in a marriage or the desire to have it between us? I feel like that desire and crave between you and I is the missing piece,” she says during Episode Eight.
Kenneth quickly interjects and says, “for you” then explains that he doesn’t feel the same way.
“Because for me, that isn’t, that’s not true for me. So if you feel like you don’t have a crave for me, thank you for for telling me that. But I don’t feel like I’m missing the crave for you,” he says. “I feel like I work a lot. There are times where I am trying to be affectionate to you and you may feel like you don’t want it at the moment.”
Kenneth goes on to explain that he’s a “respectful man” and isn’t going to “force” physical affection on his partner if they’re not feeling it. He also urges Brittany to recognize the role she has played in their lack of intimacy.
Kenneth then wonders if Brittany will continue to question the status of their relationship as time goes on.
“I wonder when life continues to happen, is it always going to be a question about how I feel about you?” he asks.
Brittany explains that she is a “very affectionate” person and is concerned that she and Kenneth “barely kiss” and “haven’t made out.”
“I think it upsets me so much because I want so badly to be able to experience so much of that crave that I had with you in the pods. But it’s just scaring me that I’m not feeling like that consistently,” she says.
Kenneth is receptive to his fiancé’s feelings and offers up a thoughtful response.
“What I’m hearing from you in this moment is, ‘The caliber of a man that you are is what I need. These things about you are what I need. But I don’t feel XYZ for you. That’s the thing, and that’s not enough for us to get married. That’s not enough for us to be like, ‘We’ll work it out,’” he says.
Kenneth and Brittany decide to go their separate ways but end on good terms
Before breaking up, Kenneth invokes their strong religious faith.
“I’m so confident that spiritually, what is supposed to be for me will be. I mean, that’s just how God operates with me. But in this situation, I am confident that what is before me, God has already prepared me for,” he says.
“Even though I have so much love for you and I care about you so much, if it’s not there for you and I, he’s gonna prepare me for that, prepare you for that and us for that,” he continues. “I will still be the biggest supporter of you and believer in you. But I also love myself too much. I’ve also overcome so much just to force something just because it’s not fair to me or you.”
Kenneth lays it all out on the table in a calm manner as Brittany cries.
“This is not going to work. But I do want you to find the person that you are actually supposed to be with, even though it’s not me and I thought it was,” he says.
Brittany thanks him and they hug it out before going their separate ways.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com