'Love Is Blind': Lauren O'Brien and David Bettenberg's Journey Unraveled
David "Dave" Bettenberg is standing by his truth, even though his journey on Love Is Blind season 8 didn’t go as planned.
Viewers watched as Dave, 33, formed a connection with Lauren O'Brien in the pods and eventually proposed to her without ever seeing her. However, their relationship took a turn when Dave discovered that Lauren, 31, had been involved with another man shortly before joining the show—a man whom Dave's inner circle happened to know.
The medical device sales employee began to question Lauren's intentions and her readiness for marriage. Their inability to see eye-to-eye on the matter led to them calling it quits in episode 11.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Dave explained that the timing of everything and the revelations about Lauren's past were major reasons for the breakup.
"I think the whole situation of her having a 'boyfriend' going into it—and me having to navigate that—was really tough," he said. "My sister, who knows this guy's best friend, and my close college friends all told me they had been dating for three months. They even said she was staying at his place the week before she left for the show."
Dave admitted he couldn't move forward with the engagement under those circumstances. "There was just no way I was going to marry this person if that’s what she was doing coming into it," he explained.
Looking back, Dave shared that he might have stayed with Lauren if the show was merely an opportunity to date and see where things went. However, he couldn't justify bringing his family and friends to witness a wedding he knew wouldn’t happen.
Lauren, on the other hand, saw things differently. Speaking to PEOPLE, she insisted that her past relationship was casual. "This guy knew I was having casting conversations the entire time we were hooking up. It was a friends-with-benefits situation," she explained.
Lauren also expressed frustration at not being allowed to tell her side of the story. "I think it was fair of him to question me, but not fair to shut me out of the conversation," she said.
Despite the painful experience, Dave admitted it was difficult to deal with how things ended. "I thought I’d finally put myself out there, and then to have it blow up in my face was really hard," he confessed.