It’s not looking good for Love is Blind‘s Lauren and Dave at the end of season 8 episode 9. Honestly, I’m shocked they even made it this far between the love triangle drama with Molly and all of Dave’s gross, demeaning comments. After Lauren lets Dave get away with all that, he loses his shit after finding out that she was hooking up with someone before the show. God forbid! By the end of episode 9, we find out they’re not living together, and they’re seriously evaluating whether or not this relationship can work.

Dave is determined to make Lauren look like a villain for having sex with someone pre-Love is Blind. “How do you go from seeing someone so recently to like, ‘I’m ready for marriage?’” he asks on the show. “That just seems like a huge step in between. That’s tough.” IDK, Dave… How do you go from “I cheated in my last relationship” to “I’m ready for marriage”?

On the show, Lauren doesn’t identify the guy she was seeing before Dave. However, he’s now revealed himself on Instagram: Apologies, but I’m introducing you to Lauren’s pre-Dave ex, Daniel Nides.

Who Was Lauren Dating Before She Met Dave On Love Is Blind? Instagram Reveal

Dave and Lauren on 'Love is Blind' — Image Credit: Netflix

Lauren’s ex is a 37-year-old lawyer named Daniel Nides — a remarkably suitable name for an annoying, toxic white man from Minnesota. Naturally, this ex-situationship man revealed himself on Instagram, edited a photo of himself onto a Love is Blind poster, and whined about “getting dragged into drama I actively avoided.” Sir… Unless I’m just having amnesia right now, I believe you started the drama by yapping to Dave and his pals about Lauren.

Lauren’s friend literally has receipts of him starting the drama, which she revealed on the show. Lauren’s ex sent this friend of hers a DM, asking: “So, should we blow this wedding up or what?” Yeah, clearly this guy was just “dragged” into the drama against his will! That’s a pure soul right there.

According to Lauren, her pre-LIB fling with Daniel was a strictly “friends with benefits” situation and was never serious at all. But Dave has mutual friends with this guy, and he heard a very different story. Daniel was going around telling Dave’s friend group that he was with Lauren the weekend before she went on the show, and he implied that their relationship was more than just friends with benefits. Because Dave’s a misogynistic asshole, he’s more than happy to believe an extremely sketchy stranger dude over his fiancée.

Daniel’s made his Instagram private now, but per screenshots, he resents the narrative that he’s a clout-chaser. My advice? If you don’t wanna be perceived as a clout-chaser, don’t start unnecessary drama on a Netflix reality show. Hope this helps!

TBH, if Lauren and Dave do officially breakup because of this mess, I guess I should thank Daniel for saving her. Sigh.