A twist like this was bound to happen. On season five of Love Is Blind, Netflix’s hit reality TV dating experiment that returned on Friday, two of the sequestered suitors are revealed to be exes. Upon their first pod date, contestants Uche and Lydia both realize that they recognize the voice on the other side of the wall.

As shocking as this development is, it’s a wonder it didn’t happen sooner. Each season, the series casts singles from a select city—Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, and now, Houston—which means it’s inevitable that two participants would’ve previously matched on Hinge, at the very least. That day finally arrived at the tail end of the season’s third episode—the most dramatic thing to happen in one of the increasingly tricked-out pods (they do silent discos now?!) since someone fell asleep in one during the fourth season.

Uche and fellow contestant Aaliyah have been building a connection in the pods, one only momentarily rocked by the revelation that Aaliyah once cheated on a long-term boyfriend. In the season’s first episode, Uche grills Aaliyah about her confessed infidelity, leading the woman to have a full-on meltdown while clutching a can of sour cream and onion-flavored Pringles. And although Uche is concerned that she cheated only two years ago (“So, you’re a recent cheater?”), he’s willing to move past his doubts in the name of reality TV romance.

But what Aaliyah won’t know for several more days is that three months ago, Uche slept with Lydia, their fellow castmate who has become her close friend and frequent relationship adviser. “We dated for a few months. I just didn’t think that we were that compatible so I ended things,” Uche explains to a stunned Aaliyah. “It hurt me so much, because she deserves an amazing person who is completely sure about he. And I really hope she finds that, cause that’s what she deserves.” Aaliyah is upset, but mostly at Lydia—a woman she has known for less than 10 days, but nevertheless refers to as a “sister.”

When Aaliyah confronts Lydia about her history with Uche, it appears that peace in the pods is possible. “I’m just going to see Uche as Aaliyah’s husband,” Lydia assures her. But mere minutes later, she purports to know “everything” about Uche before rattling off details about his “dope” house and dog, then warning Aaliyah about her future husband’s OCD and workaholic tendencies. Oh, and Lydia spills the beans on their most recent hookup, quipping, “We’re gonna laugh about this three years from now” as Aaliyah looks on in horror.

Lydia also tells her secret to pod beau Milton. But Lydia conveniently leaves out the part where she lobbied for Uche’s attention, or that they were intimate only three months ago. Curiously enough, neither Aaliyah or Milton are shown asking their significant others why they waited so long to divulge their past relationship. This is likely because production prohibited them from doing so in order to preserve the sanctity of the experiment, despite executive producer Chris Coelen’s tendency to downplay producer intervention in the courting experience. In fact, conspiracy theorists may choose to believe that both Lydia and Uche were cast because of their prior entanglement.

Lydia and Milton move past the awkwardness and get engaged, but the walls of Love Is Blind’s rapidly shrinking dating pool close in on Aaliyah. “I’m sitting over here with your ex that you fucked three months ago. I’m in a cage with her, damn near,” Aaliyah points out. She attempts to stick with the experiment for Uche, but when he returns to the pods with an engagement ring, she is MIA. “Uche, unfortunately Aliyah has decided not to continue with the experiment,” a voice says over the intercom as viewers are left with a pesky cliffhanger. It seems inconceivable that these two could realistically get engaged. Then again, this is the same show in which contestant Johnie, who described herself as “a walking red flag,” asked Chris if they were “ready for an engagement” days after dumping him for another man.

It wasn’t meant to be for those two. But at the end of the first four episodes, three couples  are engaged: Stacy and Izzy, as well as Taylor and JP, whose vow to “never stop being sweet to each other” feels destined to be broken. But the fate of Aaliyah and Ubeh remains unclear. Ya know, there’s at least one thing season two villain Shake has always been right about when it comes to this show: love is, indeed, blurry.