Love really is blind! Kwame Appiah and Chelsea Griffin knew they would each say “I do” before the Love Is Blind season 4 finale.
“I think a couple days before though, I knew that I had to make up my mind because I felt like if I was on the fence on that day, I would’ve made a decision and then regretted it later,” Kwame exclusively told Us Weekly in March 2023. “So, I just wanted to make sure I was solid in my decision. So we went ahead and actually got a lease to an apartment in Seattle a couple days before — we signed the day before the wedding. So we kind of just put ourselves in a position to know, like, ‘Hey, at least we’re willing to take this next step and see how it goes from here.’”
The Ghana native, who was previously based in Portland, met Chelsea during the Seattle iteration of the Netflix pod experiment. While connecting sight unseen, Kwame and the speech pathologist quickly found similarities in the type of dream partner they each sought.
“Obviously, the concept here of love being blind, we want to get to know each other [by] who we are on the inside, [but] what I hope that does is nurture what we see outside as well,” the former soccer player confessed to Chelsea during the first episode of season 4, which aired in March 2023. “It is wild when you’re just so connected with someone that you can’t walk by them without thinking about how infatuated you are, you know? … The only reason I want to put my hands all over your body is because, essentially, I feel like I have myself all over your soul.”
While the Washington native was all-in on Kwame, the sales development manager also had a strong connection with fellow contestant Micah Lussier. Micah, however, ultimately dumped Kwame in favor of her romance with eventual fiancé Paul Peden, whom she later split from in the April 2023 finale. Kwame was initially heartbroken before realizing that Chelsea was The One.
“I think no matter what, especially when you start looking at the life that you have now, but when you think about the connection I have with Chelsea — the pod relationship you have with someone [is] completely different from the actual relationship you have with someone,” Kwame told Us. “Like, when I went past the pods with Chelsea, I was just like, ‘OK, this is almost a reflex for us, the way we interact, the way we understand each other.’ I just don’t believe that would’ve ever been the case with Micah, and I can respect that.”
After Kwame and Chelsea conquered a love triangle, they faced further challenges on the home front when the groom’s mother wouldn’t approve of their forthcoming marriage.
“[It] didn’t go well,” Kwame told his bride after informing his mother of their whirlwind engagement. “My mom’s been a big part of my life. Massive. She said that as a mother, as someone who would expect more from me, I didn’t do the right thing. She doesn’t think that I used my head in this situation and that she can’t really say that she’s happy for me.”
After the romantic May 2022 wedding ceremony, Chelsea was able to bond with her mother-in-law during their first married Thanksgiving.
“It was an amazing first visit. I went in with little expectations,” the reality TV bride told Us in March 2023. “I knew she was gonna be very observant of me … but it was a great experience. When I stepped foot into their home, I felt at home. I felt like it was my family. They were laughing and there was food and there was dancing. It felt very natural to me. And I feel like she got to see bits and pieces of my character. We still have room to grow, but I think our foundation is there.”
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Scroll below to see Chelsea and Kwame’s complete relationship timeline:
