Irish Love Is Blind star Conor Griffin reveals engagement off camera
The hit Netflix show didn't follow the Dubliner's relationship beyond the pods
Irish Love Is Blind star Conor Griffin has revealed he got engaged away from the cameras on the hit Netflix show.
The Dubliner proposed to Olivia on the UK version of the dating show, which challenges contestants to date each other through pods and fall in love before even seeing each other.
The show's cameras didn’t follow his relationship with Olivia, from London, beyond the pods, but she said she fell for Conor after hearing his Irish accent in the pods.
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While Tom was the first man Olivia met in the pods, she felt an “instant connection” with Conor that deepened date after date.
She said: “The first time I heard Conor, I knew he was going to be trouble for me. His accent was an immediate weak spot.
“I very much appreciate an Irish man.”
Meanwhile, Conor was intrigued by Olivia’s distinct approach to dating in the pods that separated her from the rest of the pack.
“She was a slow burner who didn’t give everything up at once,” he said.
As the two spent more time together, they discovered their connection went beyond a strong first impression.
“She was incredibly ambitious, and we spoke about building a successful and productive future together,” Conor said. Olivia was struck by how the Dublin-based health-food business owner spoke about “the life he wants and the milestones he wants to achieve.”
Both opened up to each other in ways they hadn’t expected.
“I spoke to him about topics in my life that I hadn’t spoken to my ex-partner of 18 months about,” said Olivia.
Conor even paid attention to the little things, like when he surprised Olivia in the pods with oat milk hot chocolate after she mentioned in passing that she was longing for a taste of home.
“I was speechless, as none of us girls had received gifts yet,” she said.
Yet even the most romantic Love Is Blind courtships have their share of bumps, and Olivia was just one of Conor’s connections.
“Admittedly, we didn’t have the smoothest journey in the pods,” she said.
“Unfortunately for me, Conor was a very popular guy with the rest of the girls.”
Torn between Olivia and Ella, Conor pursued both women until the night before the big proposal day.
“I wanted to give each connection enough time to see which was the most likely to develop into a happy relationship. I absolutely regret leaving it until the last day to propose to Olivia. She had a lot of unnecessary stress put on her.”
While they weren’t selected as one the couples the cameras followed to the romantic retreat and beyond, Olivia and Conor knew that their story was far from over. In fact, they chose to mirror the experiment’s next steps by booking their own Grecian holiday, whether the cameras were rolling or not. Plus, they knew that once they returned home, they’d be leading separate lives: Olivia lives in London, Conor in Ireland.
For weeks, the couple soaked up their time on vacation. “We continued to talk about our future, what it could look like, what we wanted to do next, and where we would live to make the relationship work, all over a lot of wine on the beach,” Olivia said.
But when they left Greece and reality crept back in, their fledgling engagement faced its biggest obstacle — long distance. The two remained committed to each other. Olivia visited Conor, and said, “It was super lovely to get an insight into his life.”
Despite their best intentions, though, their relationship came to an end. “Connecting in the pods is a very specific situation and removes a lot of the circumstances of real life from the equation,” Conor said.
“Entering back into the real world poses challenges to the relationship. In the end, we decided it would be better to remain as friends.”
Olivia describes the split as “extremely hard,” chalking up their breakup to busy work schedules and limited in-person time together.
Conor added: “We ended on amicable terms and have a huge amount of respect for each other,” while Olivia said: “I feel extremely fortunate for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and to have experienced it with such an incredible person like Conor.”
Episodes 1-12 of Love is Blind UK are available to watch on Netflix.
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