Amber Desiree “AD” Smith and ex-fiancé Clay Gravesande nearly called it quits multiple times ahead of their Love Is Blind wedding day.
“Clay and I had so many conversations about not moving forward,” AD, 33, said during the Thursday, March 14, episode of “The Viall Files” podcast. “And I know it looks like I’m blinding following him off a cliff and he’s telling me, ‘I don’t want to marry’ and I’m like, ‘OK, let’s go get married’ and he’s like, ‘No, I don’t want to.’”
She continued, “There were so many questions where I was like, ‘I’m good to walk away.’ He’d be like, ‘No, AD, I really want to try. I really want to make this work with you.’”
AD and Clay, 31, got engaged sight unseen inside the Love Is Blind season 6 pods despite his monogamy fears. (Clay witnessed his father cheat on his mom when he was younger and worried he would also be unfaithful in a marriage.)
“He would actually try and do things differently and show up for me in certain ways and then he would hit me with a sprinkle of ‘I’m just afraid to get married,” AD recalled on Thursday. “And [I’d say,] ‘Again, we do not have to do this. I’m OK. I’d rather not be humiliated in front of all of my family and friends.’ He’d be like, ‘AD, I’m not going to embarrass you. I’m not going to humiliate you.’ And I’m like, ‘OK.’ And then what did he do? Embarrass me!”
Clay called off their engagement during their wedding ceremony after she already said “I do” at the altar. A heartbroken AD walked back up the aisle in tears before leaving the venue on her own.
Clay and AD reunited on the season 6 reunion, which aired on Wednesday, March 13, where he revealed that he “made a mistake” because AD is “the love of [his] life.” AD, however, has moved on.
“Clay and I [are] flirty friends,” she told podcast host Nick Viall. “If we see each other outside, we’re in each other’s faces, like, we hug and cuddle and we’re all over each other. But again, we’re friends.”
AD further noted that she enjoys reminding Clay what he missed out on “every chance [she gets],” which has proven to be “100 percent” effective.
AD is now “so single” with her DM’s wide open, she quipped on Thursday, despite briefly dating fellow contestant Matthew Duliba after Love Is Blind. AD had another strong pod connection with Matthew, 37, but they broke up after he repeated lines to both AD and Amber Grant. During the reunion, AD noted that she and Matthew went on two in-person dates but their flame fizzled out since they have “different lifestyles.”
Love Is Blind season 6 is currently streaming on Netflix.
