Kelly Chase and Kenny Barnes had the perfect relationship on Love Is Blind, it seemed, until she turned him down at the last possible moment. While fans may be angry at Kelly for saying no to a good thing, she made the right decision for herself.
Kelly and Kenny were confoundingly absent from the beginning of the show. While the early drama focused on the relationship between Matt Barnett and Amber Pike and Barnett and LC and Barnett and Jessica Batten, as well as others, Kelly and Kenny were nowhere to be seen. Finally, we saw a few brief conversations between them and all of a sudden, Kenny was ready to propose. When they left for Cancun with the other five couples, we knew virtually nothing about them. They had a strong connection throughout, with the one hiccup being their lack of intimacy. Kenny was ready to have sex, while Kelly preferred that they wait.
In the finale, Kelly dumped Kenny at the altar, becoming one of three people to say “I don’t” in the last episode of Love Is Blind. Unlike Jessica kicking Mark Cuevas to the curb and Damian Powers breaking up with Giannina Gibelli, Kelly’s decision was the most surprising. The show focused on fighting and drama as every couple drew closer to their respective wedding days. With Kelly and Kenny, there was hardly any. Literally the only thing that wasn’t working for them was the fact that Kelly didn’t want to take their relationship to the next level.
Kelly talked early in the show about her high standards for men, and it likely came down to the fact that she just wasn’t physically attracted enough to Kenny to marry him. While that may sound shallow, physical intimacy is an important part of any relationship. If one person doesn’t feel it, it’s probably meant to be. That being said, there are many other vital aspects to a healthy relationship, and it appears Kelly and Kenny checked off more of those boxes than anyone else on the show. But when it came down to pledging eternal love, Kelly wasn’t on Kenny’s level.
It was heartbreaking to see a distraught Kenny after Kelly said “I don’t” to him because he clearly didn’t see it coming. Unlike Mark or Giannina, we could feel for Kenny because he did everything right, at least from what we saw. It’s a shame we didn’t see more of Kelly and Kenny throughout the season, but it’s probably because they just weren’t that interesting.
Next: Love Is Blind: Was Lauren Speed Ready to Marry Cameron Hamilton?
