Love Is Blind star Marissa George knew she dropped a bomb when she revealed that she and ex-fiancé Ramses Prashad hooked up after calling off their engagement.
“I’m sorry. Who has not slept with an ex after a bad breakup?” Marissa, 32, told Us days after the Wednesday, October 30, reunion started streaming. “We obviously had real feelings for each other. We break up and there’s a few times where we connected. I never intended to say that [at the reunion], but I’m always just gonna be myself and you see it right there — I don’t stop to think about the image and what people are gonna think. I’m not the only one who’s ever done that.”
The revelation came when Marissa was talking to Nick Dorka about his split from Hannah Jiles as Nick pointed out that Hannah had messaged him after their breakup.
“I was trying to tell Nick [that] just because she’s messy doesn’t mean she wants to be with you!” she continued. “Ramses and I don’t wanna be together. And we still connected a few times. It wasn’t pretty and it’s not great and it’s not healthy, but it just was what it was.”
Marissa clarified that she and Ramses were not “friends with benefits” or anything serious after he ended their relationship.
“I’d be in DC, I’d get drunk somewhere — I was drinking a lot more than I should have — and I would drunk text [him] and one thing led to another,” Marissa said. “It was only a few times. And we both knew that wasn’t good for us because I still had such strong feelings and he also had his strong feelings regardless if he wants to be in a relationship or not.”
Another big moment at the reunion came when Marissa’s mother, Vanessa, confronted Ramses after making it clear when they met that she would not be happy if he hurt her daughter.
“I know it looked rough at the brunch when they first met — conversations are had off camera that you guys don’t get to see, [but] it comes across a certain way,” Marissa told Us of her headstrong mom. “But also my mom really supported Ramses and I. She saw how much we loved each other, at least from my point of view. I think she says at the reunion [that] she did go and try talking to him and tell him, ‘Hey you guys come work this out. You guys both love each other. It’s very obvious.’ I was shocked that she was up there doing that, but she knew how much I loved him and wanted it to work.”
Marissa added, however, that she wishes her mom “didn’t use violence whenever she talks about Ramses,” making a “disclaimer” that violence wasn’t a part of her childhood. “I wish she apologized for the violence comments,” she said, referring to Vanessa talking about “punching Ramses in the throat.”
As for how Vanessa feels now? “I think she’s indifferent,” Marissa said. “She’s just very glad that me and him are over and that I’m no longer harboring deep feelings for him anymore. I think that’s really the hardest part.”
Love Is Blind season 7 is currently streaming. Keep scrolling for more answers from Marissa:
Us: What were your expectations going into the reunion?
MG: I was so nervous. I had just seen the breakup scene, so I went in there just trying to keep it together. I wanted to be able to convey, ‘Hey, it’s been a year, Ramses and I have worked through everything. I don’t hold any hate towards anyone, but when I got up there it’s a lot. I just watched [the breakup] 12 hours ago, so it was really hard to kinda get that out.
Us: Ramses doubled down at the reunion when he said he felt “overwhelmed” by you. How did that feel to hear again?
MG: It’s still hard to hear, like, ‘I would’ve been exhausted and overwhelmed by Marissa.’ But I’ve talked to him extensively, like, I know what he means by it. I don’t love it. You said you fell in love with me for my energy. However, I don’t blame him. I can be a lot. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea and that was very apparent. So it’s hard to hear. I wish it was like something else [that caused our split], but what are you gonna do?
Us: Are you grateful he didn’t end things at a wedding?
MG: Ramses was never going to take me to the altar and say no to me. He knew that that would have been awful. We had talked about it. I wouldn’t have done that to him either. And the whole point is to get to the altar and figure out if you’re gonna say yes or no, but when you are so sure, it’s just best to do it when you feel it.
Us: Do you think he should have done it sooner or do you think it really took up until that day and that conversation?
MG: It’s taken me a while to get to that [point] where, of course, I wish he would’ve done it sooner. But I think for Ramses, he was working through his feelings and the biggest regret that he always says is that he just wishes he spoke up sooner about some of the things he was feeling. I don’t wish that he would’ve broken up with me sooner. I just wish he would’ve voiced it to me sooner and said,’ Hey, these are some of the things.’ So then I could be like, ‘Oh yeah, those are things that I can either change or some things I can’t change.’”
Us: Did the conversations about your past service in the military play a part in your breakup?
MG: The military conversations never played a part in our breakup. I think it’s OK to be with a partner who has different views. It does look like he’s massively judging me hard. And I think he was in that conversation — not intentionally, but he just was. But nobody else gets to see the rest of the conversation. I know that Ramses and I are not the first couple to have a conversation where we don’t agree and we’re both saying things that maybe aren’t so nice to each other. Now, would I be with a partner who had such strong views against the military? Probably not, no. It just wouldn’t make sense for me. But at the time, it wasn’t something that we felt was fatal to our relationship. We felt like we respected each other’s differences and he did ultimately support my background.
Us: What about your disagreement about contraception? It felt like you had more to say at the reunion.
MG: I think ultimately Ramses has said what he said in those conversations. And no matter how it looks, it was what it was. I’ve always wanted to convey that he never was like, you know, directly forcing me to go on birth control. He wasn’t saying we had to. And I actually was the one who was like,’’ ‘I would go on birth control — not hormonal birth control.’ So that’s why you hear me say, ‘I need to talk to my doctor. I don’t really wanna go on it, but I wanna look at my options because I should have the right to look at my options even if I don’t want to go on birth control. Like, let me make that decision.’ And he was completely open to that. We talked about vasectomies. Nobody knows that — we talked about looking into that for longterm.
Us: So when he says he wasn’t trying to present you with any sort of ultimatum, you would agree with that?
MG: No, it wasn’t an ultimatum. It was a shocking conversation, but it wasn’t an ultimatum. Two people coming together who don’t know each other that well are gonna have to have hard conversations and sometimes you’re just not gonna say the right thing or you’re gonna have a bad view. It’s just a relationship, it’s not [always] gonna look pretty.
Us: Overall it felt like there was a disconnect about physical intimacy — and the conversation about how much he needs and how you were tired from a long day. But from your perspective, was that a major deal breaker or difference between you guys or did the cameras catch you guys on an off day?
MG: The cameras caught us at the wrong time. Look, that conversation, I was pissed. It’s very clear that I’m annoyed. I’m like, ‘What are you talking about? We’re super intimate.’ it wasn’t just about sexual intercourse, it was about all types of affection. So when we talked about the “petting” thing, he just wanted to know what that would look like. I hated that we had that conversation. I didn’t feel like it was fair to have because I wasn’t feeling good and all this other stuff. But ultimately that’s the conversation we had. And at the time, I didn’t see it as being a big deal breaker. But looking back and watching it — when you’re on the outside view, you see things a lot differently when you’re in it. There’s a lot of emotions and in that scene, I’m very quiet, just trying to work things out in my head.
I have an autoimmune disease. I deal with flare ups and rheumatoid arthritis. I also have ADHD. I’ve had it my whole life. I’ve been very vocal about it and I sometimes get overstimulated and when we were talking about the petting thing — sometimes when we’re running late or there’s just a lot going on, I am like, ‘Can you just not, like, rub me? You can put your hand there, that’s fine, but do not rub me in those moments.’ The medical stuff is very sensitive to me. So when we’re talking about intimacy, the medical comes into play and I’m always worried, ‘Is the partner I’m gonna be with gonna be OK with me having flare ups and not wanting to be intimate and struggling through my week before I start my menstrual cycle? That’s a real concern for a lot of women.
Us: Do you think Ramses is the type of guy that would’ve been able to be a supportive partner in moments like that?
MG: I think that he would try, yeah. I think he would try to be a supportive partner as best as he can. What I’m learning is about the level that your partner’s able to handle in general — emotionally, physically, whatever. So if he’s dealing with his own emotions and he gets overwhelmed easily — he was already getting overwhelmed with me. I don’t know if he would’ve been OK with my flare ups and stuff like that. He would’ve tried. … He’s not a malicious person. He’s also not perfect, just like I’m not, and you’re seeing real people have real conversations and try to determine if they’re gonna spend the rest of their lives together. So of course it’s not gonna look great all the time.
Us: So if you had to pinpoint it — what the main thing was that makes you guys not able to work?
MG: I’m here for commitment — I’m going to commit. I’m gonna work through and try to evolve with you. And I think for Ramses, because he was previously married, he has a little bit less tolerance and [thinks], if I’m not feeling this, I’m not feeling this. I think he just runs a bit easier than I do. And I don’t necessarily know if that’s a bad thing or a good thing, but ultimately I think that’s what our incompatibility is. I’m willing to say we’re gonna bear down. We’re gonna get through this and I’m gonna accept you for all your flaws and all. And I think for him it’s very conditional. There’s conditions there.
