You probably watched that hotel room scene and felt the secondary embarrassment radiating through your screen. Kacie McIntosh and Patrick Suzuki. It was easily the most "wait, what?" moment of Love Is Blind Season 9. One minute they’re engaged and whispering sweet nothings through a wall, and the next, Kacie is straddling him in a Denver hotel room while simultaneously telling him she needs to go home. It was confusing. It was messy. Honestly, it was peak reality TV.
But if you’re like the rest of the internet, you’ve got questions. Why did she leave? Was it really about his looks? And what’s the deal with that ring?
The Pod Connection vs. The Reality Check
Kacie, a 34-year-old hair and makeup artist from Denver, came into the pods with a pretty heavy backstory. She talked about her Mormon upbringing, her history of being cheated on, and her desire to finally be the bride instead of the one doing the bride's makeup. When she met Patrick, a 31-year-old construction manager, the spark seemed real. They bonded over basketball. They had flirty, high-energy banter. Patrick even opened up about the struggles of dating as an Asian American man in a predominantly white city like Denver.
Kacie assured him it didn’t matter. She told him her family would love him. She seemed all in.
Then they met.
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The reveal was... stiff. While Patrick was beaming, Kacie looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole. She spent more time looking at her engagement ring than at her new fiancé. You could almost see the "fight or flight" response kicking in through her eyelashes.
That Messy Hotel Breakup (Or Was It?)
What happened in Episode 6 is what really set Reddit on fire. Kacie called Patrick to her hotel room before the cast was supposed to fly to Mexico. She was crying. She was affectionate. She was literally sitting on his lap. But she was also telling him she couldn't go to Mexico.
The mixed signals were wild.
Patrick left that room thinking they were still a couple who just needed a "slow burn" approach in Denver. He thought they were just skipping the TV vacation to date like "normal" people. But the cameras caught the truth. About 45 minutes before that conversation, Kacie told producers, "I just, unfortunately, don't think my attraction to him is gonna grow that much." Ouch.
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Why the Internet is Divided
Some fans think Kacie is the ultimate Season 9 villain. They point to her comments about her "ex-boyfriend" who supposedly told her to go on the show and that he’d be waiting for her when she got back. That’s a massive red flag.
Others feel for her. Breaking up with someone is hard. Breaking up with someone you just "married" sight-unseen on global television is a nightmare. Kacie later told Entertainment Weekly that she wasn't lying when she said she loved him; she was just "super confused" and "crashed out" emotionally.
The Mystery of the Engagement Ring
Let's talk about the jewelry. There was a lot of chatter online about Kacie "stealing" the ring or refusing to give it back. In the Love Is Blind world, the show usually provides a selection of rings. If the guy picks a standard one, it's basically "free" for him. If he upgrades, he pays the difference.
During the reunion, which aired in late 2025, the ring drama finally got some airtime. Kacie eventually clarified her side of the story on podcasts like Off the Vine, explaining that the breakup and the aftermath were "traumatizing." While the timeline of who ended up with the ring got murky, Patrick has since moved on, though he did mention spending thousands on therapy to process the "blindsided" nature of the split.
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Where is Kacie McIntosh Now?
Since the show wrapped, Kacie has been relatively quiet on the dating front, at least publicly. She didn't attend the big reunion party (she claimed she wasn't invited), but she did show up for the filmed reunion special to face the music.
She’s still working in the beauty industry in Denver. If you check her socials, it’s a lot of makeup tutorials and "living my best life" content. She hasn't exactly escaped the "villain" edit in the eyes of the hardcore fans, but she seems to be leaning into the exposure that comes with being on a hit Netflix show.
Lessons from the Kacie and Patrick Saga
- The "Slow Burn" is usually a polite "No." When someone says they want to date "away from the cameras" right after a proposal, 99% of the time, the spark isn't there.
- Attraction isn't a choice. You can love someone’s soul in a pod, but if the physical chemistry isn't there in person, it's an uphill battle that rarely ends in a "Yes" at the altar.
- Be honest early. Kacie’s biggest mistake wasn't her lack of attraction; it was the straddling and kissing while she already knew she was done. It gave Patrick false hope and made the eventual "hard" breakup much worse.
If you’re looking to follow the rest of the Season 9 cast, most of them—including Patrick—are active on Instagram. Patrick has actually become a fan favorite for how gracefully he handled the rejection, proving that even if you don't find a wife in the pods, you can definitely find a lot of sympathetic followers.
What to do next:
If you're still catching up on the Denver season, watch Episode 6 again with the "ex-boyfriend" theory in mind. It completely changes how you view Kacie's hesitation. You can also look up Patrick Suzuki's recent interviews where he dives deeper into the cultural pressures he felt while filming, which adds a lot of necessary context to his vulnerability in the pods.